January 2026 News

The Center for International Trade and Transportation Receives National Workforce Award for K12 Pathways Contribution

Tom O’Brien (second from right), Associate Dean of CSULB’s College of Professional and Continuing Education, accepted the award on behalf of CSULB, CPaCE, and the CITT. Pictured from left to right: Constantine Tarawneh (UT Rio Grande Valley), Carita Ducre (APTA), Yinhai Wang (UW).

The Center for International Trade and Transportation (CITT) received the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC) Workforce Development Leadership Award for contributions to high school pathway programs in partnership with the Port of Long Beach (POLB) and Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD). The award, which is also sponsored by the American Public Transit Association, was announced on January 10, 2026, in Washington, D.C during the 2026 CUTC Awards Ceremony

The award is given annually to an institution that demonstrates outstanding leadership in designing and delivering workforce development programs. Over the last decade, CITT has developed innovative and impactful high school pathways in close partnership with the Port, which fully funds three LBUSD high school pathways.

Research Spotlight: Statewide Transit Operator Shortage

The Center for International Trade and Transportation is excited to announce that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has published new research from CITT Executive Director Tyler Reeb and Project Manager James Reuter on the statewide transit operator shortage. California’s public transit systems face a persistent shortage of transit operators that is undermining service reliability and long-term transportation goals.

The report examines the workforce and socioeconomic factors driving this shortage and why it has proven so difficult to resolve. Reeb and Reuter surveyed rural, small urban, and large urban transit operators across the state, with a focus on bus-only agencies. Survey and focus group respondents also provided an overview of successful recruitment and retention strategies, and suggested ideas for statewide efforts that could alleviate the issue.

PSR Events

USC

METRANS Speaker Series |How the Aeroscraft Cargo Airship is Redefining Goods and Freight Movement| Speaker: Igor Pasternak (Founder & CEO, Aeros) | Wednesday, February 18, 2026

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UCLA

UCLA 100 Lecture Series |Strategic Innovation for L.A. Transportation| Speaker: Seleta Reynolds, Chief Innovation Officer, LA Metro | Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Webinar | Paving Over How Much Paradise? How Parking Shapes Our Cities | Speakers: Professor Lewis Lehe, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign & Professor Michael Manville, UCLA | Tuesday, February 10, 2026
UCLA 100 Lecture Series | L.A. From the Viewpoint of a Walker | Speaker: Alissa Walker, Editor for Torched | Wednesday, February 11, 2026

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UC Irvine

Seminar |ACCELRT: Autonomous Cargo Carriers for Enhanced Logistics in Rural and Tribal Areas| Speaker: Professor Scott Moura, UC Berkeley | Friday, February 20, 2026

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The METRANS Transportation Consortium was established in 1998 as the first University Transportation Center in Southern California. METRANS is a joint partnership of the University of Southern California (USC) and California State University, Long Beach (CSULB).

METRANS' mission is to solve transportation problems of large metropolitan regions through interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach. Its three primary objectives are: (1) fostering independent, high quality research to solve the nation's transportation problems; (2) training the next generation transportation workforce; and (3) disseminating information, best practices, and technology to the professional community.

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