Bus drivers at the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority can earn up to $150,000 in total compensation, according to public wage data shared by The Ann Arbor News on X on Sunday, Aug. 16.
TheRide employed 385 workers in 2025 who collectively earned nearly $26 million in total pay, public records show. That averages roughly $67,500 per employee, though compensation varies widely by role and seniority.
The salary figures land as TheRide prepares to present its fiscal year 2027 draft budget at the Thursday, Aug. 20, Board of Directors meeting, where a public hearing will give residents a chance to weigh in.
Top rate, but no contract
The $150,000 figure likely reflects overtime and other compensation beyond base wages. Transport Workers Union Local 171 President Delisa Brown told CBS Detroit in April that the most experienced drivers earn $33.05 per hour, a rate she called among the highest in the state.
But Brown said that rate has stagnated while Ann Arbor's cost of living climbs. "We're in this college town as you know, and it's expensive to live here, and many of our drivers and mechanics and people that work for us can't afford to live in the town that we work," she told CBS Detroit on April 23, when union members picketed outside TheRide's operations center on South Industrial Highway.
TWU Local 171 drivers and mechanics have been working without a contract since the end of March. Brown said the main sticking points were pay raises and proposed cuts to maternity leave. At the May 21 board meeting, multiple community members addressed the board in support of the union, including bus operator Craig Kimball. Speaker Tim Burroughs noted drivers remained without a contract. TheRide said in April it remained committed to good faith negotiations but declined to discuss specifics. The current status of those negotiations is unclear.
Third in a series
TheRide is the third local public agency examined in the Ann Arbor Record's ongoing look at taxpayer-funded compensation. As we reported Aug. 14, Ann Arbor city government has 267 employees earning six figures, up from 170 six years ago. A separate installment covered Ann Arbor Public Schools superintendent Jazz Parks' $259,840 salary.
Budget hearing ahead
Deputy CEO of Finance and Administration Dina Reed said in a July 30 press release that the FY2027 budget is balanced, maintains full service levels and includes no fare changes. The millage voters approved in 2022 funds operations through 2028.
The board will formally adopt the budget at its Sept. 17 meeting. Draft budget materials are available at TheRide.org and in person weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Dawn Gabay Operations Center, 2700 South Industrial Highway.
