Cost Reimbursement for Registered Transit Apprenticeships |
|
Good training requires significant investment and can be hard to prioritize when budgets are tight and there are so many other competing concerns. With this in mind, the Center has updated its policy on the reimbursement of transit employers’ On-the-Job Learning (OJL) costs for apprentices in apprenticeships registered during the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grant period. The Center will now reimburse 100% of the apprentice’s earned wages up to $3,000 per apprentice. This incentive will remain in effect only until the grant ends on September 30, 2021 so act now!
For more information on apprentice OJL cost reimbursement, please contact Karitsa Holdzkom at [email protected]
|
|
TransitCenter - July 14, 3:00 pm ET
Transit can serve as a “ladder of opportunity,” providing affordable connections to all the essentials of daily life. But sparse service and disparities in transit access linked to race and economic status undermine transit’s role as a social equalizer. TransitCenter recently released the Transit Equity Dashboard to illuminate these disparities. Using this information, transit agencies, transportation departments, and other local government agencies can assess progress toward creating more equitable transportation and land use, and prioritize the needs of people who have historically been marginalized by segregation and discrimination. Join for a look at how the dashboard works, what we can learn from it, and where it fits into initiatives to improve transit and make transportation and land use more equitable.
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.
|
|
Smart Cities Dive – July 6, 2021
"I think the government and the trade union movement and other stakeholders, the manufacturers of the technology, should be developing a system that's always looking 20 years to the future, to ensure the nation's workforce isn't ambushed by technology going forward," Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) President John Samuelsen said in an April interview. "There is a great ambush going on right now. There are many who work in diesel buses in cities across America that have no idea of the danger they're in."
Mother Jones - July 6, 2021
The pandemic has taught us that public transit funding is not just helpful to commuters or vital to a carbon-neutral future. It is a matter of equity. The $30.5 billion for public transit included in the rescue package President Biden signed in March was the biggest subsidy the federal government has ever given our country’s trains and buses. It will get the major urban transit agencies, as well as Amtrak, through the worst of the pandemic-induced dive in ridership. But then they’ll be faced with difficult math all over again, necessitating some combination of higher fares and lower service.
Phys Org – July 6, 2021
A recent EPFL study examined the factors behind the popularity of cars in urban areas, finding that environmental concerns play only a secondary role in commuters' modal choices. More prominent factors include convenience—how well a transportation method fits into their busy lifestyles—and comfort—how pleasurable the experience is, such as when taking public transportation or cycling.
|
|
Governing - July 5, 2021
The problem, which is happening nationwide and significantly impacts people living with disabilities here, is a blend of two things: more people are using ride services again as COVID-19 fears lift, and there's a dire driver shortage.
|
|
Mass Transit – July 1, 2021
“Every single person I have spoken to since I have started at VTA says they love their job,” said Kenneth Robles, a former mechanic and VTA vendor who graduated with the third class of operators of 2021. “It means a lot to me to work at a place where people are happy doing what they do. I can’t wait to get started."
DCist – July 6, 2021
Ridership on D.C. Metro could be making a comeback after more than a year of pandemic lows. On Sunday, July 4, Metro rail ridership topped 210,000 people, the highest single-day total since March 2020. Overall, Metro ridership levels have fallen about 85% since the beginning of the pandemic, and ridership has not reached the peaks seen in 2019. On July 4, 2019, there were more than 400,000 riders on Metro rail, according to WMATA ridership data.
|
|
Bloomberg CityLab – July 1, 2021
Now is an ideal time to shake things up. The pandemic-triggered rise of teleworking is making companies reassess location decisions, which will force economic developers to update their toolkits. That creates a golden opportunity to modernize their field by finally embracing the crucial role that transportation plays in fostering economic growth. For years, leading academics have argued that any employer, big or small, stands to benefit from an improved transportation network that shortens commutes. After all, a CEO may situate her headquarters in a location convenient to her home, but her company’s productivity — and its competitiveness — is largely determined by the quality of its workforce. And that workforce will be of a lower quality if arduous commutes deter a chunk of the local labor market from even considering jobs in a given location.
NorthJersey.com – July 6, 2021
The states have been at war for six months over the federal stimulus funds from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), according to letters penned between the state agencies and obtained through a public information request.
|
|
Building Transit Infrastructure |
|
Fast Company – June 9, 2021
A system that, however voluntarily, separates commuters from tourists counters the tenets of mass transit. “So what you’re achieving here is class segregation,” says public transit planning consultant Jarrett Walker, whose Portland firm conducted a transportation analysis of the Las Vegas Strip in 2014. “Even a privatized version is still a public investment if it occupies a public right of way. It’s going to take space, and it’s going to prevent other things you might do later on, like build a proper subway line.”
|
|
Aspen Institute – June 30, 2021
Even while general unemployment begins to improve, millions of America’s young people, especially young people of color, are out of school and work. Not connecting to work can have lasting effects, including long-term unemployment or long-term employment in low-quality jobs. Strategies to connect young adults to jobs that will set them up for success both now and moving forward are more important than ever. And employers play a critical role.
|
|
Los Angeles Times - July 5, 2021
With little fanfare, the industry has begun operating locomotives that run on stored electrical power, moving toward a future in which toy shops are not the only source of battery trains. American passenger lines could also be transformed by the technology, though California rail officials say it will not work for the state’s bullet train.
The Detroit News – July 5, 2021
The $973 billion bipartisan deal includes money to build a national network of electric vehicle charging stations, purchase thousands of electric buses and upgrade the electrical grid. It also would spend $55 billion to improve drinking water and wastewater systems and $47 billion in resiliency efforts to tackle climate change. But many climate-related proposals were cut out, including plans promoted by Biden to make electricity carbon-free by 2035 and spend hundreds of billions in tax incentives for clean energy such as wind and solar power and technologies that capture and store carbon emissions.
|
|
Traffic Technology Today - July 2, 2021
Unsurprisingly, the majority (>55%) of respondents said that a public agency should be responsible for regulating and coordinating a MaaS/MOD service. The US transportation systems were built for rush hour, with more frequent transit scheduling and wide highways. This peak daily travel flattened during the pandemic due to working from home. If work from home continues at least a few days a week, rush hour could continue to stay flat. Therefore, creating better run on-demand services becomes essential to encourage lower car dependence and lower carbon emissions.
|
|
Transportation Learning Center
301.565.4713
|
|
See what's happening on our social sites: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
