A Note from Jack Clark and Xinge Wang | |
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We open this issue of Pulse in appreciation of Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez, who is retiring from FTA at the end of this week. Like many in our industry, her personal story is a powerful one. She emigrated from Panama to pursue higher education in the U.S. and has worked in several key capacities in the private and public sectors, including leadership at Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA-NY) and Valley Transit Authority (VTA-CA). Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997, she became the first woman of color to lead FTA as the Acting Administrator. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 15th Administrator of FTA in 2021 under President Joe Biden. The administrator’s commitment to advancing the industry—particularly involving critical initiatives and innovative programs in workforce development—played a key role in establishing the Transit Workforce Center (TWC), an achievement cited in her retirement announcement. TWC is honored to be able to carry out her vision by working every day to advance our mission.
As TWC recognizes what Administrator Fernandez has accomplished, we are excited about the opportunity to continue our work with another great leader, Deputy Administrator Veronica Vanterpool, who begins her appointment as Acting Administrator on February 24, 2024, as Administrator Fernandez steps down. Like Administrator Fernandez, the Acting Administrator comes to this position from significant leadership roles in the field, along with a deep understanding of and commitment to building, sustaining, supporting, and advancing the diverse workforce transit needs now and for the future.
We are proud to be able to recognize both of these talented leaders for all they have done and all they continue to do for our industry. Thank you!
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Jack Clark
Executive Director
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Xinge Wang
Deputy Director
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Upcoming Webinar: Get to Know TWC’s Transit Workforce Data Dashboard
Join TWC virtually on Wednesday, February 28 at 2 pm EST for a webinar presenting the Transit Workforce Data Dashboard. The Dashboard features innovative and easily accessible visualizations of transit and transportation workforce statistics and demographics from the National Transit Database (NTD) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It can be used to highlight key issues, like the high proportion of transit workers nearing retirement age, the potential for greater participation of women in transportation occupations, and the need to hire extensively in the coming decade. In addition, a new interactive page launched this month allows users to filter NTD employment data by agency. Following an introduction by FTA, TWC will demonstrate the full dashboard, discuss lessons learned from working with NTD and BLS data, and open up a Q&A for participants to ask questions or share their unique data needs.
For more information contact Michaela Boneva at [email protected].
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Making Connections – The National Transit Workforce Conference 2024
Save the Date
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TWC’s Making Connections 2024 – The National Transit Workforce Conference will build on the success of Making Connections 2022. By popular demand, it will include additional spaces for more participants and an added day of engaging and interactive sessions around critical issues in workforce development. With the aim of making connections and making a difference, MC24 sessions will focus on information, resources, and tools that can be used to advance key workforce development initiatives at locations across the country.
Workshops and plenaries will bring together the collective expertise from diverse transit stakeholders, including agencies, unions, nonprofits, government, education, and workforce development organizations. Participants will be able to choose from sessions organized around the six key strategic goals in FTA’s National Transit Workforce Development Strategic Plan: (1) ensuring worker safety and health; (2) investing in workforce development; (3) driving workforce recruitment; (4) ensuring worker retention; (5) developing worker skills; and (6) enhancing metrics to drive and gauge success.
In addition to the day-and-a-half conference on November 12-13, a pre-conference day on November 11 will allow participants to choose among a series of half and full-day academies and intensive workshops that will support concrete advancement of their work in specific areas. Already-planned sessions include: a day-long Apprenticeship Academy; hands-on Train-the-Trainer and Train-the-Mentor programs; intensives on establishing effective recruitment aimed at diverse target communities; an in-depth session on ZEB workforce transition; and a plenary session focusing on experiences of and opportunities for veterans in the transit industry.
Mark your calendars and plan to join TWC and hundreds of your colleagues across the industry to help us all support each other to move forward together. For those of you who missed MC22, check out this video. More details on MC24 will be coming soon, and registration will open in mid-spring. For any questions about MC24, email [email protected].
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Strengthening the Transit Workforce
"Nothing about us without us": This long-time slogan of the disability community reflects the right of people with disabilities to be involved in all facets of decisions and services that affect them. Not only do people with disabilities, many of whom are transit users, have a right to participate in the transit workforce, but transit services have a great deal to learn from their perspectives and lived experiences. Speaking about one of his employees who is legally blind, MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA – Framingham, Massachusetts) Director Jim Nee said that "there’s no amount of training that I could do or pay for that would be even close to the benefit of having a staff [member] who has that real-world experience."
