BRTA Service Intact Through Weekend

The Berkshire Eagle reports Berkshire County commuters can relax knowing that local bus service — paratransit and fixed routes — will continue to operate on a normal schedule — at least through the weekend.

As for what will happen Monday, that remained unclear.

The contract in dispute is between the BRTA's paratransit drivers and a First Transit subsidiary, Paratransit Management of the Berkshires, which has operated the BRTA's on-call bus service since July 2016.

A strike of paratransit drivers might affect regular BRTA bus service, as the drivers share the same union.

There were several close calls for BRTA strikes last winter, but they were narrowly averted after negotiations between the same two groups.

The BRTA provides about 50,000 rides each month on the fixed-route service, and 4,000 to 5,000 rides on the paratransit buses, according to Malnati.