Berkshire Regional Transit Authority Hires New Transit Management Company

PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority (BRTA) recently announced it has hired Keolis Commuter Services, an international firm with a strong presence in Massachusetts, to manage its transportation services. A new sub corporation specific to BRTA called Keolis Berkshire Transit Services was created, and all transit employees have been folded under that umbrella.

Even before the July 1 start, the new firm had hired a general manager with over 15 years of experience and recruited four driver candidates currently in certification class.

The move comes in a year when BRTA saw its highest ridership ever, at more than 700,000 by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Keolis provides public transit services — including bus, rail, microtransit, and paratransit — across the country, and its North American sector is headquartered in Boston. The addition of BRTA to its portfolio has the firm serving 203 cities and towns in Massachusetts; BRTA is the first transit authority Keolis has contracted with in Western Mass.

Engaged in a three-year contract, the firm will provide transportation operations services in every facet of the BRTA operation. In the short term, Keolis will focus on more on-time service and consistency and help solve the common challenges in rural transit.

As an example of its capacity, before the transition, Keolis led two job fairs in Lenox, seeking drivers, proactively recruiting to solve a driver shortage, and bringing in four candidates to be trained. Now, the firm will engage in a comprehensive recruitment campaign, advertising through the Keolis careers page; on platforms such as Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Facebook; and with boots on the ground in the 30 Berkshire communities.

Keolis replaces Transdev, which served the BRTA for 20 years. In coming years, Keolis will work closely with the BRTA administration to provide new intelligent transportation systems and introduce new services such as microtransit.

“We’re excited to have this transition, and it’s providing a better work environment for employees already. We are building a new culture here, and I feel very positive about it,” said Kathleen Lambert, BRTA administrator. “They’ve hired us an extremely strong general manager with a depth of experience we haven’t had here for a long time. We will do a lot of great work together over the next several years. Keolis will really help strengthen what the future looks like and ensure we provide the highest quality services possible to Berkshire residents.”