Center Update
Center Recognized by DOL as an Industry Champion for Transportation


The Transportation Learning Center has recently been recognized as an industry champion by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Employment & Training Administration (ETA) for its contribution in developing updates to the industry competency model of Transportation, Distribution and Logistics. This initiative is being carried out by ETA in collaboration with the Department of Transportation. During the model update process, the TLC's Subject Matter Experts Xinge Wang and Jack Clark provided feedback on model drafts to support an accurate representation of the transportation industry and provide insights into industry trends and direction that impact on competency requirements.

With other industry champions such as the American Public Transportation Association, American Society for Transportation and Logistics, and the SMART Center, TLC will continue to support the promotion of the model's use and support ETA in determining when the model will need to be updated in the future. The updated model with a list of industry champions and related resources such as the recently approved Rail Vehicle Technician Apprenticeship can be found at:
Public Transportation
USA Today - March 10, 2014
Ridership on public transportation last year grew 1.1% to 10.7 billion trips, the highest total since 1956, according to new data from the American Public Transportation Association.  Since 1995, transit ridership is up 37.2%, which outpaced the national population growth of 20.3%, says Michael Melaniphy, APTA president and CEO.
The Hill - March 6, 2014
Rail industry officials and federal accident regulators disagreed about the viability of a looming mandate that most U.S. railways be equipped with automated control systems by the end of next year during a Senate hearing on Thursday. Congress is requiring that most major railroad companies install automated systems known as Positive Train Control (PTC) by December 2015.  
Streetblogs USA - March 5, 2014
The budget proposal released by President Obama yesterday fleshes out the transportation ideas put out by the White House last week and includes specific grants for transit upgrades and expansions in 2015, but many of them won't be part of this budget unless Congress agrees to increase funding for transportation.  The White House budget proposes $17.6 billion for the Federal Transit Administration, an increase of about $7 billion from current levels. This would give transit agencies significantly more resources to rehab existing infrastructure and build rail and bus expansions.   
Mother Nature Network - March 10, 2014
The other day, my North Carolina community was abuzz with news: Triangle Transit had received approval from the Federal Transit Administration to begin planning a 17-mile light rail route between Chapel Hill and Durham. According to the News & Observer, it's pretty much the same route that's been proposed by various community advocates for more than 20 years.  So what's different now?
Greater Greater Washington - March 6, 2014
Area magazines often issue lists of the "Best Places to Work," but they don't consider what the commute to those places is like. The real best places to work don't make employees sit in traffic for hours each day.  Each year, Baltimore Magazine releases its list of the Best Places to Work, based on factors like salaries, benefits, career mobility, and workplace culture. Washingtonian Magazine has a similar ranking.      
Labor News
The New York Times - March 9, 2014
Most people, if pressed on the subject, would probably agree that extreme income inequality is a bad thing, although a fair number of conservatives believe that the whole subject of income distribution should be banned from public discourse. (Rick Santorum, the former senator and presidential candidate, wants to ban the term "middle class," which he says is "class-envy, leftist language." Who knew?) But what can be done about it?
The We Party - February 28, 2014
The 8.5 mile light rail line that will connect Los Angeles' Crenshaw neighborhood with Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is governed by a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) that mandates local residents get a chance to work on the project.  The PLA was approved in 2011 and construction was approved in 2012. Now, with ground broken, the importance of the project to the South Los Angeles community is on display.   
Digital Journal - March 7, 2014
New Yorker Samuel Gompers, first president of the American Federation of Labor, called New York City "the cradle of the American labor movement." For example, in New York's first Labor Day parade in 1882, 25,000 workers marched for the abolition of child labor and an eight-hour workday under a Knights of Labor banner. This and other efforts gave New York a reputation as a labor friendly town. 
Building Transportation Infrastructure
Fresh Water - March 6, 2014
Late last month, a group of Detroit transit aficionados and activists hopped on a coach bus and went day tripping to Cleveland. While the weather wasn't much better in northern Ohio, the trip proved refreshing.  Their mission: take a ride on the United States' premier bus rapid transit (BRT) route, the HealthLine, which extends for nine miles along Cleveland's Euclid Avenue, and learn something about BRT that will add to discussions back in Detroit about the future of transit in the region.
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