Industry Leaders Discuss Workforce Development and Equity Issues at ATU Legislative Conference |
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During the ATU Legislative Conference last week, ATU Workforce Development Coordinator Jamaine Gibson moderated a panel consisting of ATU International President John Costa, Jobs to Move America Executive Director Madeline Janis, and former transit agency General Manager/CEO and current founder of Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure Dr. Beverly Scott. Panelists discussed the importance of workforce development and apprenticeship programs, highlighting the need to provide opportunities for women and minorities in our industry and career advancement in skilled crafts. |
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Nuria Fernandez Confirmed as FTA Administrator |
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On June 10, 2021, Nuria Fernandez was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the 15th Administrator. Nuria served on the Transportation Learning Center Board for several years during her time as General Manager and CEO of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).
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APTAU – June 17, 3:00 p.m. ET
Join for a compelling view into how smaller transit agencies have set up safe spaces for conversation on race, what the impacts have been to date as well as key take-aways for other agencies and organizations. Lauren Skiver (SunLine Transit Agency), Collina Beard (Lane Transit District) and Amy Snyder (Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District) will discuss the practical challenges of implementing courageous conversations, what they have learned, what the relative value has been for their agencies and how they plan to build on these conversations to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Kalmanovitz Initiative - June 21, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm ET
Join the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for an international panel discussion on the green revolution and forging a "just transition" that centers workers in a shift from fossil fuels and toward climate resiliency. Despite the economic and moral imperative for a “Just Transition,” the concept remains a polarizing political issue in the US, Canada and Europe. Workers and frontline communities are skeptical that the transition will be shaped in their interest. How can we bring communities and organized labor together around a vision of a just transition?
Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) are a reality, but can our roads keep up? TRB will host a webinar that will identify what is already available, and how to safely and efficiently deploy future CAVs. Presenters will focus specifically on connected and automated vehicle infrastructure systems (CAVIS). They will discuss procurement considerations from state and local government agency perspectives and will provide use cases for both highway and transit CAVIS.
The Century Foundation, Groundwork Collaborative, and Urban Manufacturing Alliance - June 24, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm ET
Deindustrialization has gutted Black and Brown manufacturing communities across the country, robbing them of good-paying, union jobs. Broader structural disadvantages in the U.S. labor market that many workers of color face—including wealth and income gaps, discrimination, and occupational segregation—have all intensified the negative effects of these dislocations. But the tide is turning, progressives have beaten back bad trade deals, and manufacturing advocacy is moving to the center stage as part of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan to tackle persistent and pervasive racial inequities, combat the effects of climate change, and rebuild our infrastructure so that our economy can work for all of us. Join for a day-long conference where we will discuss the central role that a progressive trade and manufacturing policy can have in advancing racial justice issues and creating a sustainable and equitable economy.
Environmental justice has historically been a challenge in the transportation industry. TRB will host a webinar that will highlight case studies focused on serving communities affected by past environmental injustice. Presenters will discuss several communities displaced or cut off from economic opportunities due to highway construction. They will also provide solutions that can restore, revitalize, and reconnect the affected communities.
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Pew Trusts – June 10, 2021
Across the country, some transit agencies and cities are considering scrapping or reducing fares, at least for low-income riders, to ensure access for disadvantaged communities. The moves come after the pandemic highlighted transit inequities, as the majority of those who continued to ride buses and trains were lower-income essential workers, often people of color.
The New York Times – June 11, 2021
“Inside almost every transit agency, inside its politics, inside its decision-making, there’s this inevitable conflict between the suburban commuter interest who’s trying to get out of congestion, who’s very focused on the problem of peak congestion, and then there’s the interest of people trying to get around all day,” said Jarrett Walker, a transportation consultant who led the planning for the Cleveland changes.
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Politico – May 27, 2021
“One thing this pandemic has done is it ripped off so many seams that it provides us with a tremendous opportunity to really fight for the hearts and minds of the American public,” said Beverly Scott, four-time public transit CEO and infrastructure consultant.
Mass Transit Magazine – June 9, 2021
“Getting vaccinated is the best way to defeat this virus and resume being able to gather safely with our friends and loved ones,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We are grateful for the service and creativity of transit agencies across the country that are providing access to vaccines and encourage every state, county and city to do the same during our Month of Action.”
PBS – June 10, 2021
As more Americans get vaccinated and many start returning to workplaces, transit agencies see this transition to a post-pandemic society as an opportunity to fundamentally change how public transit works by both updating physical procedures and reevaluating the metric of success for the decades-old systems.
Next City – June 10, 2021
Vaccine buses are dispatched to a part of the state if the state health department finds an “obvious gap” in vaccine access. The health department works with partners in the community to identify these gaps, which can include a fear of crowds given social distancing guidelines, a lack of access to transportation and technology, free time, or poor English proficiency. Community organizations can also reach out to the health department to request a vaccine bus.
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Star Tribune – June 12, 2021
Experience has taught transit officials that their next bus driver could come from anywhere. They've put Ph.D.s behind the wheel. They've taught teachers and lawyers and police officers and health care workers how to thread an articulated bus between the potholes and orange barrels of summer construction season in the city.
Mass Transit Magazine – June 10, 2021
C-Tran is poised to take its first step toward electrifying its bus fleet. The agency's board of directors voted Tuesday to authorize the purchase of eight new battery-electric buses to replace eight of the fleet's oldest diesel models. The purchase contract — priced at a maximum of about $9.74 million — includes eight 40-foot battery-electric buses and associated charging infrastructure from Gillig Corp.
NJ.com – June 11, 2021
The training effort, which was accelerated after years of little to no trainee classes, will continue with one more class scheduled to graduate this year, two training classes already underway, and two more scheduled to start in November, Governor Murphy said.
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In These Times – June 8, 2021
The Democratic Party has always been a fair weather friend to the labor movement. Political operatives look at the electorate exactly as it is right now, and ponder how to divide it up to their advantage. But there is a wiser path, of looking at the electorate as it is now and imagining what needs to happen to change it. Even if Democrats are too cynical to care about the underlying moral principles that unions promote, they should be astute enough to understand that increasing the number of union members will naturally produce an electorate more receptive to progressive policy goals. In addition to things like reducing inequality and helping to promote living wages, Democrats should be motivated by this extremely practical reality to do everything they can to promote unionization.
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Mass Transit Magazine – June 11, 2021
The revised order will not require masks while outdoors on conveyances or outdoors on the premises of transportation hubs. While the order applies to all people regardless of vaccination status, CDC recommends non-vaccinated people continue to use masks as a risk mitigation measure.
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Government Technology – June 9, 2021
More than 40 companies in the United States are involved with the design and development of autonomous vehicle technology in the low-speed shuttle arena. As the vehicles become more familiar to the riding and driving public, researchers expect that they will soon merge into regular traffic.
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