Transportation officials in Phoenix are asking transit company Transdev to pay the city $20,000 in liquidated damages following the nearly eight day bus drivers’ strike in January. It’s part of a larger $50,000 payout negotiated from the deal that ended the strike.
Transdev’s $373 million contract with the city requires the transit company to restore a Saturday level of service to the area in the event an operator’s strike lasts longer than five days. After that, it’s $25,000 a day.
"It was something that the city put into our bus service contracts a few years back to try to incentivize our contractors to get out there and get that 60 percent service level," said Lars Jacoby, a spokesman for the Phoenix Public Transit Department.
The city did allow Transdev to redirect $30,000 of the total fine to their drivers as part of the strike-ending negotiations. That money has already been distributed.
