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SALT LAKE CITY — Since coming to the United States from Venezuela nearly five years ago, Wilmer Amaya Fernández's limited English has been a roadblock to success.
After completing an English-language program offered by the Utah Transit Authority, though, he feels he's taken a big step forward. UTA, for its part, is getting a potential recruit to help it in its efforts to diversify its crew of bus operators.
"It's amazing ... it's a blessing," Amaya said in a statement. "UTA has given me an opportunity to improve my English and get a job."
UTA launched what it calls its Bilingual Bridges program in 2023, paying participants like Amaya, who are nonnative English speakers, to learn the language and take training to become bus drivers. Amaya, one of 10 recent graduates from the English-language instruction portion of the program, is part of the second cohort to take part in the initiative. UTA officials, though planning for a third installation of the program, are in the process of evaluating the longer-term future of the pilot program.
The program aims to broaden the pool of recruits for bus driving posts with a focus on drumming up interest among immigrant newcomers, English-language learners and those who reflect Utah's changing racial and ethnic demographics. Amaya's next steps following a ceremony Wednesday to honor him and his nine fellow program participants are completing training in driving a bus and getting a commercial driver's license.
"Our bus operators are the face of UTA and it is important those faces reflect the community we serve," said UTA spokesman Carl Arky. "Through this program, we are able to recruit to a wider audience. Many of our participants had never thought of UTA as a career option before this program."
Fifteen people took part in the first cohort in the program, with graduates moving on to a mix of bus driving and maintenance positions. Program participants — who have come from all over the world, with a preponderance from Spanish-speaking countries — must have a Utah driver's license and be lawfully present in the United States.
The UTA initiative has its roots in the COVID-19 pandemic, when a series of retirements and a tight labor market combined to create a severe driver shortage, which lingered even after the pandemic eased. Partner organizations include the Utah State Board of Education and Granite School District. "The agency realized it could access an untapped pool of talent by offering recruits the chance to learn English, build a new career and earn a living with benefits," UTA said in a press release.
Amaya, for his part, is grateful. He had been a Lyft and Uber driver and learned of the UTA program from a UTA employee who he was driving. "This is a great opportunity. It is a blessing for people who are not native and cannot yet speak fluent English," he said.
Ana Maria Carvajal Mast, classmates with Amaya, sounded a similar message. "I was waiting for an opportunity like this — for my family, for me," she said.
Alex Smith, an English teacher in the program, stressed what he sees as the role of initiatives like the UTA program in helping immigrant newcomers adjust to life in the United States. "I am supremely confident that they will repay the investment UTA is making in them many times over in their service to the community," he said.
Angelica Suaste, who helps with the training, said the initiative hits close to home for her. The would-be bus operators will also learn how to contend with the varied scenarios they may face on the many segments of the UTA system along the Wasatch Front and beyond.
"I come from an immigrant family, and I remember how much my family struggled due to the language barrier. If I can help these people learn English, I can help them have the same opportunity as everyone else and build a better life for themselves," she said.