People with disabilities also comprise an untapped labor pool; in 2022, 21% of people with disabilities were employed nationally, compared with 65% of people without disabilities. Appropriate accommodations are needed to bridge the gap to employment; in some cases, the guidance of partner organizations serving people with disabilities.
TWC has been hard at work in the past year highlighting opportunities in this area, including the steps agencies can take to make their workplaces more disability-inclusive. A newly-added TWC blog entry, part of TWC’s Transit Career Stories series, features Assistant Call Center Manager, Scheduler, and Transportation Coordinator OT Orozco at MWRTA, who shares how he found his way into a transit career. Related materials produced by TWC include a guest blog post for the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) written by Research Associate Shayna Gleason, Senior Policy Analyst Karitsa Holdzkom, and Communications Manager David Stephen, as well as an article in TR News by Shayna, Senior Director for Workforce Education Pat Greenfield, and Dr. Judy Shanley of Easterseals and the National Center for Mobility Management (NCMM). In partnership with NCMM, TWC also developed a learning module for transportation professionals on strategies to recruit and retain employees with disabilities.
Reflecting on the significance and impact of work in this area, Dr. Shanley says, "The demographic diversity of our nation adds richness and cultural strength to places that we live, learn, work, and play. This diversity is partly represented by the approximately 42.5 million Americans with disabilities or 13% of the civilian noninstitutionalized population (Census Bureau, 2021). Transit sectors can benefit from this same richness and cultural strength when outreach, recruitment, and retention practices focus on individuals with disabilities. Easterseals, through the National Center for Mobility Management, welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with the Transit Workforce Center on this important topic. We have just begun this critical work!"
For more information on resources and creating opportunities for work in this area, contact Shayna Gleason at [email protected].
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Apprenticeship Academy – A Florida Partnership
In collaboration with the University of South Florida’s Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), TWC held an inaugural Apprenticeship Academy January 30-31 in Tampa. According to CUTR’s Workforce Development Manager Stephanie Lewis, the Apprenticeship Academy represented a “capstone partnership achievement in our ongoing work on recruitment and retention, helping agencies grapple with real needs and real challenges.”
The Academy had its origins in prior TWC presentations on mentoring and apprenticeship programs at the summer 2023 Florida Public Transportation Association’s (FPTA)/FDOT/CUTR annual Professional Development Workshop & Transit Safety and Operations Summit sparked an agency to request more in-depth training. This inspired FDOT, CUTR, and TWC to begin designing an interactive and intensive Apprenticeship Academy model to provide in-depth assistance for selected agencies in establishing registered apprenticeship programs for bus technicians and transit coach operators.
Participating agencies choose to send teams to work on bus technician or operator apprenticeships, or both. Before their arrival at the Academy, they were provided materials to review, so all participants had significant background context that helped them arrive prepared and oriented. The labor-management Academy teams came from: City of Gainesville Regional Transit System (RTS) and ATU Local 1579; Hillsborough Transit Authority (HART) and ATU Local 1593; Broward County Transportation Department and ATU Local 1591; Votran (Volusia County) and Teamsters Local 185; Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works and TWU Local 291; and Palm Tran (Palm Beach County) and ATU Local 1577.
The first half-day of the Academy began with welcomes and program overviews from CUTR’s Stephanie Lewis, FDOT Transit Operations Manager Tony Brandin, CUTR Associate Director Lisa Staes, and TWC Executive Director Jack Clark, with guidance on how to get the most out of the upcoming sessions. TWC’s Senior Policy Analyst Karitsa Holdzkom and Senior Workforce Advisor Maurice Beard presented an overview of the registered apprenticeship model and its benefits for public transit careers. TWC’s Executive Director Jack Clark then facilitated a panel discussion on the role of education and workforce development partnerships, an overview of state apprenticeship guidelines and processes, and funding opportunities featuring John Meeks, Hillsborough Community College; Steven Lindas, Florida Department of Education Office of Apprenticeship; Mario Rodriquez and Karoline Guerrero, Career Source Tampa Bay; and Karitsa Holdzkom.
