Rail Car Consortium Courseware Well Received in MBTA Pilot Classes
From January to March 2017, MBTA piloted four courses developed by the National Rail Car Training Consortium. These courses covered the background knowledge, safety procedures, tools, and inspection and preventive maintenance procedures for rail car Auxiliary Power Supplies and Battery Systems, and HVAC. In six days of training classes, MBTA instructor delivered a total of roughly 171 participant hours to 22 pilot participants. Seventeen Certificates of Completion were awarded to technicians who successfully completed the training and passed the post-assessments. Technicians achieved significant learning gains as demonstrated by the pre- and post-assessment score improvements. They found the instructional videos produced by the Consortium especially helpful in their understanding of the hands-on operations and maintenance of equipment. Feedback provided by the instructor and participants is very valuable for the Center's courseware development team to continue to improve the products.
For more information on the National Rail Car Training Consortium:
Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) awards close to $100,000 annually in national scholarships to minority graduate and undergraduate students pursuing careers in the transportation industry. For more information go to: http://www.comto.org/page/Scholarships
A new report from TransitCenter, an NYC-based foundation dedicated to improving transit, outlines what's worked for mayors and other city officials trying to improve public transportation, and offers advice for other cities that want to follow in their footsteps.
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A proposal heard in Nevada's Senate Transportation Committee last week would give new authority to local officials wanting to pursue funding options for transportation. The plan is a first step toward constructing a new light-rail line in Las Vegas.
In Maryland, the state's mass transit system - most of it based in the Baltimore metro area - has to pay for at least 35% of its operating budget through rider fares. The law makes transit service less frequent and more expensive. There's a bill in the Maryland state legislature that would change this.
D.C. officials and transit advocates are pursuing a shift in the way employers offer commuting benefits to encourage more biking, walking and transit over solo driving.
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Before any Sound Transit 3 spending went into effect, the Seattle region was already spending more, per capita, on new buses, trains and other transit projects than any other major city in the country.
Last November, Atlantans overwhelmingly voted to tax themselves to increase funding for MARTA, the region's rapid transit authority. Now, MARTA wants to hear from voters again about how to spend the dollars they approved.
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