Center Update
The Center Partners with New York Community Organizations to Deliver Pre-Apprenticeship Class in the South Bronx
 
Charles Jenkins, Kristyl Black, and Pat Greenfield delivering the pre-apprenticeship curriculum.
 
SoBro's CDL class with their pre-apprenticeship certificates of completion.
On Wednesday March 20, 2019, the Center's Pat Greenfield joined Charles Jenkins, Acting Director of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100-NYC Transit Training and Upgrade Fund, to deliver a Public Transportation Industry overview pre-apprenticeship class to CDL students at South Bronx Overall Economic Opportunity Development Corporation (SoBro) in New York City. Pat and Charles were joined by Krystal Black, a working elevator-escalator mechanic, and Carlos Siliva, an experienced bus operator, both from New York City Transit and both members of TWU Local 100. The pre-apprenticeship class was a joint effort with the Consortium for Worker Education's Special Projects Director, John McDermott, and Amanda Farias, Assistant Director of New York Alliance for Transportation and Logistics Advancement Services (NY ATLAS), along with SoBro, and the TWU Local 100 Training and Upgrade Fund.
 
Class participants, ages 18-24, explored the evolution of public transportation, its critical role as a public service, the range of career opportunities and pathways it provides and how to access those pathways, a realistic day-in-the-lives of transportation front-line workers, and existing and emerging transportation technologies. The class provided significant time for participant questions and discussion, small group activities, and one-on-one interaction with subject matter experts. The Center's Julie Deibel-Pundt designed the curriculum, and the program integrated Kenyon Corbett's interviews of Center SMEs talking about their careers.
 
The session was a segment of the Center's Transportation Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3.) The program received overwhelmingly positive feedback from SoBro instructors, administrators, and in student class evaluations.
 
For more information about holding a pre-apprenticeship class at your location, contact Kenyon Corbett at kcorbett@transportcenter.org
 
For more information about the Center's Transportation Core Competencies Curriculum, contact Pat Greenfield at pgreenfield@transportcenter.org and visit this link .
Public Transportation
Mass Transit - March 25, 2019
For agencies entering the electrification process, the journey can be question-filled, especially because it requires an operational paradigm. That's because the introduction of electric vehicles affects every aspect of a public transit agency's operation - planning, fleet monitoring, charging and range management, personnel requirements and depot infrastructure to name a few.
AASHTO - March 22, 2019
A need for more infrastructure investment and grappling with technological change are two of the biggest issues facing the transit sector, according to a series of new reports.
Mobility Lab - March 25, 2019
Just as shareholders elect the boards of publicly traded companies, riders should elect the boards of transit agencies, giving them the representation they deserve in return for their investment. Riders' votes would be counted using a formula that considers how much they use the system. Credit union boards, which are elected by account holders, are a comparable private-sector example.
Metro Magazine - March 25, 2019
Complexity in payment is often at the root of many common transit commuter complaints, according to a new study. Payments lie at the heart of every form of travel, and will continue to become more integral as more cities move to contactless public transportation, digital payments for parking and rental services such as bikes or scooters, a new report commission by Visa found.
Transit System/Partners
The Salt Lake Tribune - March 20, 2019
UTA and partners offered free-fare days Feb. 28 and March 1, a Thursday and Friday. Interim Executive Director Steve Meyer told the UTA board Wednesday that free rides attracted an extra 20,000 passengers the first day and 29,000 on the second.
The Denver Channel- March 20, 2019
The study found an increase in commuters using public transit, with nearly 40 percent choosing this option. It also revealed a decline in the drive-alone rate - about 35 percent of commuters chose to drive alone. Nine percent of commuters said they ride a bicycle to work.
Economic Issues
Up North Live - March 21, 2019
Michigan's lack of public transit was highlighted after Amazon's search for a new headquarters location, which required a robust transit system for whatever city was chosen as the next location. The Great Lakes State was not chosen.
Labor News
The Guardian - March 22, 2019
"Uber is getting ready for their IPO, they want to look really good for their investors, and are creating situations where people may be put on the street homeless because they can't pay their rent," added Moore. "That's why we're organizing."
Green News 
Smart Rail World - March 25, 2019
There are many reasons why public transport remains such a firm favourite among the public. Necessity will of course be behind many of those journeys, particularly during morning and evening rush hours, but even those who can't complete their journeys using their own transport will admit that (when it goes right) there are few better ways to travel. We know from asking the subjects of our interviews about their favourite train journeys just how strong the connection to with train travel is, with 'civilised' and 'relaxing' two words that crop up often.
Workforce Development
Brookings - March 25, 2019
From 2000 to 2015, women of all four groups were less likely to be in the labor force, and since 2015 all four groups have regained ground. The recent rebound seems to be driven less by a single policy or cultural shift affecting one group of women. Still, the difference between women and men's participation changes in the last three years suggests that women's improving participation rate is due to more than just the recovering labor market. Continuing cultural and institutional shifts are bringing women into the labor market, and as international evidence suggests, there is room for considerably more growth.
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