Resource 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.

Advancing Frontline Workforce Development Meeting: Synthesis
This report synthesizes findings from a two-day gathering of more than two dozen transit industry labor and management representatives who engaged in in-depth discussions on frontline workforce training needs across the U.S. The purpose of the meeting was to identify immediate, short-term, and long-term training needs for the frontline public transportation workforce in the U.S. and ways to connect apprenticeship and formal training programs to support these needs.
National Transit Institute; Federal Transit Administration; International Transportation Learning Center
February 2020
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Attracting, Retaining, and Advancing Women in Transit
This TCRP report explores the strategies that have been deployed in transit and other related industries in order to attract, retain, and advance women in a variety of roles. It includes a survey and case studies from several major transit agencies.
Transit Cooperative Research Program
January 2020
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Contributor(s): National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Transportation Research Board; Transit Cooperative Research Program; ICF Allison Alexander

Emerging Leaders Presentation: Recruiting & Retaining Bus Operators
This slidedeck, from the APTA Emerging Leaders Program class of 2019 presentations, provides an overview of research and transit agency case studies to capture key themes on the topics of bus operator recruitment and retention.
American Public Transportation Association
December 2019
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Managing the Transit Scheduling Workforce
This report presents an overview of the practices and procedures transit agencies use to manage their scheduling workforce and will allow agencies to compare what they are currently doing with what others are doing in this area. The report also analyzes how transit systems are evolving their practices to adapt to industry and technological changes. It provides transit systems with new ideas and strategies to retain good schedulers.
Transit Cooperative Research Program
TOPICS: Career Pathways, Hiring and Recruitment, Training
This report is designed to assist transit agencies in managing their transit scheduling human capital. The report presents an overview of the practices and procedures transit agencies use to manage their scheduling workforce and will allow agencies to compare what they are currently doing with what others are doing in this area. The report also analyzes how transit systems are evolving their practices to adapt to industry and technological changes. It provides transit systems with new ideas and strategies to retain good schedulers.
Contributor(s): National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Transportation Research Board; Transit Cooperative Research Program; Transit Cooperative Research Program Synthesis Program; Michael J. Walk; James P. Cardenas; Kristi Miller; Jessica Alvarez; Sandy Davis; Peter Hadley

Innovative Transit Workforce Development Projects of 2012: Summative Evaluation
This report provides the results of the Innovative Transit Workforce Development Program Evaluation of projects awarded in Fiscal Year 2012. FTA awarded a total of $7,048,898 for 16 workforce development projects. Recipients included transit authorities, higher education institutions, Native American tribes, and nonprofit organizations.
Federal Transit Administration
February 2019
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Attracting and Retaining Women in the Transportation Industry
This study synthesizes previously conducted research and identifies additional research needed to attract, promote, and retain women in the transportation industry, particularly emphasizing the importance of community-orientation and mentoring.
Mineta Transportation Institute
February 2019
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Behind the Wheel
This report, Behind the Wheel: A case study of Mission College and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Coach Operator Apprenticeship Program, is part of the Social Policy Research Associates’ evaluation of the California Apprenticeship Initiative. The case study describes the development of the Coach Operator and Transportation Apprenticeship, including why the partners chose an apprenticeship model to meet their training needs, how the program was developed and structured, and what apprentices and employers report about their experiences in the program.
Foundation for California Community Colleges; Social Policy Research Associates
January 2019
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Troops to Transit: A Resource for Recruiting and Developing Veterans for Public Transportation Careers
The International Transportation Learning Center’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data has shown that the transportation industry in large will likely see a massive front-line labor shortage in the next ten years unless it is able to find and hire skilled workers. In fact, it is estimated that 126 percent of today’s transit workforce will have to be hired and trained in the next ten years.
In order to help fill this need, the center has produced a Veterans Crosswalk tool (see Excel document below) which matches skill-sets learned during military service with the kinds of skills that public transportation agencies look for when hiring signals maintainers. This product was produced in cooperation with a Veterans Taskforce made up of veterans who are also Subject Matter Experts in the field of Signals Maintenance. This detailed matrix has been distilled down into a user-friendly Veteran’s Factsheet (see PDF below) which provides at-a-glance information for both veterans interested in a signals career and for agencies looking to hire skilled veterans.
The tool is accompanied by a summary report.