Launch of Apprenticeship Network: ATTAIN!
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The Transit Workforce Center (TWC) is pleased to announce the launch of the American Transit Training and Apprenticeship Innovators Network (ATTAIN) during National Apprenticeship Week. Transit agencies interested in exploring and starting apprenticeship programs for the frontline workforce as well as those with established programs are invited to join the peer network. ATTAIN will have separate committees for different occupational areas. Based on knowledge of industry needs, the initial committees will be:
- Bus Operator Apprenticeship Committee
- Bus Maintenance Apprenticeship Committee
- Railcar, Signals, and Traction Power Apprenticeship Committee
- Facilities and Elevator/Escalator Maintenance Apprenticeship Committee
Combining technical instruction with hands-on learning and providing a pathway to highly skilled and well-paid work for diverse populations, apprenticeship is widely recognized across sectors as the most effective means of building a skilled workforce. Registered apprenticeship provides a pathway to higher-skilled jobs, increased earnings, and longer-term job retention; programs help employers address transit’s aging and retiring workforce issues by formalizing succession planning and skills transfer through on-the-job learning (OJL) and mentoring. Registered apprenticeship helps advance equity and diversity in the transit workforce, providing opportunities for underrepresented and disadvantaged populations to overcome barriers and gain entry-level access to family sustaining jobs in public transportation; they also provide ongoing education and training, so incoming and incumbent workers can advance into higher-skilled and higher-paid positions. At a time when nearly all agencies are facing frontline workforce shortages, growing your own workers through time-tested and proven apprenticeships makes good sense.
Membership in ATTAIN provides agencies interested in implementing an apprenticeship with continuous support from the TWC and the opportunity to learn from each other through peer dialogue. This exchange of ideas and experiences complements the individual technical assistance that ATTAIN members will receive from the TWC to help agencies learn and apply best practices for registered apprenticeship. Committee members will receive regular communications from the TWC and will be invited to participate in periodic virtual meetings and in-person meetings.
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Request for Proposals for Website Development
The International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) has posted a request for proposals (RFP) for the design, development, and hosting of the Transit Workforce Center (TWC) website from highly qualified, experienced website development companies. The TWC is funded by FTA and is supported by the ITLC. The deadline for submission is December 15, 2021 by 8:00 PM ET. Send questions to Amri Joyner.
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DOL Women’s Bureau – November 18, 4:00 pm ET
This webinar will share best practices from current and former Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) program grantees and features Wendy Chun-Hoon, Director of the Women’s Bureau and Angela Hanks, ETA Acting Assistant Secretary.
JFF - November 19, 2:00 pm ET
Join JFF and DOL as they cap off NAW with an exciting event to celebrate the launch of the JFF’s new national Center of Excellence to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in Registered Apprenticeship.
eLearning – December 1, 2:00 pm ET
Out of necessity, the pandemic ushered in a new wave of remote learning. While the initial stages of the lockdown had everyone waiting with bated breath for the return to in-person training, it quickly became apparent the paradigm had forever shifted. Despite initial reluctance, training and learning via Zoom and other virtual platforms soon became the norm and revealed the good and the bad associated with those modalities. Now, as the pandemic begins to wane, we are faced with a different crisis – what did we learn and what does it mean for the future? In a world where virtual learning is here to stay, answering the question of “What now?” requires us to thoughtfully evaluate how we got here and how we can leverage the knowledge gained during the pandemic to address one of trainings greatest historical challenges – how we reinforce learning to move from knowledge to behavior change.
Eno Transportation Center - December 8, 2:00 pm ET
Bus network redesigns have been a major trend in public transit over the past several years, in part due to the availability of much better data to use for planning purposes and the recognition that the bus can play a big role in improving mobility. In the past few years, with the rise in app-based transportation network companies (TNCs) and microtransit providers, bus network redesigns have begun to consider how these modes can complement bus service. Join us to uncover best practices from transit agencies across the country about how to conduct a bus network redesign and to learn how new mobility options can be integrated into the network redesign process.
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The Washington Post – November 6, 2021
A $1.75 billion fund in the infrastructure bill will aim to guarantee that transit stations are accessible, decades after campaigns by disability rights activists to demand lifts on buses helped to spur passage of the ADA. Almost 20% of transit stations were not fully accessible in 2019.
Mass Transit – November 10, 2021
The report, On the Horizon Planning for Post-Pandemic Travel, collected data from operators, deployed staff to conduct a nationwide survey and conducted detailed case studies of five agencies (Regional Transportation District in the Denver, Colo., Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, Pa., GRTC Transit System in Richmond, Va., and Spokane Transit Authority in Washington State). In response to falling ridership, staff retention issues and fiscal concerns, most public transit agencies were forced to cut services. However, the report found that not all agencies responded this way. Some agencies eliminated fares and reoriented service to prioritize essential workers and social equity, and/or split shifts to provide social distancing for employees.
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TransitCenter – November 5, 2021
Through City Hall’s control of the streets, Mayor Adams will find that prioritizing bus service and bus riders — especially in communities of color and neighborhoods with low incomes, where more people rely on the bus — is one of the most effective ways to deliver on these campaign goals. In this task, the Adams administration can capitalize on two significant breakthroughs NYC DOT made during Mayor de Blasio’s second term: implementing bus priority measures like dedicated lanes and transit signal priority on a bigger scale, and applying new street designs for transit like the 14th Street busway and the center-running bus lanes on Edward L Grant Highway in Highbridge. These projects sped up buses as much as 50 percent on some stretches, saving time for hundreds of thousands of riders each day. But merely continuing the de Blasio trajectory will not be enough.
