November 2025

In This Issue:

Veterans in Transit: Stories, Case Studies, and Upcoming Webinar

With Veterans Day approaching next week, TWC is publishing its newest Transit Career Story, Continuing to Serve — Veterans’ Transit Career Routes, featuring five veterans from across the country who have devoted themselves to careers in the industry. Each offers their perspectives and reflects on both unique and shared experiences that connect their routes from military service to transit. 

Five veterans share military-to-transit transferable skills

This Transit Career Story joins a TWC case study published earlier this year, The Next Chapter in a Life of Service — Veterans in Transit, which explores how several transit agencies have developed intentional recruitment pipelines and career pathways for veterans and the benefits these efforts have generated for each agency. 

To hear from and engage with several of the veterans and agencies represented in the career story and case study, join TWC’s Continuing to Serve — Veterans’ Transit Career Routes webinar tomorrow, November 6, 1-2pm ET.

Key Updates to the Transit Workforce Data Dashboard

Employment projections for 2024-2034 are now live on the Transit Workforce Data Dashboard. Explore this data to see where transportation occupations are going in the next 10 years. TWC has also added two new Dashboard charts on workforce characteristics, based on data from the Current Population Survey and iPUMS. One chart shows the percentage of military veterans in transit-related occupations, and the other shows the percentage of workers in transit-related occupations who are parents and caregivers of minor children. These charts help to provide the industry with a better understanding of who comprises today’s transit workforce. 

Announcing New Project on Streamlining Operator Hiring Practices

TWC is pleased to announce a new research project it is undertaking in partnership with FTA, called Streamlining Operator Hiring Practices. The objective of this project is to document current transit agency hiring processes for operators and produce new resources to support agencies’ operator hiring efforts. Current hiring processes can be lengthy, causing candidates to abandon the process in favor of other jobs and exacerbating transit operator shortages. This research will map typical steps and timelines and identify promising practices that lead to shorter and more effective hiring processes.  

Check out the project landing page and a new research brief summarizing prior research on operator hiring practices in the transit industry.

New Apprenticeship & Mentorship Initiatives and How TWC Provides Support

Mentorship training at Star Transit

Explore several new and exciting apprenticeship and mentorship initiatives, featuring High Valley Transit (UT), Miami-Dade Transit and Transport Workers Union Local 291 (FL), Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (IL), and Star Transit (TX), and learn about the various ways TWC has supported this work.  

Upcoming Transit Events with TWC Presentations

Visit TWC’s table and join TWC’s joint session on veterans in transit with CapMetro at the National Rural Transit Assistance Program’s (National RTAP) 6th National RTAP Conference, Wrangling Access and Mobility in Rural and Tribal Transit, December 7-10, 2025, in Austin, TX. The Transportation Research Board is the conference co-sponsor. See the event website for more information and to register. 

TWC will also be speaking at Transit Retreat, an annual event aimed at rural, small urban, and demand response providers. To be held in Mobile, AL, on March 4-5, 2026, TWC will participate in a technical assistance session and also hold two workshops, one on reaching out to “next-gen” youth on transit careers, and the other on TWC’s newly redesigned and expanded career awareness and foundational skills program, Transit Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3). Registration is open, and more details are available on the event website. 

TWC's National Transit Workforce Conference — Making Connections 2026 Cancellation

The Transit Workforce Center will not be holding the Making Connections conference in 2026. We will continue to connect with you at state, regional, and national events through presentations and technical assistance tables. We also look forward to sharing details soon about upcoming national webinars on critical workforce development topics as we continue to work closely with our partners on key priorities and activities. You can, as always, reach us at twc@transportcenter.org with inquiries and requests for support. 

By the Numbers 

Since TWC’s launch in Sept. 2021, there have been over 240,000 views of transitworkforce.org, with over 35,000 views of the Frontline Worker Recruitment Campaign and associated pages. The team has completed over 820 individual targeted technical assistance requests from transit agencies and partners, with an average response time of 4 business hours. In addition, over 13,500 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:

August 

• Pat Greenfield participated in the Community Transportation Association of America’s (CTAA) Small Urban Network (SUN) Conference in St. Cloud, MN, and hosted a Technical Assistance Pop-Up session focusing on recruitment and retention challenges impacting the transit industry. 

September 

• Brandon Liu and Amri Joyner led a Train-the-Trainer Level One course in Somerville, MA, with Keolis Commuter Services. The class brought together experienced training instructors with strong backgrounds in leading hands-on instruction and classroom training for new hires and experienced personnel. 
• Frank Burnett and Kristen Ribaudo traveled to Kansas City, MO, for the Midwest Transit Conference. During the conference, they staffed a table, led a session, and met with transit agencies and industry partners to share information about TWC workforce development initiatives. 
• Maurice Beard delivered a Train-the-Mentor session at Star Transit in Terrell, TX. The one-day, eight-hour session was part of the agency’s launch of its new bus operator mentor program. 

October 

• Maurice Beard and Julie Deibel-Pundt co-facilitated a session at the Transportation Association of Maryland (TAM) Conference in Stevensville, MD. The session featured TWC’s updated Transit Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3), which includes new foundational skills components covering basic mechanical, electrical, and computer competencies. 

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. 

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