News

ITLC and TWC Work Highlighted at APTA’s Mobility Conference

Posted May 2022

On May 1-4, 2022, ITLC’s Kenyon Corbett and David Stephen attended the APTA Mobility Conference in Columbus, OH. David Stephen was invited to present to APTA’s Workforce Development Committee about the technical assistance available to transit agencies through the Transit Workforce Center (TWC) and the front-line recruitment campaign being co-developed by the Federal Transit Administration and the TWC. Kenyon Corbett gave a similar presentation to the Bus Maintenance Technical Committee. He also covered new work by the TWC partnering with APTA to develop training standards for zero-emission buses.

The TWC staffed an information table throughout the 3-day conference where Kenyon and David answered questions from agencies about the mission of the TWC to help the industry recruit, retain, and train the transit workforce, and spread the word that the TWC is an FTA-supported industry resource.

Additionally, ITLC project partners, Brian Sherlock, Safety Specialist of ATU International, and Christy Campoll, Senior Associate of RLS & Associates, discussed work on the Bus of the Future project during a panel entitled, “Transit Worker Assaults, Bus Barriers and FTA’s Crime Prevention Initiative.” The Bus of the Future project is a near complete transit bus redesign initiative focusing on operator, rider, and pedestrian safety through an improved operator compartment designed to prevent assaults, eliminate or dramatically reduce operator blind spots, and improve their sightlines to address pedestrian safety. The project also addresses operator health and safety by improving bus suspension and the operator’s seat and by improving internal air-flow to minimize exposure to bacteria and viruses.

On the conference’s final day, Kenyon Corbett spoke at the “Managing and Guiding your Operations Teams to Success: The Essentials and New Technologies” panel. He presented the research being led by the Eno Center for Transportation on a Practitioner's Guide to Bus Operator Workforce Management. This TCRP project will address bus operator workforce management issues from pre-employment through retirement. Corbett shared several early key findings and some of the innovative practices employed by the various transit agencies featured as case studies.