Transit Core Competencies Curriculum is Piloted in Conjunction with MBTA's 2016 Summer Intern Transportation Institute
On Friday July 22, 2016, 27 participants from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) 2016 Summer Intern Transportation Institute met at MassDOT Boston headquarters to participate in a day long pilot of the Transit Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3). This group of current students and recent graduates from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School are interning at MBTA in a range of areas, including sheet metal work, real estate, safety and security, telecommunications, auto body and repair, electrical repair, IT and carpentry. Led by the Center and experienced MBTA representatives-Frank Burnett and Lynelle Butterfield (IBEW Local 103 trainers), Doug MacElhiney (MBTA Maintenance Instructor) and Troy Ellerbee (Retired Director, MBTA Bus and Maintenance Division)-participants spent the day engaged in modules covering various aspects of the public transportation industry, career opportunities, transit maintenance and safety.
TC3 is being developed by the Transportation Learning Center, in collaboration with working groups of agency subject matter experts from labor and management, along with experienced educators and trainers involved in career and technical education and workforce development. TC3 is designed to introduce diverse groups of young people and adults in the communities public transportation serves to frontline career opportunities in the industry generally and to provide baseline knowledge and skills in electrical and mechanical theory and practice and vehicle and facilities maintenance. TC3's goal is to provide participants nationally the opportunity to become strong and successful applicants, trainees and apprentices.
Facing a shortage of roughly one-third of its professional engineering and technical staff, aging infrastructure and growing capital needs, BART has an ambitious plan to fill more than 60 vacancies by November, agency officials said. The BART board of directors last week approved up to $500,000 to contract with specialized search firms to recruit and vet skilled candidates for the agency. Staff will use the firms to fill roughly 30 positions as a pilot program, but it actually needs twice as many new employees. The positions include computer systems engineers, traction power specialists, train control and systems integrations engineers, and mechanical and environmental engineers, among others, said Tamar Allen, BART's chief engineering officer.
Last Friday, a plan to increase Connecticut rail and bus fares was announced by the state's Department of Transportation and Gov. Dan Malloy. The rate increases are part of the plan plan to implement the new fiscal year's budget that began July 1, which will include both expenditure reductions across the Department's budget and increased rail and bus fares that will collectively balance the Department of Transportation budget while preserving service, according to a press release from the state. The 5% increase would include all parts of the Metro-North New Haven commuter line, including the New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury branches and Shoreline east and would become effective Dec. 1 of this year. On the New Haven line, it would be combined with the 1% increase already scheduled for January, making the increase six percent.
A prominent mass transportation expert told the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board of directors on Monday that ride-hailing services have little impact on public transit ridership. The data presented by Jarrett Walker, author of the book Human Transit, contradict one of Capital Metro's official explanations for a sinking number of passengers. "Ride-sourcing has a small negative on transit ridership, and the impact is very concentrated to certain markets," Walker explained. He pointed to the minimal bump in ridership the transit agency had seen in May when ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft ceased operations in Austin city limits.
After several hurdles put the original plan on the back burner, Metro is hoping to get support for bus rapid transit along Southeast Division Street. Bus rapid transit, or BRT, would have the latest technology that would communicate with traffic signals to allow for a smoother ride along the route. The plan promises to be 15 percent quicker, with bigger buses carrying more passengers. The stations would be spread out to cut down on stopping. The downside of that is some people would have to walk further to catch the bus.
The threat of a crippling rail strike is over after the members of two NJ Transit unions approved an agreement with the agency this weekend. Members of the SMART Transportation Division Local 60, representing conductors and trainmen, approved the pact by a vote of 545 to 322, which were counted on Saturday. Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers ratified the agreement by a vote 184 to 140, which was announced on the union's website on Friday.
Federal funds are being invested into the region's public transportation system, with hopes to make it more reliable. The Albany-based Capital District Transportation Authority, which serves the Capital Region through its extensive transit system, has been allocated $767,500 from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Authority and its Buses and Bus Facilities Program to purchase 20 40-foot, ultra-low sulfur, diesel buses. These new buses are expected to cut down on maintenance expenses and make CDTA's system more reliable as a whole, according to a news release from U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both D-N.Y.
GRTC Transit is eliminating three routes and altering nine others, according to a schedule of changes released Monday and scheduled to go into effect on or before Aug. 21. The changes are part of the regular review of GRTC's more than 40 routes and are expected to save about $350,000, allowing the transit system to remain within the $47 million budget its board of directors adopted in June for the fiscal year that started July 1, said Carrie Rose Pace, a GRTC spokeswoman.
