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First Thursdays - Partnership Highlight
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The Bay Area Rapid Transit Agency (BART) with Local 1021 (SEIU) are utilizing the Transit Elevator-Escalator Consortium's National Transit Elevator-Escalator Maintenance Technician Apprenticeship Program to show their commitment to meeting the elevator mechanic certification requirements of California's Department of Industrial Relations and Division Occupational Safety and Health. The certification requirements mandate that the elevator mechanic be certified as competent by demonstrating three years of work experience in the conveyance industry and submit a certificate from an approved apprenticeship program. A qualifying exam is offered by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in lieu of an approved apprenticeship program. BART decided the Apprenticeship program meets their needs. BART is instructing the training program materials developed by Transportation Learning Center and subject matter experts from various consortium member organizations. BART instructors, who are former mechanics and experts in BART's elevator/escalator equipment, previously attended the Elevator-Escalator Consortium's Train-the-Trainer classes.
For more information on the Transit Elevator/Escalator Training Consortium contact Project Manager
Jim Kinahan. For information on how to implement apprenticeship programs in other public transportation trades, contact Senior Associate
Mark Dysart.
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The Center is honored to be presenting two workshops at the National Transit Institute's Upcoming Transit Trainer's Workshop:
- Expanding Apprenticeship for Transit Technicians: Opportunities and
Resources - Monday, October 12, 9:00am - 10:30am
- Transit Instructional Systems Design Boot Camp - Monday, October
12, 1:30-4:30pm
For more information and to register, visit
NTI's website.
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Anthony Foxx was seen as a transit guy when he was tapped to be President Obama's second-term Transportation Secretary, but his tenure at the helm of the department has been marked by problems involving airplanes, trucks and freight rail. Foxx, the former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., who is closely associated with the development of that city's light rail system, is now halfway through his term as Transportation chief. He is serving at a time of great uncertainty for funding for the nation's highways and aviation system, but Foxx said he is prepared for the challenges, having been affected by transportation since before his birth.
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International Transportation News
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The ability to move around our city is easy to take for granted. Most of us think nothing of hopping into our cars to get milk or the missing ingredient for dinner, to drive to yoga class in the middle of winter, or to get our kids to school on time in the morning. But last week, the food bank released a study about its clientele. It's a sobering snapshot of the regionalization of poverty in Edmonton - and the burden that transportation issues are on the poor.
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The federal Conservatives are promising B.C.'s second-largest city a crucial $700-million for light rail if re-elected - the kind of bid to use transit projects to win votes that has become a refrain in this campaign. Monday's appeal was directed at one of B.C.'s most politically competitive areas, where all three major parties have made gains in the past and are optimistic about their prospects in the six ridings - an increase, due to redistribution, from four in 2011.
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Despite security measures, thieves continue to assault users of El Salvador's complex bus and public transportation system, demonstrating the tremendous difficulties and challenges in securing an entire public transport service. El Salvador's Business Association for the Transport of Bus Passengers (ATP) estimates criminals rob $10 to $11 million from bus passengers and drivers annually, according to El Diario de Hoy; transport workers say there are an average of 10 assaults per day.
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The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has begun a pilot program designed to increase recycling in its subway stations. As part of the program, the MBTA added two recycling kiosks at the Alewife Station in Cambridge, Mass. The kiosks also offer information for riders looking to "recycle on the go," MBTA officials said in a press release. "We take pride in the MBTA's ability to foster more sustainable lifestyles and help commuters reduce their carbon footprint," said MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola. The recycling receptacles have the potential to increase revenue for the MBTA if implemented on a larger scale, as they make space for more advertisements and add valuable materials to recycling tonnages, MBTA officials said.
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USA: The first of 21 light rail vehicles to be refurbished by Siemens for Sacramento Regional Transit District is scheduled to re-enter service during September, operating on the Blue Line extension to Cosumnes River College which opened in August. The high-floor LRVs were originally built by Canada's Urban Transportation Development Corp for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority which operated them in San Jose between 1987 and 2003, when they were acquired by RT and put into storage.
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Employers across industries and regions have complained for years about a lack of skilled workers, and their complaints are borne out in U.S. employment data. In July, the number of job postings reached its highest level ever, at 5.8 million, and the unemployment rate was comfortably below the post-World War II average. But, at the same time, over 17 million Americans are either unemployed, not working but interested in finding work, or doing part-time work but aspiring to full-time work.
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In his 2015 State of the Union Address, President Obama said: "No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change." It is clear that action is needed to reduce transportation's impact on the environment. According to DOT's Center for Climate Change, emissions from transportation constitute 28 percent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution in the United States -the second-highest amount of any sector. And passenger vehicle and truck travel -including transit- accounts for nearly two-thirds of those emissions. That's why, last Friday, the Federal Transit Administration announced $22.5 million in available funding for transit agencies nationwide to procure and deploy cleaner, more energy-efficient transit buses through our Low or No Emission Vehicle Deployment Program, which we call LoNo.
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Building Transportation Infrastructure
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In a nod to the importance of comprehensive land use planning around transit lines, the Federal Transportation Administration recently granted $19.5 million to transportation agencies, cities and regional governments around the U.S. The pilot program is meant to encourage residential and commercial transit-oriented development in order to maximize investments and bolster ridership for new lines.
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