Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has offered a retirement incentive to 1,005 of its 3,900 employees in an effort to cut costs as coronavirus continues to hurt transit ridership, according to a DART news release.
The reduction in staff could lead to annual savings of $50.1 million with upfront lump-sum payments netting a first-year savings of $20 million.
DART’s board approved the Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program for employees who are age 55 or older, as of September 30, with at least ten years of continuous service.
Incentives include a combination of additional years of service, waiver of age and service requirements for medical coverage, severance payment and a lump sum.
Eligible employees were mailed a personalized retirement benefit statement in September and had to accept or reject the offer by Tues., Oct. 27.
Effective retirement dates are November 20 for Administrative employees and December 15 for Operations employees.
The voluntary retirement incentives could reduce DART staff by as much as 300 employees.