|
|
|
 |
On Thursday October 22, the Center held a launch meeting for their new
Integrating Career Pathways in Public Transportation: Rail Car Maintenance and Beyond project. Through this project, the Center and partners will develop
courseware specific to the skills needed for rail vehicle maintenance as well as develop
Transit Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3) that provide a
generic entry point for anyone looking to start a career in transit. Through strategic partnerships with transit workers' unions and large transit agencies, among others, this program will ensure that participants receive high-quality instruction that is directly related to current and future careers in transit. Recruitment efforts will focus on underserved communities, creating
Ladders of Opportunity.
Webinar attendees and project partner organizations include: Local agency and local union partners from around the country, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Corps Network and its Denver affiliate Mile High Youth Corps, National College Credit Recommendation Service, American Federation of Teachers (AFT)/Shanker Institute and FTA, represented by MacKenzie Thiessen. Topics covered included:
* Project Overview and Deliverables
* Model Used
* Courseware Development Process
* Transit Core Competencies Curriculum
For more information:
Webinar
PowerPoint Presentation
Contact Project Manager
Tia Brown
|
Facing the October 29 expiration of surface transportation programs, the House will vote this week on a bill to extend these programs for three weeks, through November 20, buying time for the House to finish work on its six-year bill. The extension legislation also includes a three-year postponement, until December 31, 2018, of the deadline to implement Positive Train Control (PTC), a compromise provision crafted by Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD). The short-term transportation extension follows a five-hour markup on Thursday by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of its long-term highway bill, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act (STRR Act).
|
Have you ever noticed that Gotham's subways are crowded? The phenomenon causing those crowds isn't just making your commute worse. It's wreaking havoc across the whole country. The economic and political truths that have governed America since the end of World War II - that everyone wants a big house and a car to drive to and from that big house - are disintegrating. Any of the politicians running for president could distinguish himself by acknowledging that for many young people - and old people - freedom isn't sitting in traffic, but sitting on a train or on a bike and bypassing that traffic.
|
The 1990s is making a roaring comeback these days, from movies to music, and now soon, in transit planning. A Jurassic Park sequel roared into theaters this year, the '90s sitcom Boy Meets World was revived as Girl Meets World, and even the obsession of '90s teens, the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, are rumored to be contemplating a reunion tour. In much the same vein, San Francisco transit agencies are making a comeback.
|
It's time to move buses faster and connect them to jobs and destinations beyond downtown. Today CTA buses frequently get stuck in traffic - especially during rush hour - and stop often. As a result, in line with national trends, CTA bus ridership fell 8 percent last year while rail ridership rose to its highest level in more than 50 years. For some, the lesson from this is that Chicago should shift resources away from buses and invest elsewhere to meet rising transit demand - and they're totally wrong.
|
|
International Transportation News
|
Residents of Colombia's capital on Sunday chose a public-transportation expert who has vowed to solve the city's debilitating traffic problems and tackle the growing crime rate to serve as the next mayor of this sprawling city of eight million. Enrique Peñalosa, 61 years old, was elected with 33.1% of the vote. He beat Rafael Pardo, the country's former labor minister and ally of current center-right President Juan Manuel Santos, who captured 28.5%. Mr. Peñalosa served as Bogotá's mayor from 1998 to 2001. During that term, he launched the city's rapid-bus transportation system.
|
Students at universities throughout the New York City area, and the nation, could soon receive a 25 percent discount (or more) on their public-transit fare. U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) - famed resident of Park Slope, Brooklyn - proposed legislation on Monday that would reward local subway and bus systems with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) money for giving college kids a discount. Schumer is feeling very proud of his bill, which he has named the University Transit Rider Innovation Program (UTRIP).
|
Until a train barreled off the tracks at 9:26 p.m. on May 12, it had been business as usual on Capitol Hill. Among the bills quietly making their way toward a final vote was one that would postpone by several years a multibillion-dollar safety-enhancement deadline facing the railroad industry. A victory for the railroads, which maintain one of the most powerful lobbying efforts in Washington, seemed all but certain and likely to be little noticed outside of the industry.
|
|
Building Transportation Infrastructure
|
Last week, Kansas City Streetcar Authority officials began testing the streetcar's overhead wire. Testing continued throughout the week along the streetcar route, KC Streetcar officials said in a press release. "This latest round of streetcar activity signifies the intense progress being made on this project as we prepare the infrastructure for the arrival of the first streetcar vehicle," said Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. The first streetcar is expected to arrive by the end of this month, at which point integrated testing can begin.
|
Currently, many transit agencies across the United States are experiencing the need to build new lines and expand service while needing to maintain their existing systems in a state of good repair. As a result, the pipeline of new starts, small starts and core capacity projects continue to grow. While the demand for mobility is growing, funding challenges persist. This makes it extremely important for project sponsors to make smarter use of the innovations offered in MAP-21 of 2012 and generally available in the marketplace.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
