Center Welcomes New Board Members |
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The Center is pleased to announce four newly elected members to the Board of Directors: Sam Desue, Jr., General Manager of TriMet; Karen Philbrick, Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute; Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; and Jeff Rosenberg, Director of Government Affairs at Amalgamated Transit Union. Click here to read their full bios.
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Center Gets Input from Coach Operator Apprenticeship Committee for TCRP Study |
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Transit Coach Operator Apprenticeship Committee members at 2019 meeting |
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On July 8, the Center held a virtual Transit Coach Operator Apprenticeship Committee meeting. Labor and management from agencies all over the country connect with each other through the committee around the common goal of implementing a registered apprenticeship for new coach operators. Meetings, whether virtual or in-person, provide agencies with the opportunity to ask advice from locations currently running an operator apprenticeship and to learn from each other.
During this meeting, Center staff, along with Brianne Eby from the Eno Center for Transportation and Instructional Designer Melissa Huber, conducted a focus group to help inform work on the Transportation Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) F-28: Practitioner's Guide to Bus Operator Workforce Management. The committee represents a sample of agencies that are committed to improving operator training and they provided valuable information on best practices in operator workforce management.
The committee also discussed the close of the Center’s American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grant. Although the AAI grant period is quickly coming to an end, committee members advocated to keep the group active because of the valuable exchange of ideas and because the program it represents is badly needed. In every committee meeting, locations with operator apprenticeship discuss the benefits observed from the program and how it has helped new operators succeed in their career. Despite setbacks for some agencies, there is general consensus in the committee on the merits of apprenticeship for coach operators and enthusiasm to implement the program in the near future.
For more information on Transit Coach Operator Apprenticeship, please contact Kenyon Corbett at [email protected]
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APTAU – July 15, 3:00 pm ET
Join for a compelling view into how businesses have set up safe spaces for conversations on race, what the impacts have been to date, and key take-aways for other businesses. Hear from businesses from a variety of sectors who will discuss the practical challenges of implementing courageous conversations, what they have learned, what the relative value has been for their businesses, and how they plan to build on these conversations to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.
Transportation accounts for more than a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. Public transportation has the potential to be included as a major part of climate action strategies. TRB is hosting a webinar that will explore how to incorporate transit as a climate solution. Presenters will explain the sustainability benefits of public transportation, including a reduced carbon footprint and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. They will also provide tools transit agencies can use to plan low-carbon transportation solutions.
Portland State University – July 21, 5:00 pm ET
The world is awash in data, and the data available to transportation analysts and planners is growing by the minute. With this rapid growth, traditional data analysis tools may no longer be effective. Relational databases such as Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL and Oracle are one tool that can be used to manage and query large data sets. In this webinar, we give a brief introduction to relational databases and SQL — the language that is used to communicate with relational databases. Participants will learn the key structures of relational databases (relations, keys and types), and will learn how to write simple SQL queries. resources will be provided for participants who wish to continue practicing their new SQL skills after the training.
WorkRise - July 22, 12:00 pm ET
Join WorkRise and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to explore evidence-based tools and resources designed to create pathways for economic mobility and opportunity for workers historically excluded from good jobs. Researchers and practitioners from WorkRise’s partner institutions will consider how these tools and resources support workers’ efforts to leverage their existing skills and past work experience to signal their value in the labor market and employers’ growing interest in skills-based hiring. They will highlight insights that enable workforce intermediaries and decisionmakers to facilitate occupational transitions and stronger matches between local talent and demand. They will also identify gaps in knowledge about effective interventions for promoting mobility in the labor market.
JFF - July 27, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET
Workforce development can learn a lot from the sports industry. Youth sports participation is a foundation of childhood for many Americans—parents encourage it, kids enjoy it, and schools support it. And though few youth athletes go pro, this early introduction to the field benefits professional sports teams with highly trained athletes and large, loyal consumer bases. How can we apply this type of talent development model to youth apprenticeship programs in industries such as IT, health care, advanced manufacturing, or business? Join JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning to discover how to adapt youth apprenticeship into a winning proposition for participants, schools, and businesses.
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Bloomberg CityLab - July 5, 2021
As cities across Europe look to make transport greener, the overhaul is revealing gender issues as well. In auto-intensive Germany, men travel roughly double the distance by car compared with women, who are more likely to walk and take public transport. Urban planning, which has traditionally been dominated by male decision makers, is now under pressure to make networks less-focused around men commuting to work.
Transportation for America – July 9, 2021
For every dollar of transportation investment, only twenty cents goes towards transit (and the rest towards highways). This is a huge imbalance between a mode of transportation focused on vehicle movement and speed and another focused on moving people, providing equitable access to mobility, and connecting communities to opportunities. It’s time to focus transportation investment on people and the environment first.
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COVID's Impact on Transit |
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TransitCenter – July 8, 2021
Travel patterns today have shifted as a result of COVID and are not expected to bounce back to the status quo ante. Service levels are recovering from steep pandemic-induced cuts, but not fast enough to keep pace with a broader economic “reopening.” And while the threat of COVID has significantly abated in urban areas, many measures to reduce the risk of transmission remain in place. What comes next as transit agencies strive to bring service back and deliver what riders need in 2021 and beyond?
NBC – July 10, 2021
Those returning to the daily commute this summer can expect to see free and discounted rides, shorter wait times and even new technology to provide greater safety and convenience — all part of an effort to recapture ridership as the coronavirus recedes and the U.S. reopens. While making up the lost revenue is a major motivation for transit systems, some are also looking to provide equitable access for lower-income front-line workers who have relied on their services throughout the pandemic. “We are essential workers moving essential workers and delivering essential service to our community,” said Carrie Rose Pace, spokesperson for the public transit system in Richmond, Virginia.