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Steven Lindas from the Florida Department of Education, Office of Apprenticeship; Garie Frett Jr., Executive Maintenance Shop Steward at Broward County Transportation Department/ATU 1591; and attendees from Florida transit agencies | |
After an evening dinner that provided opportunities for connection and conversation, participants spent much of the second day diving into the “how-to” of apprenticeships, including how they could establish these programs at each of their agencies. Because there are significant differences in the development and implementation of operator vs. maintenance apprenticeship programs, attendees were separated into two groups. Maurice and Amalgamated Transit Union’s Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Development Jamaine Gibson facilitated the operator group, while Jack and Stu Bass, Principal at Progress Worx, engaged with those working on maintenance apprenticeships. In each group, the leads broke down the steps required to create a program that would work for each location and to get it approved as a registered program by the Florida Office of Apprenticeship. Customized assistance was provided to each location’s team, and participants were encouraged to develop a game plan they could implement upon returning to their agencies. To continue to help agencies and their unions as they work towards registered apprenticeship, TWC staff scheduled follow-up meetings with each labor and management group.
FDOT’s Tony Brandin observed that the Apprenticeship Academy “demonstrates the tremendous impact when we work together on the state, federal, and local levels and make these connections through a well-designed program in the right environment.” CUTR’s Stephanie Lewis seconded Tony’s point, noting that the Academy demonstrated “how powerful these networks are that we have established here, with frontline employees and senior management willing to spend this kind of time moving their agencies and the industry in Florida forward.”
TWC’s Jack Clark expressed his appreciation. “We are grateful to our Florida partners for this significant collaboration in launching the Apprenticeship Academy and to the local agencies and unions for putting in the time and commitment on this critical area of workforce development,” he said. “Florida has pioneered a model that can be adapted across the country.” Jack also noted TWC’s intention to run the Apprenticeship Academy in connection with Making Connections 2024 in November.
TWC looks forward to continuing to work with all of the agencies and unions in their endeavors. For more information on the Apprenticeship Academy or apprenticeship programs generally, contact Karitsa Holdzkom at [email protected].
|  | TWC's Jack Clark and Karitsa Holdzkom | |
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TWC Technical Assistance – Beyond the First Contact
Almost all TWC technical assistance contacts begin with an email or call to TWC’s helpdesk, asking for information, resources, or advice on a variety of workforce development issues. Sometimes these interactions involve just a few emails or calls back and forth, providing resources and relevant contacts, but, quite often, these initial requests are just the beginning of a sustained and productive relationship between TWC and the person or organization seeking assistance.
An initial technical assistance email from Florida created a connection between TWC and CUTR, leading to last month’s Apprenticeship Academy, detailed in the story above. That email from CUTR staff was the basis for a series of follow-up calls between the two organizations, followed by two successive years of TWC presentations at FPTA/FDOT/CUTR’s Professional Development Workshops. The 2023 presentations on apprenticeship coordinated by TWC were so successful that the Apprenticeship Academy was launched in response to a request for a more in-depth program.
Technical assistance contacts have frequently supported transit stakeholders in other ways as well. When Valerie Campo, the newly-appointed Mentor Program Coordinator for the Champaign-Urbana (IL) Mass Transit District (MTD) emailed TWC’s helpdesk in April 2022, she was hoping to get some guidance on retention and recruitment. She never expected that initial contact to blossom into a long-term working relationship, an ongoing source of support for her and her agency, and a pathway to her professional development. "When I first started this role, I knew that mentoring would look different in the transit setting than it does in a traditional office setting. And I knew that there HAD to be someone out there who had information on this; so, I started Googling. And within a few clicks, there was the TWC.”
Following up on a phone call with Senior Director for Workforce Education Pat Greenfield, who “spent an hour on the phone answering questions and pointing me in the right direction," Valerie viewed past TWC webinars and other resource materials on mentoring. Based on those presentations, she asked to be connected with someone involved in IndyGo’s established mentoring program. Pat connected her with Dionna McCane, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1070’s Mentorship and Apprenticeship Coordinator for IndyGo, who invited her for a visit. Valerie spent two days at IndyGo Headquarters and out on the buses with Dionna, noting that “I can't even begin to explain how impactful that was. And watching Dionna in action? She is so compassionate and her passion for seeing people succeed was so motivating! I left the experience with a feeling of excitement at what the future held in store for our district."
