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Celebrating Earth Day- Apr. 22, 2023
ITLC salutes the work and collaboration of frontline public transit workers and transit agencies as they cultivate a greener future. We appreciate the green jobs the public transit industry provides that contribute to a cleaner environment. Battery electric (BEB) and zero-emission (ZEB) bus initiatives are among current frontline workforce development efforts that we are proud to support. In addition, ITLC recently launched training and materials for fundamental BEB and national ZEB standards through collaboration with APTA. These projects will help reduce the public’s carbon footprint for a healthier planet.
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ATTAIN Highlights Bus Maintenance Success Stories
More than 100 individuals representing labor and management from transit agencies across the country came together on March 28 for the latest bus maintenance committee meeting for the TWC’s American Transit Training and Apprenticeship Innovators Network (ATTAIN). The meeting included a presentation on the basics of registered apprenticeship, the benefits of bus maintenance apprenticeship, and how agencies can tie apprenticeship to federal funding opportunities.
TWC contractor Maurice Beard moderated the “Apprenticeship in Practice” panel, which included stories from Eliseo Acosta from VTA/California Transit Works, labor and management representatives from TriMet, and Kyisha Bond, an apprentice from IndyGo, who gave a compelling story of joining the workforce after being incarcerated. Kyisha detailed her transit journey that started with cleaning buses, moved to becoming a coach operator, and has now arrived at her position as a bus technician through the help of IndyGo’s apprenticeship program. In addition, Kevin Kinoshita from ATU Local 757 and Jeremy Rehfeldt from TriMet spoke about the wide-reaching impact of their good labor-management relationship and how that relationship revived their apprenticeship program, allowing it to thrive and continuously improve.
ATTAIN is a peer network operated by the Transit Workforce Center (TWC). Its purpose is to assist transit agencies and labor unions in exploring new apprenticeship programs or enhancing existing programs for their frontline workforce. The next ATTAIN bus operator apprenticeship meeting is scheduled for May 2 at 1:30 pm ET. For more information about TWC’s ATTAIN network and scheduled meetings click here.
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TWC contractor Maurice Beard (left) and apprentice Kyisha Bond (right) from IndyGo during the panel session of TWC's ATTAIN meeting | |
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ITLC Outlines Consortiums for TRACCS
ITLC connected with Transit Rail Association for Canadian Contractors, Maintainers, and Standards (TRACCS) to share the details of its rail maintenance training consortiums in February. Jack Clark, Julie Deibel-Pundt, and Amri Joyner, along with subject matter experts Frank Burnett, Tim Tarrant, and Dan Lamothe, shared the process and products of the signals and traction power training consortiums.
ITLC and TRACCS first came together at the APTA annual conference in late 2022, prompting conversations about working together, when TRACCS chairperson Mark Salsberg identified ITLC’s consortiums as an important resource for its membership. Consortium programs include standardize instruction-ready courseware, train the trainer, mentoring nationally recognized apprenticeship programs, and peer sharing. These programs allow member agencies and unions to come together and share resources, knowledge, and finances that lessen the cost for locations. The recording of the presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/i1ztiSujU4E.
For more information about ITLC’s rail maintenance training programs, contact [email protected]. The next step in this partnership will be ITLC’s participation in the TRACCS rail day event on June 20-21, 2023.
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The International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) was established in 2001 to develop training and career ladder systems for public transportation’s frontline workforce. Since then, we have had the honor and privilege of working with women on the frontline who lead the way in the industry, connecting the communities in which they live and work.
These women literally move our communities every day, ensuring that we reach our destinations—work, school, medical appointments, recreation, and more—even during the worst of the pandemic. Every day, we were able to get to where we needed to be, because Gwen Gibson maintained the rail cars in Philadelphia, Tina Johnson worked her bus route in Cleveland, Dionna McCane mentored other bus operators in Indianapolis, and Krystal Black repaired elevators and escalators in New York City.
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ITLC Deputy Director Xinge Wang was invited to contribute an article to the 2023 “Women Take Over” edition of Eno Transportation | |
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Op-Ed: To Recover from COVID, Transit Needs a Rider-Centered Future. Here’s How.
StreetsBlog USA - Mar. 20, 2023
As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the transit industry is at a crossroads. On one path, this could be our shining moment: society needs transit to solve its concurrent challenges of climate, equity, safety and growth. On the other, this could be our dying gasp: as currently deployed, transit may not survive the looming fiscal cliff and vicious funding death spiral.
Which path we follow depends on how we answer the fundamental question at the heart of our industry today: Why do riders choose transit — why, even before the pandemic, was ridership trending down?
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L.A. Metro Board Approves Safety Measures to Help Improve Rider Experience
Mass Transit - Mar. 28, 2023
On March 23, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) Board of Directors approved the hiring of 48 new transit security officers (TSOs) to keep bus operators and riders safe. The board also authorized L.A. Metro to negotiate extensions to the agency’s multi-agency transit law enforcement contracts, a new Bias-Free Policing and Public Safety Analytics policies and a revised Code of Conduct.
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ATTAIN Bus Operator Apprenticeship Meeting
TWC's ATTAIN is meeting May 2, 2023 at 1:30pm to discuss bus operator apprenticeship! Hear short presentations from your transit peers across the country on their apprenticeship programs, and engage in an interactive discussion about how these programs are developed and work.
Members of ATTAIN and those interested in apprenticeship for bus operators are welcome to attend. Click here to register.
Iyai x ITLC/TWC Lunch & Learn 4: Careers in Transit - Exploring a World of Opportunity
Join Iyai for part 4 of its 2023 Transportation/Mobility Career Awareness Lunch and Learn series May 3, 1-2pm ET. This week's webinar, co-sponsored with the International Transportation Learning Center/Transit Workforce Center (ITLC/TWC), features presenters at various stages of their transit careers discussing their work and their own career pathways and then engaging in an interactive discussion with the audience.
Register here for the May 3 webinar.
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