News and Updates

Rail Vehicle Technician Qualification System Approved by TCRP Panel

Posted February 2014

The Transportation Research Board’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) will soon be publishing an important new report,  An Industry-Wide System of Qualification for Transit Rail Car Technicians - Building for Success.  The report presents the findings of a five-year labor-management TCRP project designed to help the industry meet the challenge of qualifying a new generation of Rail Car Technicians.

Center Releases Report on Career Pathways in Transit & Transportation

Posted February 2014

Through the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, awarded a seed grant to the Transportation Learning Center for the research, writing and production of a report on career pathways in transit and transportation: “Pathways to Equity: Effective Transportation Career Partnerships.”

Elevator-Escalator Repairer Apprenticeship Approved

Posted January 2014

On January 16, 2014, the US Department of Labor officially approved the Transportation Learning Center’s proposed transit elevator-escalator apprenticeship program.  Elevator-Escalator thus becomes the third national transit apprenticeship approved by DOL’s Office of Apprenticeship, joining the Bus Maintenance Technician and Rail Car Maintenance Technician programs.

This new apprenticeship program is based on the industry-developed standards for training, and it incorporates the detailed courseware developed by the Consortium for Elevator-Escalator Maintenance Training. 

Frontline Workforce Development Emerges as Transit Policy Priority for 2014

Posted January 2014

America’s top transit leaders - from both management and labor - are pushing for strong new workforce provisions in new legislation to reauthorize the Surface Transportation Act.  Workforce provisions are very modest in MAP-21, the current federal legislation for transit, highways and passenger rail, that is due to expire in September 2014.

Weekly Update for January 16, 2014

Posted January 2014

This week’s update includes stories on how transit ridership rose 1.5 percent in third-quarter 2013 to nearly 2.7 billion trips, a French firm Keolis wins a commuter rail contract in Massachusetts and how SEPTA plans to take the lead over other transit leaders.