Valerie also joined TWC’s American Transit Training and Apprenticeship Innovators Network (ATTAIN) peer network coordinated by Senior Policy Analyst Karitsa Holdzkom. She participated in ATTAIN’s webinars, engaging with and learning from new and experienced staff from mentoring and apprenticeship programs from across the country. With all these resources in hand and after a lot of hard work at MTD, Valerie launched MTD’s first-ever B.U.S. (“Building Up for Success”) Mentor Program. She developed a mentor training program, relying on her experience and knowledge as a former operator, as well as training materials shared by TWC and many of her newly-developed contacts. As the program began, she carefully gathered pre and post-program metrics, having discussed their importance with TWC and many of those contacts. Besides an enthusiastic reception for the program across the agency, she was able to establish the significant impact of the program, increasing the operator retention rate from 53.5% before the mentor program began to 86.7% a year later. MTD Deputy Managing Director Amy Snyder observes, "What Valerie has been able to do, to both develop a mentoring program from scratch while also taking on this brand-new staff position, was a heavy lift. She has risen to the challenge, and I believe with the support from TWC, and the network she found within it, she was able to expedite her success. And we at MTD were able to enjoy the benefits of the program’s successful implementation!"
In Valerie’s continuing discussions with TWC, it was clear that she had established an immensely successful program, starting from scratch. When TWC was asked to lead a session on mentoring at the Spring 2023 Arkansas Public Transportation Association conference, TWC’s Research Associate Shayna Gleason, who led the session, reached out to Valerie to ask her to co-present and talk about the work she had done at MTD and the program’s success. Valerie recalls how “exciting it was to even be asked to present with Shayna! I had never presented anything for anyone other than my coworkers prior to that conference. But I just kept reminding myself how important the information really is to other districts, and that I talk everyone's ears off about mentoring every day already. I was terrified, but after talking with Shayna and other presenters and vendors that were in attendance, my nerves settled and next thing I knew, it was over. . . and I was ready to do it again!"
|  | Champaign-Urbana MTD's Valerie Campo | |
Regarding Valerie’s first public presentation, Shayna notes, “Valerie was a real pro! After the workshop, many attendees approached her to talk more about her program and how they could learn more from what she had accomplished. It was wonderful to see her in a setting where she could pass on her knowledge and expertise to others.”
Valerie is now working on strengthening the mentor program while attending TWC webinars and staying in touch. She looks forward to reuniting with people she’s met and worked with, sharing information and stories, and meeting new contacts at Making Connections 2024 in November in Baltimore.
Do you have a technical assistance request? Email TWC's helpdesk at [email protected].
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TWC’s Latest Mini Case Studies
Since TWC’s inception, its research team has worked to produce digestible and useful reports with information for industry stakeholders. This work includes mini case studies of innovative practices in transit workforce development and frontline employment, focusing on recruitment, retention, support services, diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. TWC has recently published two mini case studies featuring transit locations from around the country.
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Workforce Investment Network
TWC’s newest completed mini case study features the Workforce Investment Network (WIN), a labor-management partnership formed by Marin County, California-based Golden Gate Transit (GGT) and the union representing its bus operators, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1575, with the support of California Transit Works (CTW). Like many agencies, GGT has struggled with operator recruitment and retention. To address these challenges, the WIN partnership has: implemented bus operator mentorship, apprenticeship, and pre-apprenticeship programs; formed partnerships with educational institutions and community groups; made policy changes to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion; and identified opportunities to remove barriers to entry for job seekers. To learn more about these efforts, please read the mini case study on TWC’s Resource Center and the Transit Career Story blog post about GGT/ATU 1575’s Bus Operator Apprenticeship Coordinator Rich Diaz.
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Recruiting Through Connection
In late 2023, TWC published Recruiting Through Connection, describing an initiative at Metro Transit (Twin Cities, MN). Through the Operators Engaging and Connecting Communities (OECC) program, operator ambassadors go out to community events—from parades to houses of worship to food markets—to talk about what they do. OECC represents a recruitment strategy, as well as another central goal: to humanize operators and help the public understand their role in creating mobility in the community. “We don’t want to just drive through these neighborhoods. We want to be a part of them. We want to make sure they understand they’re as important to us as we are to them,” says Anna Penland, OECC's Coordinator. Read the mini case study for more details on how Metro Transit created this unique program.
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Transit Career Stories
Created as a part of TWC’s comprehensive national transit career awareness campaign to highlight transportation workers' career pathways, Transit Career Stories continues. Two new stories on the TWC Blog introduce readers to two notable frontline transportation workers, Rich Diaz and OT Orozco. Visit the blog to read about Rich Diaz, Golden Gate Transit and ATU 1575’s Bus Operator Apprenticeship Coordinator, and find out how his career blossomed through mentorship.
