February 2025

Bridging Skills Gaps: Developing a Foundational Skills Program for Transit's Frontline Workforce

After hearing from industry partners across the country about various technical skills gaps and training needs, the Transit Workforce Center’s instructional development staff is working closely with frontline subject matter experts to build a Foundational Skills Program. The program’s curriculum and associated courseware will provide essential knowledge in basic mechanical and electrical concepts, computer skills, and shop math, ensuring employees meet the required competency levels for safe and effective delivery of transit services to the families and communities transit serves nationwide. 

Currently in development, the program is being designed for scalability, allowing public transportation entities of all sizes to adopt it in full or select specific modules based on workforce needs. To support learning and local training capacity, the program will include participant guides, PowerPoint presentations, instructional videos, eLearning modules, and assessments. Additionally, sample training implementation plans will be available to guide organizational users through the skills training process.

The need for this program became evident during a national training consortium meeting when a frontline trainer shared a story about a newly hired technician struggling with a particular skill—a challenge echoed by many in the room. Further conversations across the industry reinforced the necessity for high-quality, accessible training in various core skill areas. 

As the Foundational Skills Program grows, transit trainers and frontline subject matter experts from both rail and bus are welcome to contribute their expertise and help shape this critical resource. To provide input or to serve as a subject matter expert, please contact Kristen Ribaudo at kribaudo@transportcenter.org.  

Technical Assistance Update: Mentorship Office Hours  

In recognition of January’s National Mentorship Month, TWC employed a new technical assistance delivery strategy designed to provide public transportation partners with an alternative and efficient way to connect with TWC staff on transit mentorship questions. TWC staff held Mentorship Office Hours every Friday from January 10 to the end of the month. Transit agencies and partners were invited to sign up for pre-set time slots to speak with a TWC team member. As part of the registration, TWC collected background information from those who signed up, including the target frontline occupation for a new or existing mentorship program and any specific questions or program aspects of interest. By gathering this information, TWC staff members were fully prepared to engage. 



The conversations that occurred allowed TWC staff to connect or reconnect with multiple transit agencies serving rural, suburban, and urban areas nationwide. Registrants came to these meetings with unique questions and needs, ranging from the basics of what mentorship programs can look like in public transportation to the advanced stages of program development and implementation. The brief initial meetings proved to be enough to establish a connection, identify the type of information and technical assistance being sought, provide initial resources as needed, and develop a plan to continue the discussion beyond the initial meeting. Given the success of this form of technical assistance delivery, TWC staff are looking into offering office hours options for other content areas. Stay tuned! Contact Karitsa Holdzkom at kholdzkom@transportcenter.org for any mentorship related questions.

Calling All Paratransit Providers! 

TWC's Research Team is conducting a scan of paratransit workforce issues and needs. We're looking to enhance our understanding of paratransit providers' successes and challenges with recruitment, retention, training, data tracking, and more. The scan will also inform the resources TWC creates going forward that are geared toward frontline paratransit workforce development—such as operators, dispatchers, schedulers, call-takers, and technicians—to support this critical service to families and communities. If you're interested in providing input, please contact Shayna Gleason at sgleason@transportcenter.org to set up a conversation. 

By the Numbers 

TWC continues to reach numerous transit industry stakeholders through individual technical assistance, public presentations, and website resources. The TWC team has presented at state and national conferences, hosted and presented in webinars, added extensively to transitworkforce.org, and continued to deliver rapid responses. TWC also provides in-depth ongoing engagement, to transit locations requesting technical assistance. 

Since TWC’s launch in Sept. 2021, there have been over 160,000 views of transitworkforce.org, with nearly 20,000 views of the Resource Center and over 11,000 views of the Frontline Worker Recruitment Campaign and associated pages. The team has completed 661 individual targeted technical assistance requests from transit agencies and partners, with an average response time of 4.2 business hours. In addition, over 12,000 total participants have been served through TWC’s hosting of or participation in industry events, including the 2022 and 2024 Making Connections conferences. 

Out and About

TWC team members frequently travel to industry events around the country to present, share resources, and engage with industry stakeholders. To request TWC's participation in an event, please send an email to twc@transportcenter.org. Here are some examples of where the TWC team has been and what they have been doing off-site and online: 

September 

• Maurice Beard and Frank Burnett traveled to Stevensville, Maryland to co-facilitate a session at the Transportation Association of Maryland’s (TAM) annual conference. The session titled “Workforce Development Programs that Strengthen Recruitment, Retention, and Career Advancement” focused on the impact of training instructors and mentors and demonstrating key segments of ITLC’s and TWC’s Train-the-Trainer and Train-the-Mentor programs. 
• David Stephen and Pat Greenfield joined a group of university, industry, and government representatives in Washington, D.C for a Transportation Research Board (TRB) workshop to discuss challenges, opportunities, and best practices in the areas of recruitment, partnerships, training programs, and funding for the transit workforce. 
• Maurice Beard and Karitsa Holdzkom held a virtual ATTAIN Facilities and Elevator/Escalator Maintenance Meeting on registered apprenticeships for maintenance occupations in transit. Karitsa opened the meeting by outlining available TWC resources and the steps needed to develop and implement an apprenticeship program and register it with the relevant office of apprenticeship. The meeting also highlighted two individual apprenticeship programs at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT).  
• Frank Burnett and Brandon Liu moderated a Train-the-Trainer Level One session at Metro Transit in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Trainers participating in the course brought a range of experience from public transit agencies nationwide, including Michigan’s Suburban Metropolitan Authority for Regional Transit (SMART), and Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART – Iowa).

October 

• Allie Franklyn and Addie Khanu led a Train-the-Trainer Level 1 session at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) Carmen E. Turner Maintenance and Training Facility in Landover, Maryland. The session brought together Systems, Technical Skills, and Maintenance Instructors with various backgrounds and expertise, helping them sharpen their presentation skills, develop engagement activities grounded in adult learning theory, and design lesson plans to enhance learner retention. 
• Shayna Gleason was invited to present at the Iowa Public Transit Association Annual Mid-Year Meeting. Her workshop focused on helpful tips for operator recruitment and retention, including the needs of and opportunities for smaller and rural agencies. 
• Maurice Beard and Karitsa Holdzkom delivered two presentations, one on transit mentorship and one on agency support, and staffed an exhibit booth at the Wisconsin Public Transportation Association Annual Fall Conference. 
• Maurice Beard conducted a Maintenance Mentor training session for mechanics at Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) in conjunction with ATU Local 268. 

January 

• Frank Burnett and Jessie Supervielle delivered a Train-the-Trainer Level 1 session at Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) in North Carolina. The interactive session provided trainers with additional tools, enhanced teaching methods, engagement strategies, and techniques to help polish the content delivery process. 
• At TRB’s 104th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Michaela Boneva, Shayna Gleason, and Douglas Nevins presented “Transit Workforce Center Case Studies - Linking Workforce Initiatives to Job Quality, Psychological Safety, and Mental Health.” Jason Macumber presented in a panel session focusing on workforce development and bus technologies. 
• Maurice Beard attended the Autonomous Vehicles and Public Transit Conference in South San Francisco, which explored the future of autonomous vehicles in the industry. The conference featured speakers from transit agencies, vendors, government agencies, unions, and AV manufacturers. 

The Transit Workforce Center is FTA’s technical assistance center for frontline workforce development, operated by the International Transportation Learning Center. For any technical assistance requests, contact us at 1-855-888-NTWC or twc@transportcenter.org. 

See what's happening on our social sites: