Center Update

UTA/ATU Career Pathway Partnership Exposes 3,200 Students to the Possibility of being Transit Employees When They Grow up


For over a year the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 382 have been working together on outreach to make community members aware of opportunities for great careers in frontline work at UTA.  A team of union and management representatives have met monthly to develop and take on assignments, and the group efforts have resulted in outcomes and activities such as highly visible career advertisements on UTA buses, a recruitment brochure, and a variety of labor-management recruitment visits and activities at community colleges, high schools and the local Job Corps Center.

In late April, team co-leader Mike Harowitz from ATU (Bus Maintenance) and team members Doug Malmborg and Imelda Piep (Bus Operations), Denis Davis (Maintenance Training), and Charleen Solyom (Human Resources) participated in one of the most successful events yet: Construction Career Days at Davis Applied Technology College, aimed at introducing junior and senior high school students to the possibility of a career at UTA and engaging them in interesting and fun ways.  A 2013 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus provided by UTA's Central Division served as an overall visual and hands-on aid.  Maintenance Training then presented a variety of engine, brake and steering parts, and students were invited to properly identify the parts for a chance to win a UTA t-shirt.

Team members agree that the bus and game were well-received by the over 3,200 students who came through during the two-day program. Thanks to Maintenance Training Administrator Randy Welsh for the report.  The UTA/ATU ongoing outreach work is being documented as part of the Transportation Learning Center's work on Career Pathways under the FTA's Innovative Workforce Development project.
Public Transportation
SmartGrowth America - May 2, 2014
Have you ever caught a bus right outside your office? Taken the subway to a ball game? Or ridden the light rail to go to the grocery store?  If you have, you know how convenient and inviting transit-oriented development can be.  This strategy-of building neighborhoods with homes, shops and offices near public transportation-can create significant economic development, generate new tax revenue for towns and cities, and lower housing and transportation costs for families. But these projects come with complex infrastructure challenges, and as a result need more than just bank support.
The Atlantic Cities - April 30, 2014
Just how much does where you live affect the number of jobs available to you? This complex question is now much easier to visualize, thanks to a new interactive map from the Regional Planning Association, an urban advocacy group focused on the New York metropolitan area.  Using the latest Census data as well as traffic and transit data from local transportation agencies, RPA's new map unpacks job access with excruciating detail. Drop the pin anywhere in the tri-state area and you get a realistic picture of available jobs -- filtered by industry, education level, transit mode, and commute time. 
Transit System/Partners
News Day - May 3, 2014
The Long Island Rail Road's new president promises to keep a sharp eye on the quality of LIRR service to Manhattan -- both existing and planned -- and wants to quickly build a "comfort level" with commuters.  Patrick Nowakowski, a veteran of public transit projects in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., was appointed last week by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  Nowakowski, 60, said he intends to get plugged into the troubled East Side Access Project linking the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal.  
Progressive Railroading - May 2, 2014
Metra and its contract carriers BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad are preparing for spring and summer storms now by installing anemometers along Metra's rail system that are designed to help minimize train delays.  The devices measure wind speed and direction. Metra provided the funding for the installation of eight of them along the three UP lines and three along the BNSF line. The devices, which cost about $25,000 each, will provide real-time data about winds, providing UP and BNSF dispatchers more accurate information about weather conditions, Metra officials said in a press release.
Oregon Live - May 2, 2014
Benjamin Ross' new book is all about the end of suburban sprawl and the rise of smart growth, so the spot at which I reached him on his cell phone the other day seemed especially ironic: He was sitting in his car, air conditioner humming, outside a McDonald's somewhere in California's Central Valley.  Ross, a writer, consultant and the former president of Maryland's Action Committee on Transit, the nation's largest grassroots transit advocacy group, is on the West Coast swing of a book tour to promote "Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism," an optimistic look at the United States' tilt back toward walkable neighborhoods and urban living.
City Pages - May 5, 2014
Certain areas of the Twin Cities are about to have much easier access to fresh food. The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation is sponsoring a new grocery-store-on-wheels program called Twin Cities Mobile Market.  The foundation recently procured an old Metro Transit bus, which it will convert for use as a mobile market, bringing fresh food and produce to underserved areas of the Twin Cities. According to the foundation's website, the mobile market "fills a gap between food shelves and full-service supermarkets by providing a wide selection of fresh foods at below-market prices."
Safety
Philadelphia Inquirer - May 6, 2014
After rising for a decade, violent and property crimes dropped on SEPTA subway and elevated lines last year, as fare-evasion arrests skyrocketed.  SEPTA Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III credited a change in police tactics: more officers in the subways, a crackdown on minor crimes, and a focus on fare jumpers.  In 2013, there were 464 reported violent and property crimes on the Broad Street subway and the Market-Frankford elevated/subway line, down 14 percent from 541 in 2012. Violent and property crimes include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, theft, and arson.  
Barrier would offer safety from unruly riders
Boston Globe - May 7, 2014
It has only been a day since bus operator Antoinette Bradley began driving with the MBTA's newest safety equipment, a plexiglass partition that separates her from passengers. But already, she's a fan.  "I feel much safer now, and I don't have to worry about anyone," Bradley said. "They need it on every shift, on every route."  In response to a rash of assaults on bus drivers in recent years, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is testing a barrier that would help protect operators from angry passengers seeking to hit or spit on them.
Building Transportation Infrastructure
National Geographic - May 2, 2014
Transportation has always been essential to Chicago's economic success. The city was established at the junction of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River and is currently the transfer point of half of all trans-continental goods. With the second-largest public transportation system in the country, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) are bringing Bus Rapid Transit to the downtown "Loop" area, the second-busiest downtown in the U.S. and the heart of the regional economy. Congestion in the Loop, like in most cities around the world, is increasing, and BRT is the most cost effective solution to maintain the region's competitiveness.
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