A message from Via’s leadership team:
Via has seen a 50-70% decrease in ridership across our divisions, but we’re still up and running. Because of our social enterprise structure, this means that we’re not bringing in as much money, and we had to make some difficult staffing decisions. At this point, we do not see this as being a short term problem.
The best option we had to keep paychecks in the pockets of our drivers was to begin furloughing drivers with jobs attached. This allows them to apply for unemployment, but we can still call them back to work at any time, even if it’s only part-time, as we acquire new business or as routes begin to pick up again. We’ve already had some more senior drivers offer to go on furlough and will continue this process through this week. We’ll be covering 100% of furloughed employees’ insurance premiums and will provide two weeks of regular pay to help cover the gap between now and their first unemployment check.
But we want to keep as many drivers fully employed as possible, so we’re reaching out to the community to see how we might be able to fill in the gaps. We have a fleet of vehicles and a team of dedicated drivers waiting at the ready. If you have a need that we might be able to help with, please let us know.
Do you need help?
If your organization or business needs help with deliveries, transportation, or anything else, we’re available for hire. No request is too small!
Please contact Lisa Bitzer at 303-725-4160 or by email at lbitzer@viacolorado.org for more information.
For more information about what Via is doing to keep our riders and staff safe during this pandemic, please visit https://viacolorado.org/covid-19/.