Paratransit provider to lay off 61 workers in Springfield

Diamond Transportation Services plans to lay off 61 workers in Springfield by the end of the month, according to a letter sent to the state Nov. 7.

The company, which provides shared-ride services for passengers with disabilities that prevent them from using bus or rail, said the layoffs are a result of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) reducing the number of bus routes the company manages, according to a letter sent to the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, or Virginia Works, in compliance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

“As a result, Diamond will no longer provide bus transportation service on those routes and must eliminate the affected positions,” the letter said.

Diamond Transportation Services operates as part of the WeDriveU brand, which is part of England-based Mobico Group, an international transport provider.

WMATA and WeDriveU did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In the letter, Diamond Transportation Services noted that it plans to close a location in Capitol Heights, Maryland. Employees at a facility in Landover, Maryland, will also face layoffs. A Nov. 10 WARN Act notice to Maryland from Diamond Transportation Services reports that 182 employees in that state will lose their jobs.

Diamond Transportation Services said in the letter that it was not able to provide the requisite 60-day notice “because our client’s decision to reduce the number of bus routes we manage was sudden and outside our control.” WMATA notified the company of the route reduction on Oct. 31, according to the WARN notice.

Of the 61 employees who will lose their jobs, 54 are drivers. All but one of the affected positions are under a collective bargaining agreement with either the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 or the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 639. Those employees do have bumping rights under certain circumstances, the WARN notice stated. One operations manager who is being laid off is not represented by a union and does not have bumping rights.

Robert Werth founded Diamond Transportation Services in the mid-1980s. In 2016, National Express Transit — a subsidiary of Mobico Group being rebranded under WeDriveU — bought the company, which at the time had 270 employees and 151 vehicles providing paratransit and shuttle service to the Greater Washington, D.C., area.