Center Update
Bay Area Transit Acting on Skills Crisis
"About 50 percent of our technical workforce has retired in the last two years.  Another 30 percent will retire in the next five years,"

"We expect to lose 40 percent of our workers to retirement in the next five years."

"Close to 50 percent of our workforce could retire now, and they certainly will in the next five years."

That's how the discussion opened when several major Bay Area transit agencies met with the Center during the APTA Annual Conference in San Francisco.

Beverly Scott, an active Center Board member and former GM at several agencies, and Center Founding Director Brian Turner convened the discussion.  The purpose of the gathering was to share some information on newly launched Center projects and to compare notes on the initiatives Bay Area transit agencies are taking to address their workforce needs.  California higher education representatives also joined in for part of the meeting.

BART, San Francisco MTA (or Muni), SamTrans and Valley Transit all participated in the discussion.  AC Transit and Golden Gate did not have representatives in the room, but both indicated interest in working across locations to address workforce needs.

Agency representatives offered testimonials to how well past projects the Center coordinated had helped them, and they expressed interest in joining current projects.  Chuck Harvey from SamTrans cited his long and deep history with the Center.  A skills gap analysis done by the Center helped SamTrans develop a formal joint committee on training and skills.  SamTrans already had a strong maintenance training program, and the joint committee worked to make it better.  Mean Distance between Failures is now 30,000 miles.   Patrice McElroy from BART spoke about the Elevator-Escalator Consortium.   The State of California had decided that BART did not have a sufficient number of state-certified technicians to maintain its own elevators and escalators.  Because of the work the Consortium had done, BART was able to develop and implement a joint apprenticeship program for elevator-escalator technicians that the state did recognize for certification.  More than half of BART technicians now have the required certification.  Gusti Clark from Muni noted that development of new apprenticeship programs is at the heart of Muni's effort to upgrade training.  Inez Evans of VTA expressed interest in joining in the Signals Consortium.

It's clear that major challenges remain.  As noted above, everyone has a challenge in meeting the large number of vacancies retirements will bring.  Many of the agencies have already started partnerships with high schools, community colleges, community-based organizations and workforce boards to address that need.  They want to do more, and the education representatives made it clear that they want to be partners in the effort.

Recruiting, training and retaining workers for traction power on both overhead catenary and third rail emerged as a major unaddressed need.  At the end of the meeting, agency and Center representatives agreed on the need for continuing dialogue and exploration of how to deepen the career pathways work in northern California.

For more information, contact Center Executive Director Jack Clark. 
Center Seeks Qualified Consultants and Contractors for Technical Assistance on Transit Training and Apprenticeship 
For the detailed Request for Qualification, visit the Center's website.
Public Transportation
In Memoriam: Belt Railway's Mike Paras, a 'Railroader's Railroader'
Progressive Railroading - September 2015

Mike Paras, a longtime general manager for the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago (BRC) and renowned freight-rail expert in the Windy City, died July 30. He was 61.  Paras had served the BRC as GM of transportation for the past decade. During his 43-year railroad career, he also held various positions at the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad - such as trainman, yardmaster and trainmaster - and at Southern Pacific/Union Pacific Railroad, including service unit superintendent and GM of safety initiatives. Mike Paras (left) was known for his jovial demeanor and constant smile.   
Transit System/Partners
LoHud Journal News - October 6, 2015
Ridership on Metro-North trains is booming thanks to a strong economy and job growth in New York City.  Metro-North is on track to top the record it set just last year when it carried 84.7 million passengers, placing it second only to Long Island Rail Road as the busiest commuter railroad in the nation.  "It's not too much of a surprise because we've been watching these trends pretty carefully and we see that we are trending in a very positive way," Michael Shiffer, Metro-North's vice president of operations planning and analysis, told The Journal News.  
Progressive Railroading - October 6, 2015
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced yesterday it's newly elected 2015-2016 Executive Committee and installed Valarie McCall to succeed Phillip Washington as chair.  McCall is a member of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Board of Trustees and serves as chief of government and international affairs for the city of Cleveland. She succeeds Washington, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority.  
Safety
The Oklahoman - October 4, 2015
Waiting behind candy-striped, mechanical arms and flashing lights at railroad crossings has long been a source of irritation for harried motorists, but it beats being smacked by a train.  Oklahomans soon will begin seeing a lot more of those flashing crossing signals and hopefully fewer collisions.  Determined to improve safety, the state is about to embark on an ambitious project to spend $100 million improving 300 railroad crossings over the next three years, said Terri Angier, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.  The Oklahoma Transportation Commission is expected to consider awarding up to 10 of those railroad crossing projects at its Oct. 12 meeting, with more to follow later.  Twelve people were killed and 21 injured in 45 accidents at rail crossings in Oklahoma in 2014, according to the Federal Railroad Administration and Operation Lifesaver Inc.  About half of those accidents occurred at railroad crossings where there were no flashing lights or mechanical arms to warn motorists.
Labor News
Crain's - October 5, 2015
Public bus drivers in Detroit will receive a 6-percent raise to their base wages through a new contract with the city.  Mayor Mike Duggan and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26 leaders on Monday announced details of the agreement, which also includes a one-time 4-percent bonus.  It includes a provision that will allow drivers to receive up to $350 this fiscal year if the amount of money collected in fare boxes exceeds budget expectations. Pay will go up to $12.06 on the low-end and $17.23 on the high-end, still less than what drivers earn in the suburban SMART bus system.  The union represents more than 400 drivers. It's the first contract for the union in five years.  The contract has to be approved by the City Council and Financial Review Commission. 
Workforce Development
Progressive Railroading - September 2015
Railroads' strong tradition of recruiting servicemen and women as they exit the U.S. Armed Forces dates back more than a century. Today, as the rail industry grapples with increasing numbers of worker retirements, hiring veterans is a high priority for railroads' recruiters.  That's because job candidates with military experience have the skills and personality traits that railroads are looking for in employees, rail industry executives say.
FastCompany - October 2015
The eight-hour workday hasn't changed much since Henry Ford first experimented with it for factory workers. Now, Americans work slightly longer-an average 8.7 hours-though more time goes into email, meetings, and Facebook than whatever our official job duties actually are. Is it time to rethink how many hours we spend at the office?  In Sweden, the six-hour workday is becoming common.  "I think the eight-hour workday is not as effective as one would think," says Linus Feldt, CEO of Stockholm-based app developer Filimundus. "To stay focused on a specific work task for eight hours is a huge challenge. . . . In order to cope, we mix in things and pauses to make the workday more endurable. At the same time, we are having it hard to manage our private life outside of work. We want to spend more time with our families, we want to learn new things or exercise more. I wanted to see if there could be a way to mix these things."
Building Transportation Infrastructure
Historic City News - October 5, 2015
Florida Department of Transportation will hold a 5-Year Work Program meeting to discuss their Tentative FY 2017-2021 plans in St Johns County, and all Historic City News readers are invited to attend and participate.  FDOT has a $2.53 billion list of improvements over the next five years in Northeast Florida that will be presented in a public hearing Tuesday (October 6) in Jacksonville.  The public hearing begins at 5:30 p.m. at the FDOT Training Center located at 2198 Edison Avenue (off I-10 and Stockton Street) in Jacksonville.  Specific projects in St Johns, Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, and Putnam counties will be discussed. 
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter