Center Update

Center Director Brian Turner Named to US DOL Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship     

In recognition of the Transportation Learning Center's work in developing frontline workforce apprenticeships, Secretary of Labor Tom Perez has invited the Center's executive director, Brian J. Turner, to serve on his Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA).   The Secretary's Advisory Committee is a small group of two dozen leaders drawn from management, labor unions and the public.  

The ACA develops advice and recommendations for the Secretary, with the current priority of advancing the President's goal of doubling the number of US workers participating in registered apprenticeship. Working closely with the Center, the transit industry has already developed three national apprenticeships approved by US DOL.  More are in the pipeline through the Signals Training Consortium and other projects by the Center.  Implementing those apprenticeships broadly throughout the industry remains a top goal of the Center and the industry.   
Public Transportation
Railway Age - September 5, 2014
Guerdon Sterling Sines, who retired in 1990 as the Union Pacific's Vice President-Information & Communication Systems, died Aug. 27, 2014, from complications of Alzheimer's Disease. He was 85.  "Guerdon was a driving force in the rail industry on the application of computer technology to daily train operations," said retired UP Vice President-Manifest Products Woody Sutton.
Desert News - September 7, 2014
Midway through a weeklong challenge to travel exclusively by public mass transit, Rep. Greg Hughes said he had gained insight into scheduling, multitasking and fashion.  The Draper Republican, who is also the volunteer chairman of the Utah Transit Authority Board, experienced firsthand the so-called "last mile" challenge of public transit when a dentist appointment in Murray took him off the proverbial beaten path.
Urbanful - September 2, 2014
Four out of five New Orleans residents have moved back to the city nine years after the hurricane that devastated it. But just over a third of public transit service has been restored, and it's serving mostly wealthy, white areas, according to new analyses by non-profit public transit advocacy group Ride New Orleans.
Star Tribune - September 4, 2014
A simple shelter can make the wait for a Twin Cities bus feel shorter than it actually is, based on new research from the University of Minnesota.  The study of 822 bus and train riders sought to gauge the impact that amenities - such as shelters, schedules and benches - have on perceived wait times. Through observations and interviews, researchers found that riders tend to overestimate how long they waited for their ride, and the presence of certain amenities makes a difference.   
Transit System/Partners
Courier Post
The PATCO high-speed line has been conducting preliminary testing of six newly refurbished transit cars by running them on its rail line for a few hours here and there in recent weeks, but a bigger test is coming.  Each car will undergo a 500-mile final test run on undetermined dates later this month, a PATCO official said Wednesday.  John Hanson, PATCO president and CEO of its Delaware River Port Authority parent organization, said Wednesday the test likely would occur on five consecutive days or nights.
Progressive Railroading - September 3, 2014
Yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick joined state and local officials in the city of Somerville to mark the opening of the first new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) station in 27 years. The new Assembly Orange Line station is a "key element" in creating a transit-oriented development at Assembly Row, and providing a vital transit link between Assembly Row and Boston, MBTA officials said in a press release.
The Desert News - September 8, 2014
The way passengers pay for mass transit could change based on how much and how far they ride, Utah Transit Authority officials said.
UTA has launched a new initiative aimed at figuring out the best method of fare payment and collection across the agency's multi-modal transit system and has begun testing of a distance-based fare structure as part of the Fare Policy Analysis Project.
Fox News - September 8, 2014
Last month a group of citizens challenged the UTA Board of Trustees to do something they do every day - ride public transportation. It's called the #7DayUTAChallenge. The goal is to ride nothing but public transportation for one week straight. No cars allowed.   
San Francisco Gate - September 2, 2014
BART's four downtown San Francisco stations - Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Center - take a beating, not only from the 140,000 passengers who pour through them every weekday, but from the scores of homeless people who use them as bedrooms, restrooms and places to hang out.    
Progressive Railroading - September 4, 2014
The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) recently spent $5.5 million to improve all MAX light-rail lines and many bus routes to speed up service, reduce wait times and boost reliability, agency officials announced.     
Safety
Washington Post - September 8, 2014
Serious crime in the Metro system was down significantly from January through June this year compared with the same six-month period in other years dating to 2010, the transit agency said.   
Progressive Railroading - September 9, 2014
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that aims to prevent unintended train movements by strengthening requirements for securing unattended trains.  
Progressive Railroading - September 9, 2014
U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Sunday unveiled their proposed Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2014 that aims to address issues stemming from high-profile passenger-rail accidents in New York and Connecticut, including the fatal MTA Metro-North Railroad crash near the Bronx, N.Y., that occurred in December 2013.  
Labor News
Black workers' struggles in the labor movement have won important gains-including transformation of unions themselves.
In These Times - September 3, 2014
When Fred Redmond, the Steelworkers' vice president for human affairs, was a child in Chicago, he and a dozen siblings and cousins spent summers picking cotton for their grandparents in Mississippi.  Fred's great, great grandparents had been slaves. His grandparents, maternal and paternal, were sharecroppers, working other people's land.  
A new union is forming in town, and Metro bus drivers are asking their passengers to get on board. The next meeting of the Greater Portland Public Transit Coalition will be Thursday, Sept. 11, at 5:30 p.m. in conference room 3 on the basement floor of the Portland Public Library.  The group is forming to offer public transit riders more of a say in when and where the bus picks them up and drops them off, as well as a voice in other issues as they arise, organizers said.
Green News

Paris Will Get 600 Hybrid Buses in Struggle with Air Pollution   

Auto Revolution  - September 3, 2014

As the entire world is facing several environmental problems, crowded cities in Western Europe are also fighting with pollution. After deciding to reduce the number of cars allowed to run in Paris this March, authorities in the City of Lights have recently announced that 600 new hybrid busses will be bought in order to reduce emissions.
Workforce Development
With unemployment still high, and millions discouraged from even looking for work, there is considerable interest in ways to connect people to jobs. Certainly stimulating the economy is essential to creating more opportunity. But what can we do to help people make the connections to employers who are looking for workers?  Job training programs would seem to be a logical answer, a key step in moving someone from unemployment, or underemployment due to obsolete skills, into well-paying work.  
Building Transportation Infrastructure

Lessons From Equity Effort on the Minnesota Green Line 

Transit Talk - September 8, 2014

In 2010, a grass-roots effort to add Green Line stops at three intersections serving St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood helped change the way the Federal Transit Administration evaluated transit projects.  The organizers celebrated that victory on June 14 when the Green Line opened with stops at Victoria Street and Western and Hamline avenues. In a new video produced by Break Line Media for the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, community activists recount the efforts it took to add three stations that serve African-American and Asian communities in St. Paul.
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