Streetsblog – November 3, 2021
Here in Chicago, transit agencies are taking the long view and getting creative about coaxing people back onto public transportation with deep discounts on passes, and the CTA is eliminating its 25-cent transfer fee. The South Shore Line commuter railroad between Chicago and northwest Indiana is actually offering free eastbound trips all day on weekdays. The agencies are smart to realize that getting people comfortable riding again is more important than revenue in the short term.
MassLive – November 3, 2021
The cornerstone of her transportation plan is an initiative that would see MBTA fares discarded in an effort to improve accessibility for low-income residents. In a debate with Assaibi George, she argued the residents are already “paying the price” for a transportation system that needs an overhaul. Gov. Charlie Baker has said he’s not in favor of the free T plan.
AP News – November 9, 2021
After months of negotiations, New York and its two neighboring states have finally agreed on how to divide up billions in federal COVID-19 relief money aimed at public transit. New York will receive about $10.8 billion, New Jersey will get about $2.6 billion and Connecticut will receive about $474 million, under the agreement announced Tuesday by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont.
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The American Prospect - November 12, 2021
while unions are making progress in the South in securing collective bargaining rights for bus drivers, many recently organized bus drivers across the country face a new threat: privatization. In many states, the ATU has organized drivers only to see their work outsourced to private contractors who don’t recognize the union. “You know we negotiate a contract and then the contract is sold to a [private contractor], who didn’t sign the contract and the first thing they come in and do is fight the contract and want to take things away,” says ATU President John Costa. “These private bus companies tell governments that they can save money, but at the end of the day, where is that savings coming from? And it comes off the workers.”
Bloomberg – November 3, 2021
As unions and advocates gain more clout than they’ve had in years amid an increased appreciation for so-called essential workers, female-led professions like teaching and nursing are leading the way. Women are becoming a bigger share of the unionized workforce, and have played key roles in some of the 45 strikes since August tracked by Bloomberg Law.
The Washington Post - November 11, 2021
U.S. workers are doing something we haven’t seen much of in the last three decades: striking. Roughly 25,000 workers have recently walked off their jobs and joined picket lines, earning October 2021 the nickname #striketober. Are these strikes likely to spread? Our research on union activity over the past century has identified several major factors affecting union and strike dynamics. How today’s strikes develop will likely depend on these factors.
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Building Transportation Infrastructure
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Brookings – November 9, 2021
By almost any measure, IIJA is enormous. The roughly $1.2 trillion bill contains an estimated $550 billion in new spending above baseline levels. This spending touches every sector of infrastructure, from transportation and water to energy, broadband, and the resilience and rehabilitation of our nation’s natural resources. While topline numbers from Senate summaries show us the general trends in funding distribution—over half of new spending is transportation-focused—the magnitude of these investments warrants a deeper dive.
The American Prospect – September 30, 2021
After decades of demanding real repairs, neighborhood residents now want more than a few bridge replacements. They want better connections to the rest of Northeast Washington for their isolated area and better links to the city center. They want protection from the displacement pressures that the Black communities abutting the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and elsewhere in the District have faced. And they want D.C. Route 295 transformed from a freeway into an accessible, climate-ready boulevard that is a holistic fit for a residential area—rather than the functional equivalent of a border wall.
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International Transit News
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Global Construction Review – November 8, 2021
The Hanoi metro is considered essential to deal with the capital’s growing problems with congestion and air pollution. Vu Hong Son, an official at the Ministry of Transport, said the railway would “ease traffic congestion, limit private vehicles, reduce environmental pollution and contribute to the change of inner-city movements”.
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Mass Transit – November 7, 2021
Building a strong future for public transportation means investing in the industry leaders of tomorrow. With that focus, TRANSITiON, Palm Tran’s Learning Academy, is launching a paid Student Employee Program designed to nurture interest in public transportation. The pilot program is a partnership between the student and each participating department to learn, foster innovative ideas and provide real work experience beyond the campus.
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Metro Magazine – November 4, 2021
None of the challenges described herein is to say we should abort this journey. We cannot. The climate and a more secure world (the Pentagon’s words, not this author’s) depends on this transition, and the transit industry is arguably one of the smaller players — though ones no less important — engaged in this revolution. It might be that the pace of the transition must slow a bit here and there, depending on circumstances and forces beyond the industry’s control, but it must continue to move forward, for the benefits of doing so continue to increase while the costs continue to near a parity with the status quo over the next decade. It is, rather, to say we must do as what progress always demands: learn from setbacks, avoid repeating mistakes, secure the needed resources, and above all, continue.
Next City - November 16, 2021
The obvious solution for transit agencies to get to zero-emissions is to replace fossil-fuel-burning buses with electric ones. But TriMet is also considering converting its existing fleet to battery-electric. This approach would have several advantages: The agency would receive its converted buses relatively soon after placing the order, meaning it would be able to reap the cost savings, reduced emissions, and reduced maintenance costs sooner. And a conversion would allow a perfectly good bus body to have another chance at life carrying passengers.
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