Center Update
Showcase Your Products or Services to Transportation Stakeholders from Over 40 Agencies from Across the Country at our Upcoming Conference


During our upcoming 2017 Making Connections conference on October 26th in Silver Spring, Maryland, the Center will host between 150 and 200 frontline public transportation workers, trainers, and key stakeholders - including representatives from both labor and management - from over 40 U.S. public transportation agencies.
 
We have limited space available for vendor displays. For pricing and more information please contact Center Program Director, John Schiavone at: [email protected] . No phone calls please. 
Public Transportation 
The Conversation - July 25, 2017
Research shows that low-income residents living in sprawling areas have limited transportation options, which constrains their job opportunities and upward mobility. Inadequate transportation keeps people from finding work, which then reduces the productivity of their communities. It also can limit access to medical services, causing health problems to go undetected or worsen.
Eno Transportation Weekly - June 1, 2017
Probably the main reason for falling ridership is that the amount of transit service in many cities and metropolitan areas is actually declining. While some places like Los Angeles, Charlotte and Minneapolis have recently added new rail lines, recent trends across the country lean toward cutting service. The biggest service declines are in our nation's bus systems, which saw a 5.2 percent decrease in the number of miles traveled from 2009 to 2014, according to the National Transit Database.
Governing - August 2017
In the summer of 2016, the Purple Line was five days away from getting its federal grant money. But at the last moment, a new player entered on the scene: U.S. District Judge Richard Leon. The judge issued a response to a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) lawsuit brought by some suburbanites living in the vicinity of the project. These residents had no legitimate environmental concerns; they just didn't want a transit line in their neighborhoods. But they knew how to take advantage of the giant loophole that NEPA had become.
Planetizen - July 25, 2017
People don't aspire to transfer; they don't aspire to experience an intermodal terminal. They almost always want to get door to door in the fastest, simplest, and most reliable fashion. Transferring between vehicles is a necessary inconvenience, not a virtue.
Transit System/Partners
Transit Center - July 27, 2017
Dallas' transit agency, DART, may be poised to change its decades-long priority of building suburban rail at the expense of city transit service. With the Dallas City Council's appointment of four new DART board members in June and Walkable DFW founder Patrick Kennedy last December, a long-overdue conversation is unfolding about what a regional public transportation system ought to look like and who it should serve.
The New York Times - July 24, 2017
Jan Frankel, 50, who supervises the team, described the vacuum cleaner as the "best thing that the M.T.A. has ever done." Beside decreasing track fires, he said he hoped the push to more thoroughly clean the subway would convince the public to respect the tracks and stop littering.
WAMU - August 1, 2017
The full order of 748 7000-series railcars is expected to be completed about a year sooner than originally planned, WMATA general manager Paul Wiedefeld announced. Shortly after his arrival in late-2015, Wiedefeld worked with the manufacturer, Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. in Nebraska, to speed up production and weed out minor defects.
StreetsBlog USA - July 31, 2017
Commuter rail in the United States mostly caters to affluent suburbanites who commute to the city center. Even though these lines pass through working class city neighborhoods that stand to benefit enormously from better transit, the service they provide passes those communities by. It doesn't have to be that way. In Boston, the MBTA is starting to do things differently on a commuter rail line that serves one of the poorest parts of the region.
Economic Issues 
StreetsBlog USA - August 1, 2017
For the transit capital grant program, the House appropriations committee approved a substantial $650 million cut, which only looks good in relation to Trump's initial position of zero dollars. This level of funding would threaten light rail and bus rapid transit projects in dozens of cities that have banked on federal support.
The Hill - July 31, 2017
The DOT's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on Monday that would allow public transit projects to streamline some steps in the regulatory or permit approval process if they prove that it will attract more private investors.
Progressive Railroading - July 27, 2017
Unlike a recent proposal by the U.S. House of Representatives' appropriations committee that would eliminate funds for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants, the Senate subcommittee's bill would provide $550 million for the program.
Building Transportation Infrastructure
Las Vegas Sun - August 2, 2017
Strong infrastructure and a well-functioning transportation system are vital to the health of our economy, but for too long we've treated our infrastructure as though it doesn't matter. And for too long, working people have paid the price.
Labor News
Bloomberg Technology - July 28, 2017
Larry Willis, president of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Division, a coalition of 32 unions, said Congress is progressing too quickly without understanding the full effects of autonomous vehicles, which "are likely to cause massive job dislocation and impact worker safety."
Workforce Development 
Metro Magazine - July 30, 2017
Approximately 39% of Metro's workforce will be eligible for retirement over the next three years with 69% of Metro employees currently over the age of 40. Succession planning is crucial to maintaining a viable agency and Metro needs a workforce to deliver its aggressive Measure M program over the next 40 years and beyond.
The Brookings Institution - July 31, 2017
Amid persistent concerns about the well-documented skills gap, community colleges have the potential to provide low-cost, high-quality education and training to students. Robust relationships between colleges and local industry partners are critical to building strong workforce development programs for students.
National Skills Coalition - July 20, 2017
The BUILDS Act would support implementation grants of up to $2.5 million over three years - and renewal grants of up to $1.5 million - to partnerships comprised of multiple employers in a target industry, education or training providers, labor organizations, local workforce boards, and other stakeholders where appropriate.
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter