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Linking Technical Experts and Trainers - As Presented by Center Senior Advisor Dr. Chuck Hodell
 The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) has just published a new guide for trainers and instructional design professionals working with technical subject matter experts. Entitled SMEs from the Ground Up: A No Nonsense Approach to Trainer-Expert Collaboration, the book was written by the Center's senior program director for instructional design, Chuck Hodell. This volume supplements Dr. Hodell's prior ASTD book, ISD from the Ground Up. In both books, Chuck blends well-researched educational principles with real-life experiences that illustrate what works and what doesn't. SMEs walks the reader through the process of building subject matter expert committees, the challenges of adhering to deliverable schedules, managing version control and communicating with the "sentinel" SMEs who need to report back to top management on budget and timeline. Chuck also addresses the transition that some SMEs want to make from being expert technicians to become trainers and instructional designers. These points are supplemented by real world experiences Chuck has had with the instructional designers and SMEs which are part of the Center's Transit Elevator-Escalator Training Consortium.
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The New York Times - Paul Krugman
Detroit is a symbol of the old economy's decline. It's not just the derelict center; the metropolitan area as a whole lost population between 2000 and 2010, the worst performance among major cities. Atlanta, by contrast, epitomizes the rise of the Sun Belt; it gained more than a million people over the same period, roughly matching the performance of Dallas and Houston without the extra boost from oil.
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Wired - July 29, 2013
A new report shows the smartphone is poised to replace the ticket as the preferred method of paying for public transit. To which we say, "duh." Analysts at Juniper Research, a UK-based consulting firm, looked at current trends in paying by phone and predict that mobile ticketing across all forms of transit will triple in the next five years. That growth will be led by the local public transit sector, but will also include airlines and long-distance rail.
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Chicago Tribune - July 30, 2013
The next time you are behind the wheel hopelessly stuck in a traffic jam, or on a broken-down train or on a bus or plane that's going nowhere fast, chances are your elected officials will not be in the same boat fuming along simpatico. But if you think it would do any good to complain, or simply want to vent real-time as your blood boils about the crummy state of transportation, roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the U.S., there's a new way to do it - and without even knowing the names of your representatives in Congress or having to lick a stamp.
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Progressive Railroading - July 31, 2013
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced it will begin phasing in a new fare payment system for select CTA and Pace riders on Aug. 5. The Ventra payment system will be available for use by all CTA and Pace riders on Sept. 9. "We're eager to educate all of our customers about the benefits of Ventra, which will replace an outdated, nearly 20-year-old system with a modern, efficient one that will allow faster boarding, account management and balance protection when the card is registered," said CTA President Forrest Claypool in a press release.
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Dharm Guruswamy - Greater Greater Washington - July 30, 2013
Last Thursday, the WMATA Board of Directors voted to ratify a contract with Local 689 of the Amalgamated Transit Union. Not only did the union and WMATA come to an agreement without a bitter arbitration process, but it's a good deal for riders and taxpayers.
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The San Francisco Appeal - July 29, 2013
BART management is meeting with union leaders again today to try to reach an agreement before the union employees' contract expires at midnight Sunday, a management spokesman said.
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Voice of the Valley - July 26, 2013
Industry recognition puts Metro in elite group for sustainable achievement. King County Metro is not only getting you there, it's doing it with less energy, waste and pollution - reasons it is being recognized as the gold-standard for sustainability by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Metro joins an elite group of transit agencies in the U.S. being recognized by APTA for stepping up to voluntarily reduce their environmental footprint.
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Building Transportation Infrastructure
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Detroit Free Press - July 30, 2013
Michigan leads the nation in the miles of recreational trails converted from abandoned railroad tracks. But come August, the 2,653 miles of trails will shrink by almost two miles when a stretch of trail between Ishpeming and Republic is converted back to rail. It's the first such conversion - called reactivation - in Michigan. And it is one of only about nine nationwide that have happened since the federal Rails to Trails law was signed in 1976.
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Miami Herald - July 28, 2013
Managers of the project to operate a premium Miami-Orlando passenger train service say they are close to putting out bids to design the railroad corridor stretching from downtown Miami to the Orlando International Airport. "We will be awarding design packages for the West Palm Beach to Miami segment August or September," Husein Cumber, executive vice president for corporate development for Florida East Coast Industries, told a meeting Thursday in Coral Gables of the Florida Transportation Commission.
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