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Los Angeles Times - July 7, 2021
With the threat of COVID-19 receding, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to focus on boosting ridership levels that fell 70% during the pandemic and expanding transit service to low-income communities, according to top transit officials at the agency’s annual State of the Agency event. For the first time in its 28-year history, the agency will be led by two women: Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who is Metro board chair, and Chief Executive Stephanie Wiggins. They said they will share responsibility for making the $8-billion agency more equitable and accessible after a devastating pandemic.
Transit Intelligence - July 8, 2021
As the Bay Area endures another hot, dry summer, BART is using goats to graze and cut firebreaks on its right-of-way property, which reduces reliance on fossil-fuel-powered equipment, decreases the chance of sparking fires, and increases safety for workers.
The Philadelphia Inquirer - July 9, 2021
Lilley was studying business management at Delaware State University when his uncle, a longtime SEPTA train conductor who is now retired, suggested the job. Steady paycheck, good benefits, job security. Lilley wasn’t immediately sold. He’d come across some pretty sour bus drivers in his travels. “I thought it was just driving a bus. I didn’t think of it from their perspective,” Lilley said. “Think about it, a person who rides the bus is on there for a half hour, an hour at the most. But we’re on those buses every day for eight hours or more seeing and hearing everything.” That perch comes with a view and an appreciation for the people in the city.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - July 10, 2021
Like many businesses — and its transit colleagues across the country — Port Authority can’t find enough employees to fill positions as operators and maintenance personnel as the pandemic eases. The agency is running about 100 operators below the budgeted amount of 1,124 and about 50 under the budgeted number of 862 maintenance employees, which includes mechanics, body repair, HVAC and vehicle cleaning.
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Mass Transit Magazine - July 8, 2021
APTA has published a policy paper outlining the decline in transit-related projects awarded funds from the program and makes the case for why a greater percentage of public transit RAISE grant recipients can support the current administration’s transportation priorities. APTA notes the previous iterations of the grants have been awarded to projects that “not only help enhance mobility but also can result in positive safety, environmental, equity and economic benefits.”
The Washington Post - July 11, 2021
One could see all this as the beginning of a great workplace revolution. The weak point of labor organizing is always coordination, since a few workers who are willing to agree to terms can spoil things for everyone else. The pandemic may have provided a coordination mechanism by resetting expectations of what a “normal workplace” looks like — not just for office workers but also for front-line service employees, who can’t realistically work from home but who, flush with stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits, are demanding something better than a dead-end minimum-wage job to get them back into workplaces.
Business Insider – July 9, 2021
You may have heard that there's a labor shortage, as employers desperately woo workers. But mismatches in skills, where workers are located, and what they want out of work could be to blame. Those factors will probably continue to shape the strangeness of the labor market for a while.
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The Times Leader - July 9, 2021
The business and union groups often differ on policy issues in Washington, but that has not been the case when it comes to infrastructure as they tout the prospect of new jobs that would be created shoring up the country’s roads, bridges, rail lines and airports. They have emphasized that the legislation should be something that lawmakers from both parties can support.
In These Times - July 6, 2021
Ronald Reagan reversed a 40-year policy to promote the right of workers to organize and to bargain collectively. Before Reagan, corporations feared using the permanent replacement option because the federal government had made it clear that it would not tolerate such brutal behavior in the course of labor relations. After Reagan, it was open season on workers and their unions. Inequality skyrocketed as wealth was massively redistributed upward. President Biden, to his credit, has vowed to reverse these trends. He has made a number of statements explicitly supporting worker rights and has appointed a number of pro-union advocates to key policy positions.
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Streetsblog – July 13, 2021
In response to rising calls to rethink the role of police in the transportation realm following the murder of George Floyd, researchers at the nonprofit TransitCenter took a hard look at the state of transit safety in America, and whether enforcement-first strategies are really successful for all city residents — especially for the unhoused, people of color, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and others who are being underserved by their networks now.
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International Transit News |
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Intelligent Transport – July 6, 2021
There is uncertainty as to how many will continue to wear a face covering on the bus or Tube moving forward, many will no doubt feel safer with one on, or at least travelling in a vehicle where the majority are wearing face masks. But what is certain is that something which barely anybody would dream of donning not 18 months ago has become such a part of travel, that the prospect of journeys without face masks has sparked widespread debate within the transport industry, which will no doubt continue if cases continue to rise.
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Geek Wire – July 7, 2021
In the Kitsap County pilot project, the existing buses will run on the same routes they do now with no changes. But interested riders can, through the app, call one of the island’s two 14-seat coaches for place-to-place service. The expectation is that they will be at the door in 4-to-9 minutes.
Metro Magazine – July 8, 2021
GILLIG’s second-generation battery-electric bus completed the Federal Transit Administration’s Bus Test Program at the Larson Transportation Institute's Bus Research and Testing Center located in Altoona, Pa. The company’s electric bus scored extremely well in all evaluated categories, turning in notable results in durability and performance.
Streetsblog – July 9, 2021
Today, the Steel City will launch its long-awaited Move PGH pilot, which is being touted as the first comprehensive “mobility as a service” (MaaS) app in United States history. Under the program, residents will be able to pay their bus fares; rent micromobility vehicles such as electric bikes, mopeds, and scooters; find someone to carpool with; and, when absolutely necessary, rent an automobile for a few hours — all under the umbrella of the Transit app, which is already used by 40,000 residents of the city, 79 percent of whom do not have access to a private vehicle. And if they want to take multiple modes in a single trip, they’ll be able do it all without leaving the app, or re-entering their credit card information over and over — at least when all the kinks are worked out.
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