A driver opens the doors of a BRTA bus for passengers at the Intermodal Transportation Center in Pittsfield. A new drivers schedule set to take effect Monday is designed to cover routes more effectively.

PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Regional Transit Authority will launch a revised bus driver schedule on Monday, a shift the authority hopes will stretch its current staff to cover routes more effectively as it struggles to hire more drivers.

The existing schedule — that is, which buses are running and when — will remain the same. But if all goes according to plan, riders will no longer see scheduled runs consistently cancelled due to a lack of drivers.

As of BRTA’s most recent meeting on April 23, there were only 25 drivers available to carry out the 36 weekday runs outlined in the existing schedule. The new schedule is restructured so that there are only 27 runs to bid on, ideally easiest to sustain with existing drivers.

"We're not fully staffed, but we have most of what we need," Administrator Kathleen Lambert said.

The driver shortage has resulted in frequent cancellations, which have contributed to a decline in ridership in recent months. BRTA initially proposed a significantly reduced schedule in January to address the issue, but rescinded the plan in March in favor of creating a new driver schedule.

BRTA leaders met with the drivers union, Teamsters Local Union 404, on April 24 to negotiate the schedule. Representatives from Keolis, the incoming operating company set to take over July 1, and the outgoing Transdev were also present.

In a statement included within the announcement, Lambert acknowledged that the drivers had been placed under strain in recent months by the shortage of employees.

“BRTA would also like to thank our loyal riders who have suffered through some tough times,” she said. “Thanks for sticking with us.”

The announcement also mentioned that new software would soon be available to riders that allows them to receive updates about service interruptions and other information.