The MTA is rolling out a new bus simulator program meant to train drivers before they ever hit the road, as the agency prepares for a wave of new hires. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber visited the Zerega Testing Center in the Bronx to look over the technology that is expected to start being used around June 1.
The agency spent four years developing the simulator investment, which includes four high-tech machines that cost $1.4 million. They are designed to accurately depict what it is like to drive more than 300 bus routes across the five boroughs, giving trainees a controlled way to learn the job before they are behind the wheel of a real bus.
Lieber said the simulators are meant to help the agency meet the habits of younger trainees who are used to virtual and simulated learning. “With the use of these simulators, we're making sure that the next generation of bus drivers who are accustomed to, you know, VR and who are accustomed to simulated learning are actually becoming better drivers,” he said.
Assistant Chief Training Officer Alvaro Brandon said the program will let the agency prepare operators for conditions they may face on New York City streets without putting passengers at risk. “We could train, for snow in July. We could get our operators ready for inclement weather. In a safe environment, where we wouldn't want them to be operating a bus in the snow if they've never experienced that. We could give them the exposure here in the simulators before they actually go out on the road. And that'll keep us, that'll help us, produce a safer bus operator,” Brandon said.
The simulators will be part of a training curriculum that all bus operators must complete before they can drive on the road, a step the MTA says should matter as it anticipates about two thousand new hires by the end of the year. The agency relies on more than 300 bus routes across the five boroughs, and the training is meant to cover the realities of that network, including snow and other difficult weather.
Bus operator Edison Obando, who has spent 20 years driving for the agency, said the technology feels close to the real thing. “Be alert all the time, because anything can happen,” he said. The real test now is whether the simulators, after years of development and a $1.4 million price tag, can help prepare enough new drivers fast enough to keep pace with the MTA’s hiring plans.