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Rich Diaz, Golden Gate Transit/ATU 1575 | |
OT Orozco, MetroWest Regional Transportation Authority | |
Head over to the blog to hear Rich and OT detail what makes their work interesting, exciting, and rewarding for them and their communities. This ongoing series celebrates frontline transit workers as they share their career pathways and experiences in the industry. Check out previous Transit Career Stories on the TWC Blog featuring Dionna McCane, Gwendolen Gibson, and Kyisha Bond. | |
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Train-the-Trainer
Is your organization interested in supporting your trainers to strengthen their skills and ensure that transit training reaches and engages trainees effectively? To that end, TWC has developed and is able to deliver one or more levels of a Train-the-Trainer program to your trainers.
Train-the-Trainer Level 1 is a week-long course for new and experienced trainers that gives participants the knowledge, skills, and confidence to facilitate instructor-led training and engage learners. Topics include adult learning theory, teaching techniques, and presentation skills. The course includes four practice teaching demonstrations in which participants are encouraged to step outside of their comfort zones to implement newly learned skills and best practices. Train-the-Trainer Level 2 is a three-day course that builds on Level 1, providing experienced trainers with the skills to define, design, and develop an effective and engaging training course. Participants can develop courseware and assessments that incorporate established adult learning principles.
In January 2024, TWC facilitated four Train-the-Trainer sessions in two locations, working with 30 transit trainers from Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and eight from Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT). Both Level 1 and Level 2 courses were delivered.
At SEPTA, participants noted that they appreciated the safe-space training environment created by TWC instructors, Frank Burnett and Allie Franklyn. One participant shared, “I was more comfortable participating because I never felt like I would be judged. Both lead by example and are very knowledgeable.” At SacRT in Sacramento, TWC instructors Dennise Cardona, Arnett Powell, and Kristen Ribaudo remarked on the passion in the room while working with the Level 2 participants, who evidenced a real desire to enhance their courseware development skills to create a better learning experience for their learners.
Contact Kristen Ribaudo at [email protected] if you are interested in additional information or scheduling a Train-the-Trainer class at your agency.
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Frank Burnett at SEPTA's Train-the-Trainer | |
SacRT Train-the-Trainer participants with TWC instructors Allie Franklyn (first row, left) and Frank Burnett (back row, right). | |
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Train-the-Mentor
In addition to Train-the Trainer, TWC provides Train-the-Mentor programs. Increasingly, transit locations across the country have seen the significant impact well-structured mentor programs can have. Central to a successful program are trained mentors fully prepared to support their bus operator and technician mentees, with a focus on newly hired workers.
TWC’s mentor training has been in-demand across the country, and in January thirty enthusiastic Metro Transit (St. Louis) bus operator mentors and members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 788 participated in a mentor training at Metro headquarter. TWC’s Senior Workforce Advisor Maurice Beard and ATU International’s Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Jamaine Gibson led the training and engaged in interactive discussions with participants on various strategies to help combat challenges new hires face, such as offering ride-alongs to help operators learn routes and a range of safety concerns. TWC instructor Arnett Powell assisted with the session.
Upcoming mentor trainings are currently set for a variety of transit teams across the country. Please contact Maurice Beard at [email protected] for more information on scheduling or learning more about TWC mentor training.
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New Video on Mentoring Focuses on the Link Between Recruitment and Retention
When TWC team members are on the road making their often-requested presentations on recruitment, they always emphasize that strong mentoring programs can significantly enhance recruitment initiatives. Among the many programs the International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) has been involved with over the years as ITLC and, more recently, in its TWC capacity, is the model set of mentoring and apprenticeship programs at Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) jointly developed with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 268. This recently released recruitment video emphasizes the mentoring program—titled Positive Impact (PI). According to TWC Communications Manager David Stephen, who led the development of TWC's National Transit Frontline Worker Recruitment Toolkit, the video and its message reflect an understanding that "mentoring is an important and effective way of nurturing workers so they can thrive in their careers, and amplifying strong mentoring programs like PI can be a part of a successful and comprehensive recruitment strategy."
