Reminder: Upcoming TWC Webinar on Strategic Workforce Planning |
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Speakers:
- Karina Ricks, Associate Administrator, FTA
- Jack Clark, Executive Director, TWC
- Inez Evans, President and CEO, IndyGo, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Jamaine Gibson, Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Development, Amalgamated Transit Union
- Dinero Washington, General Manager, SporTran, Shreveport, Louisiana
- Demarcus Roberson, Vice-President, ATU Local 558
- Charles Jenkins, Director, Transport Workers Union Local 100-New York City Transit Training and Upgrading Fund
- Lorna Haley, RN, Occupational Health Nurse, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), former SEPTA Millwright, Elevator-Escalator Technician, Instructor and Maintenance Manager, SEPTA/Transport Workers Union Local 234
- Stuart Bass, Principal, Progress Worx
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
12 noon ET
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ZEB Training Standards Kick-Off Meeting
On April 13, 2022 the Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) Standards Development Committee held its first meeting. It was co-hosted by APTA as a standard-setting organization and the Transit Workforce Center, sponsored by FTA and headed by the ITLC. APTA and the ITLC had previously developed 11 such bus maintenance training standards. The purpose of this particular committee is to develop a National Training Standard specifically for ZEBs to ensure that training meets specified learning objectives, skills and knowledge that technicians should acquire as a result of the training. The committee saw participation from 25 members, consisting of subject matter experts (SMEs) from labor, management and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The committee will reconvene on May 18th, 2022 to continue its work, which is critically vital given the new skills technicians will need to maintain these highly sophisticated vehicles with inherent safety implications.
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US DOT – April 14, 2022
The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced that its Build America Bureau (Bureau) has provided up to a $1.76 billion low-interest loan to Purple Line Transit Partners for the Purple Line Light Rail Transit Project in Maryland. The loan will finance up to 33 percent of the $5.9 billion in eligible project costs. The Bureau helps communities across the country deliver infrastructure projects by providing Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loans, known as TIFIA loans, and other types of innovative financing.
Metro – April 18, 2022
As for ways it has attempted to expand its operator pool, Reece explains GoDurham Access and the City of Durham have worked together to increase starting pay, with the scale escalating at a more rapid rate, as well as tuition reimbursement for continuing education, recruiting and retention bonuses, and increased benefit packages. The agency is also taking measures to increase the promotion of its open positions, by working with employer program NC Works and other local and national organizations. Reece adds the agency is also looking to add promotions on GoDurham's vehicles to attract some folks who ride the bus, or even those who don't ride but may see the rolling advertisements as they drive through the community. GoDurham's fixed-route operation is taking a similar approach toward recruitment.
Mass Transit – April 15, 2022
Metrolink has switched to renewable fuel, making it the first agency in the nation to completely power all its locomotives with the cleaner burning alternative. To meet its aggressive climate targets, Metrolink launched a pilot program of renewable fuel in its locomotives in early 2021. The renewable product is made of recycled natural fats and vegetable oils. It contains no petroleum fossil fuels and thus burns cleaner, reducing harmful pollutants and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide by up to 80 percent.
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Forbes – April 19, 2022
The Biden administration said it is reviewing the decision and assessing potential next steps. “In the meantime, today’s court decision means CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time,” said a Biden administration official yesterday. “Therefore, TSA will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time. CDC recommends that people continue to wear masks in indoor public transportation settings.”
The Atlantic – April 14, 2022
Studies around the world have consistently shown fear of crime on transit systems outstripping reality, but you can’t reason people out of fear, and some of their fear is understandable. Part of that is the nature of the crimes—anyone who’s ever ridden the train in a major city can surely relate to the terrifying idea of being pushed in front of a train, no matter how unlikely—and part is media attention.
Futurity – April 14, 2022
The team got the idea of tracking transit and COVID cases after watching early reports from Wuhan, China, and reflecting on how differences in public transportation systems may factor into pandemic spread patterns.
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National League of Cities – April 13, 2022
Applicants proposing projects related to zero-emissions vehicles will support workforce development in several ways. First, through a Zero-Emission Fleet Transition Plan that will include, among other concepts, a workforce transition plan that examines the impact of the transition on the applicant’s workforce and identifies skill gaps, training needs, and retraining needs to operate and maintain zero-emission vehicles and related infrastructure. Second, proposed projects related to zero-emission vehicles must use 5% of the requested federal award for workforce development to retrain the existing workforce and develop the workforce of the future, including registered apprenticeships and other joint labor-management training programs, as outlined in the applicant’s Zero-Emission Fleet Transition Plan. The Transit Workforce Center (TWC), FTA’s national transit workforce technical assistance center, has created a robust set of resources to support agencies in developing the workforce element. The TWC will also help address the national transit worker shortage by providing technical assistance activities geared toward developing frontline transit workers’ skills and recruiting workers to transit careers through various programs, such as apprenticeships, and partnerships.
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TransitCenter – April 21, 3:00 pm ET
In Subtext, a zine from TransitCenter’s Women Changing Transportation program, women in leadership from across the field reflected on what advice they would share with others. This webinar builds on those reflections, with a discussion and an audience-led question and answer session. This webinar will go beyond a conversation about best practices for success and will instead delve into the ways that these women in leadership actively contribute to changing the field. This includes challenging existing approaches and creating pathways for other women to be key decision makers. This conversation will also create space for our panelists to share major challenges that they still struggle with as changemakers, even as they advance into leadership.
FTA – April 22, 1:00 pm ET
FTA will host a Climate Challenge Earth Day Event celebrating transit agencies that are taking bold actions to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public transportation to support President Biden’s greenhouse gas reduction and climate equity goals. The event will include speakers from various agencies and a presentation of eight award categories to 10 transit agencies.
The Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor – April 26, 10:00 am ET
In June 2019, the International Labor Organization adopted a ground-breaking global treaty on eliminating violence and harassment, including gender-based harassment, in the world of work. This historic treaty was the result of a global grassroots, cross-movement campaign to end gender-based workplace violence led by women trade unionists and their allies. In their newly published book, Stopping Gender-Based Violence and Harassment at Work: The Campaign for an ILO Convention, Jane Pillinger, Robin Runge, and Chidi King document the critical role of women and unions in achieving this landmark victory.
New America – May 3, 2022
In his recent book, Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America, journalist Eyal Press exposes the routine neglect and exploitation of workers engaged in some of America’s toughest jobs - in settings like slaughterhouses, prisons, and oil rigs. The pandemic brought us the term “essential worker” and an outpouring of appreciation for their invaluable work, but thus far it has not brought much in the way of stronger protections - and that needs to change. Join the Center on Education & Labor at New America for a discussion with author Eyal Press, former Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels, and Legal Director and General Counsel of the National Employment Law Project (NELP) Catherine Ruckelshaus, on the need to advance worker protections for frontline, essential workers. This webinar will explore what it would take to ensure all workers have high-quality jobs, and how the Biden Administration could protect American workers from dangerous workplace conditions, workplace discrimination, and low-paying jobs.
Jobs for the Future – May 4-5, 2022
Join JFF’s National Innovation Hub for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Registered Apprenticeship in this first-of-its-kind, two-day virtual summit to hear from employers across the country on how they’re using the earn-and-learn model of apprenticeship to build skilled, diverse workforces.
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International Transportation Learning Center
301.565.4713
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