2016 Outstanding Achievement in Innovation award winner

Growing Opportunity (GO) Driver is a job-driven workforce development training program developed in response to a need for bus drivers by Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT). In partnership with CAT and the local community college, the City created GO Driver, a four-week program preparing low-income City residents for employment as bus drivers. The GO Driver pilot consisted of 80 hours of instruction on workplace and career readiness, customer service, and the commercial driver’s license. Twelve program participants completed the training and were offered employment. Eleven accepted employment and have been working at CAT for over a year making $15.18 per hour.