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U.S. DOT Publishes Report Focusing on Infrastructure Investment in Transportation and Transportation’s Construction Workforce
The report Investing in America: Best Practices to Expand Access to Jobs and Economic Opportunity Through Transportation Infrastructure Investments may be useful to transit agencies doing construction work. This report includes detailed recommendations and examples of successful strategies related to how state and local transportation agencies can expand access to transportation construction jobs and opportunity for several underrepresented groups including women, young people, justice involved, and people of color.
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Add Your Videos to the Transit Agency Recruitment Video Library
As a part of TWC’s National Transit Frontline Worker Recruitment Campaign, additional videos have recently been added to the Transit Agency Recruitment Video Library. The diverse collection will continue to grow with your help. If your agency has recruitment videos to share, please allow us to add them to our library. Please contact Communications Manager David Stephen at [email protected].
| TWC continues to reach numerous transit industry stakeholders through public presentations, website resources, and technical assistance. The TWC team has presented at state and national conferences, hosted and presented in webinars, added extensively to transitworkforce.org, and continued to deliver rapid responses. TWC also provides in-depth ongoing engagement, to transit locations requesting technical assistance. |  | |
Since TWC’s inception in September 2021, engagement includes:
- Over 9,000 attendees reached through presentations at conferences, webinars, and other industry events;
- Over 77,000 views of transitworkforce.org, including over 11,000 views of the Resource Center and over 8,500 views of National Frontline Worker Recruitment Campaign materials;
- Over 280 resources hosted on the Resource Center, with new publications, webinar recordings, case studies, training materials, funding opportunities and more being added monthly; and
- More than 480 technical assistance requests received and resolved, with an average initial response time of less than 5 business hours.
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Out and About
TWC staff members frequently travel to industry events around the country to present, share resources, and engage with industry stakeholders. To request TWC's participation in an event, please send an email to [email protected]. Here are some examples of where TWC staff have been and what they have been doing off-site and online:
November
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Maurice Beard, Michaela Boneva, and Jack Clark attended the 58th Annual California Transit Administration (CTA) Fall Conference, where TWC staffed an exhibit booth and Jack served as a panelist in a discussion titled "Generation ZE: Preparing Our Frontline Workforce for ZEV."
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In recognition of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) designated National Apprenticeship Week, Karitsa Holdzkom facilitated a webinar titled “Women in Frontline Transit Apprenticeships” that focused on women's shared experiences with apprenticeships and the opportunities that apprenticeship programs can bring to agencies and workers.
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Jack Clark participated in the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCTRA) and Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 268’s Positive Impact program mentorship event, where Jack was interviewed by GCRTA.
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David Stephen and Shayna Gleason hosted a webinar titled “Approaches to Childcare Support in the Transit Industry” and engaged in a lively discussion about the lack of access to affordable and accessible childcare and how it impacts workers in the transit industry.
December
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Pat Greenfield presented at the NorthEast Passenger Transportation Association (NEPTA) Annual Conference during FTA’s Region 1 plenary session “Moving Public Transportation: FTA, Workforce Development, and Beyond.”
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David Stephen was a guest speaker during the "Critical Conversation: The Public Transport Frontline Worker Crisis" webinar, organized by the Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure (IYAI+) network.
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Maurice Beard and Shayna Gleason hosted an exhibit booth and moderated panels related to transit workforce development at the National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
January
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Maurice Beard and Jamaine Gibson, ATU co-facilitated a Mentor Training Session at Metro Transit’s (St. Louis) headquarters with Metro Transit bus operator mentors and members of the Amalgamated Transit Union’s (ATU) Local 788, with the support of TWC’s Arnett Powell.
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Michaela Boneva, Shayna Gleason, and Douglas Nevins delivered an overview and demonstration of TWC's Transit Workforce Data Dashboard to the Bus and Truck Data Subcommittee at the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) 103rd Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. Shayna also presented a poster on hiring older adults and people with disabilities in transit jobs during the “Workforce Development and Organizational Excellence” poster session.
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Maurice Beard was invited to California Transit Works’ (CTW) annual meeting in January in Union City California. He joined 250 attendees from California transit partners, along with participants from five other states for “Mentors in Motion: Inspiring Each Other and Building Community,” discussing and celebrating the success of peer-to-peer mentor programs.
For more details on many of these presentations, subscribe to ITLC Update.
| The Transit Workforce Center is FTA’s technical assistance center for frontline workforce development, operated by the International Transportation Learning Center. | |
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