Impact of fatigue on bus transit drivers

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to: a) assess the level of experienced fatigue of bus transit drivers in Kuwait, and b) examine possible variations in driver-experienced fatigue by driver nationality. The Database: The data for the study were collected by a person-interview questionnaire survey of nearly 500 bus transit drivers. Findings: A typical bus driver in Kuwait worked a minimum of eight hours a day, six days a week. The majority of drivers also worked an additional average of 22 hours of overtime shifts per week. More than 1/2 of the surveyed drivers felt "tired/very tired" after a day's work. A quarter had experienced falling sleep at the wheel, and nearly 20 percent have been involved in an accident caused by fatigue/drowsiness. The level of fatigue was strongly and positively associated with the number of overtime shifts, number of working days per week, age of the bus driver, and his marital status. Driver-perceived fatigue impacts included night-driving, driving performance, risk-taking, judgment, reaction time, and sleeping difficulties. A significant increase in fatigue was associated with high summer temperatures for drivers of unairconditioned buses. Recommendations: A number of recommendations end the paper.