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twc@transportcenter.orgResource Center
The Transit Workforce Center is pleased to host a curated collection of publications and other materials to assist stakeholders engaged in transit workforce development. The Resource Center includes case studies, training materials, research reports, and other materials of interest, including publications produced by federal government agencies, transit organizations, and independent research entities. Resources may be filtered by topic, resource type, and transit mode. This TWC blog post explains how to use the Resource Center.
We are continuing to update the Resource Center regularly. Please contact us via the Request Help menu option if you would like assistance using the Resource Center or are looking for resources on a particular topic. We also welcome suggestions of topics or specific resources to add.
Content in external resources linked from the Resource Center is solely the responsibility of the resource authors and does not necessarily reflect the perspectives of or endorsement by the Transit Workforce Center.
Assessing Lifecycle and Human Costs of Bus Operator Workstation Design and Components
TCRP Research Report 247: Assessing Lifecycle and Human Costs of Bus Operator Workstation Design and Components, from TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program, creates an easy-to-use toolkit for predicting the long-term safety of and promoting a healthy environment in bus operator workstations.
Transit Cooperative Research Board
June 2024
TOPICS: Policy and Planning, Retention, Safety and Health
Driving trucks and buses is a physically demanding occupation that carries one of the highest injury rates of major occupational categories in the United States. Drivers often work in postures that increase risk of low back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders, slow their response time, and put them at increased risk for acute injuries due to crashes.
TCRP Research Report 247: Assessing Lifecycle and Human Costs of Bus Operator Workstation Design and Components, from TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program, creates an easy-to-use toolkit for predicting the long-term safety of and promoting a healthy environment in bus operator workstations.
Contributor(s): National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Transportation Research Board; Transit Cooperative Research Program; Songlin Wu; Eunsik Kim; Andris Freivalds; Yiqi Zhang; Matthew Parkinson
APTA’s Workforce Clearinghouse
APTA’s Workforce Clearinghouse connects users with convenient access to industry materials, stories, and recommended practices to help advance awareness of transit careers and further educate the workforce.
American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
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Developing Transit Talent Pipelines
TransitCenter’s report explores the workforce challenges of transit bus mechanics and maintenance workers, which are essential for transitioning to low-no buses and restoring pre-pandemic service. Agencies are struggling to maintain a steady pipeline for these positions due to retirements, attrition, and a changing labor market. The report determines that agencies should engage more actively with potential workers and encourage them to join the transit workforce, as well as finding new ways to prepare new workers and retrain current workers to meet current and future needs, particularly as technology for low-no buses continues to change and grow more widespread. The report recommends greater investment from transit agencies, state and federal government, and philanthropy to support transit jobs.
TransitCenter
May 2024
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ATTAIN Bus Operator Apprenticeship Meeting
TWC’s American Transit Training and Apprenticeship Innovators Network (ATTAIN) met on May 17, 2024 to discuss bus operator apprenticeship. Check out the recording for short presentations from transit peers across the country and an engaging and interactive discussion about the development of bus operator mentorship and apprenticeship programs, how they work, and the benefits they offer.
Transit Workforce Center
May 2024
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Mississippi’s Developing Responsible Individuals with Valuable Education (DRIVE) Program
This TWC case study is about the Mississippi Developing Responsible Individuals with Valuable Education (DRIVE) Program, which uses Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, distributed by the Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC), to partners such as Grace House, Inc. and Community Development, Inc. (CDI). These partners use the funding in a variety of creative ways to provide housing and other supportive services to DRIVE participants while they complete training and certification for a commercial driver’s license (CDL). Partners also provide job assistance to participants, placing them and helping them succeed in local transit jobs. Learn more about the program, services offered, and how stakeholders leverage funding in the full case study.
Transit Workforce Center
May 2024
TOPICS: Career Pathways, Community Engagement, Hiring and Recruitment, Policy and Planning, Training, Workforce Shortage
Workplace Mental Health Toolkit
The Workplace Mental Health Toolkit assists employers’ efforts to support the mental health and well-being of all workers, including people with mental health conditions. Through this toolkit, organizations can learn how to create a mental health-friendly workplace and help their employees access resources that will lead to improved well-being.
Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability
TOPICS: Policy and Planning, Retention, Safety and Health
Fatigue Resources for Transit Operations
To support the transit industry, FTA has compiled resources that can be used to better understand fatigue and fatigue-related issues in the workplace. The site includes resources about understanding sleep, causes of fatigue, symptoms and warning signs, effects, relevance to transit workers and agencies, and fatigue risk management systems.
Federal Transit Administration
TOPICS: Policy and Planning, Safety and Health, Training
Good Transit Requires Well Paid Union Workers
This report presents bus operator wages as compared with Area Median Income in 30 cities across the U.S., pointing out that in the last two decades, starting wages for our nation’s bus operators have fallen seriously behind the cost of living. In the face of a workforce shortage, the report makes the case for decision makers to ensure higher wages for frontline transit workers.