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Center Works to Strengthen Career Pathways in Transportation
From Left: Connie Beene, Kansas Board of Regents; Nancy Brooks, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education; Xinge Wang, Transportation Learning Center; Cindy LeCoq, Colorado Community College System; Robin Utz, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education; Debra Hsu, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
On April 8, 2015, Center Deputy Director Xinge Wang was invited to present on the "Advancing CTE within Career Pathways Systems" panel at the spring meeting of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEC). Robin Utz of Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), U.S. Department of Education moderated the session and discussed OCTAE's recent three-year initiative to assist states in the integration of CTE programs of study with state and local career pathway systems. Leaders from Colorado, Kansas, and Minnesota shared resources developed through career pathways programs for sectors such as IT, healthcare and advanced manufacturing within their states, with a particular emphasis on employer engagement strategies. Ms. Wang shared the recent analysis of transportation job demand and skills needs that was made possible by a joint effort by the U.S. Department of Education, Transportation, and Labor to advance transportation career pathways. The presentation highlighted the abundance of skilled and semi-skilled jobs with good pay and benefits within transportation's six subsectors and the looming skills crisis in frontline operations and maintenance areas. Well-integrated CTE programs based in secondary and postsecondary schools and work-based learning such as apprenticeships can help alleviate the skills shortage and build the next generation transportation workforce. A similar analysis was presented by Ms. Wang at the March 30th National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) Forum.
For more information, download the presentation or contact Center Deputy Director Xinge Wang.
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Imagine if you could take public transit to the National Parks.
The Sierra Club did just that, and the good news for Chicago is that the system goes right through Chicago! Chicagoans could pick up the "Orange Line" and make connections to every National Park in the United States. (It appears all rails would lead to Yosemite.)
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TriMet is joining with other governments, elected officials, private businesses and labor unions to call for more transportation funding. Representatives of the regional transit agency are participating in a Stand Up for Transportation Day event at Pioneer Courthouse Square from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 9. It is one of 300 similar events being held around the country sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association.
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MARTA will hold three northside public meetings this month as part of its Connect 400 transit initiative, which is heading to the next phase of planning under the federal environmental review process. The transit agency will be working on finalizing its environmental impact statement and project evaluation. The agency wants feedback on its so-called Locally Preferred Alternative, a heavy-rail northward expansion of its Red Line that now terminates at the North Springs station.
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Hamilton's bus drivers and the city will hold separate meetings next week to ratify a tentative deal that avoided a transit strike on Thursday. Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 will vote next Wednesday on the agreement, said president Eric Tuck. The city will meet late next week. "Is it the best deal we could have got? It's the best we can get under the circumstances," Tuck said. "I think we're moving forward with transit in Hamilton." The two sides struck a deal just after 5 a.m. on Thursday after an all-night bargaining session.
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Building Transportation Infrastructure
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Hampton Roads Transit officials received mixed feedback Monday night at the first public hearing on the agency's study of extending light rail into Virginia Beach. The crowd of about 100 at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library included business groups, lifelong residents, an immigrant from Hong Kong and a 75-year-old man who pedaled his bike from Newtown Road.
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WASHINGTON - Rail and bus systems across the country could lose nearly half their funding under two proposals in Congress to end federal grants for transit projects. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Mark Sanford of South Carolina, also could affect more than 750 companies in 39 states that produce rail and bus transit components, including manufacturers in those two states. According to the American Public Transportation Association, eliminating federal transit funding would put 66 projects at risk. They include light rail and streetcar projects in Charlotte, N.C.; commuter rail in Fort Worth, Texas; and bus rapid transit in Fresno, Calif.
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C.D.T.A representatives, along with several elected leaders, join to call for action on-an expiring bill to fund transportation projects. The Federal Transportation Bill is set to expire on May 31st. Several local projects are supported by federal funding, including two C.D.T.A bus lines, which are expected to be used by 10 million customers annually once completed. Today's event was part of a nationwide campaign called "Stand Up for Transportation Day."
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