Publications

Building Effective Education and Training for America’s Workers - Issue Briefing

President Obama has issued a challenge for all Americans and all those involved in education and training: He has called for all Americans to complete at least one year of education or training beyond high school. He has particularly urged that unemployed workers should be able to use their time not working to build skills to advance their careers when they return to employment. The Center has just released a short issue brief calling attention to the value of workplace training partnerships and apprenticeship.
Download: Building Effective Education and Training for America’s Workers - Issue Briefing

Fall 2009 Newsletter

Partnership Express: Fall 2009 Edition Available
The Center’s quarterly newsletter, Partnership Express, just launched its Fall 2009 issue. Included is information on the Center’s new Executive Vice Chair, James C. Little, and updates on labor-management partnerships in transit.
Download: Fall 2009

Summer 2009 Newsletter

Partnership Express: Summer 2009 Edition Available
The Center’s quarterly newsletter, Partnership Express, just launched its Summer 2009 issue. Included is information on the Center’s cutting-edge research on investment in human capital and updates on labor-management partnerships in transit.
Download: Summer 2009

Transit Partnership Pays: Working Together - Everybody Wins

The Center's partnership-based, data-driven model for developing training reaps enormous gains for transit agencies, workers and the customers of public transportation. This report highlights the abundant evidence that the most successful, cost efficient and durable training systems come from industry based labor-management partnerships.
Download: Transit Partnership Pays: Working Together - Everybody WinsThe Cen

Annual Report Available

The Transportation Learning Center's 2008 Annual Report highlights the progress made in expanding partnerships, upgrading communications, producing cutting-edge research and developing standards for transit training.
Download: 2008 Annual Report

Spring 2009 Newsletter

Partnership Express: Spring 2009 Edition Available
The Center’s quarterly newsletter, Partnership Express, just launched its Spring 2009 issue. Included are updates on the Center’s cutting-edge research in public transportation are updates on labor-management partnerships in transit.
Download: Spring 2009

Transit Jobs: Building Green Careers and Helping the Environment

Green collar jobs in transit are blue collar jobs that improve environmental quality and build strong communities. The Center’s green jobs fact sheet highlights the ways that transit jobs are investing in sustainable communities. Green collar jobs are good posed that are posed for dramatic growth well into the future!
Download: Transit Jobs

Pennsylvania Transit on the High Road

This 2003 report reviews the early development of the Keystone Transit Career Ladder Partnership from the earliest discussions in 2001 to the end of its second program year in June 2003.
Download: Pennsylvania Transit on the High Road

Measuring Up

This report uses objective data to demonstrate the positive impact of Keystone training on job performance and transit operations. The Center's research found that enhanced maintenance training through Keystone has raised the knowledge and skill levels of transit maintenance employees, improved effectiveness of diagnostics and repair, and yielded reduced maintenance costs and improved vehicle reliability.

Check out the Center's full Measuring Up report series.
MeasuringUpVol1.pdf
MeasuringUpV2_5-4-2007.pdf
Download: Measuring Up Interim Report

People Make the Hardware Work: Transit Experts Call for Labor Management Training Partnerships

A summary of findings from the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), a service of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Public Transportation Association.
Download: People Make the Hardware Work

Transportation Industry Environmental Scan

The transportation industry has been identified as a high-growth industry, with Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting nearly 22 percent employment growth between 2002 and 2012. This report provides a comprehensive scan of the transportation industry including overall industry structure, major sector definitions, key associations, unions and joint workforce development initiatives, and statistics on the industry, its employers, and its workforce.
Download: Transportation Industry Environmental Scan

Keystone: Making a Difference In Pennsylvania Transit

Published in June 2004, this report uses survey data to show that the Keysotne Transit Career Ladder Partnership has generated broad support from supervisors and workers in both large and small Pennsylvania transit agencies.
Download: Keystone: Making a Difference in Pennsylvania Transit

Passing on the Legacy

Training transit workers reaps benefits for transit agencies, workers and those who ride public transportation. Our most recent research report, Passing on the Legacy: The Benefits of Mentoring in Transit Training, explores the role of mentoring in transit training. The Center profiled three mentoring programs at Portland, Oregon’s TriMet system, Alameda Contra-Costa Transit District and at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Varying in size, location and training programs, these three locations use mentoring as a tool to hone worker skills. Check out the report at http://www.transportcenter.org. Also, view other Center publications about the benefits of transit training including our research series Measuring Up.
Download: Passing on the Legacy

Transit Partnership Training: Metrics of Success

You can’t know how well you’re doing until you find ways to measure outcomes. The Center followed through on this basic insight by developing a series of four in-depth research reports of the past four years on the work of the Keystone Transit Career Ladder Partnership. The key findings of this research are highlighted in this overview.
Download: Metrics of Success

Working Together:  A Systems Approach for Transit Training

Working Together: A Systems Approach for Transit Training outlines how constructive training partnerships provide the most effective way for the transit industry to address its skill challenges. National labor-management committee have met regularly for several years to develop consensus training guidelines. These joint committees have been focusing on five transit maintenance occupations: bus, rail signals, traction power, rail vehicles and elevator/escalator. A parallel joint effort has been crafting a national framework for transit apprenticeship.
Download: Working Together

Project Empire:  Smart Investment Partnership

Project Empire is a transit training initiative developed through cooperative efforts on the part of labor and management. The Center’s report, “Smart Investment Partnership: New York State’s Transit Training Workforce Proves Its Worth,” outlines the gains that come from joint training partnerships. Project Empire includes the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority (CENTRO) and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 580 as well as the Capitol District Transportation Authority (CDTA) and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1321. Forged in 2006, this partnership aims to alleviate transit’s skill crisis by providing continuing education and training opportunities for workers. Through cooperation transit can identify the most effective training practices and maximize the industry’s training resources.
Download: Project Empire: Smart Investment Partnership

International and Domestic Comparisons

“Building Capacity for Transit Training: International and Domestic Comparisons” outlines the Center’s initial findings on how other countries and industries implement labor-management training systems. The paper explores workforce development practices in countries including Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition, the report identifies US based industries that promote a joint structure for workforce training.
Download: Building Capacity for Transit Training