Resource Center

The Transit Workforce Center is pleased to host a curated collection of publications and other materials to assist stakeholders engaged in transit workforce development. The Resource Center includes case studies, training materials, research reports, and other materials of interest, including publications produced by federal government agencies, transit organizations, and independent research entities. Resources may be filtered by topic, resource type, and transit mode. This TWC blog post explains how to use the Resource Center.

We are continuing to update the Resource Center regularly. Please contact us via the Request Help menu option if you would like assistance using the Resource Center or are looking for resources on a particular topic. We also welcome suggestions of topics or specific resources to add.

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FY24 Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program

Administering Agency: Department of Transportation

Posted Date: May 13, 2024

Closing Date for Applications: Jul 12, 2024, 5:00 pm Eastern Time

Estimated Total Program Funding: Total funds available:  $50,000,000 — Grant award maximum:  $2,000,000; Grant award minimum: $250,000

Geographic Scope: National

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Description: The purpose of this notice is to solicit applications for Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Stage 1 Planning and Prototyping grants. Funds for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Stage 1 SMART Grants Program are to be awarded on a competitive basis to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart city or community technologies and systems to improve transportation efficiency and safety.

As established in law, projects funded by the SMART Grants Program use advanced data, technology, and applications to provide significant benefits to a local area, a State, a region, or the United States. These benefits align to the following categories: safety and reliability; resiliency; equity and access; climate; and partnerships.

The Department will prioritize SMART Grant funding applications that demonstrate the following characteristics: fit, scale, and adoption; data sharing, cybersecurity, and privacy; workforce development; and measurement and validation.

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Mississippi’s Developing Responsible Individuals with Valuable Education (DRIVE) Program

This TWC case study is about the Mississippi Developing Responsible Individuals with Valuable Education (DRIVE) Program, which uses Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, distributed by the Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC), to partners such as Grace House, Inc. and Community Development, Inc. (CDI). These partners use the funding in a variety of creative ways to provide housing and other supportive services to DRIVE participants while they complete training and certification for a commercial driver’s license (CDL). Partners also provide job assistance to participants, placing them and helping them succeed in local transit jobs. Learn more about the program, services offered, and how stakeholders leverage funding in the full case study.

Transit Workforce Center
May 2024
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Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities (WORC) Round 6: A Grant Initiative for the Appalachian, Delta, and Northern Border Regions

Administering Agency: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

Posted Date: Apr 4, 2024

Closing Date for Applications: Jun 20, 2024, 11:59 pm Eastern Time

Estimated Total Program Funding: Total funds available:  $49,200,000 — Grant award maximum:  $1,500,000; Grant award minimum: $150,000

Geographic Scope: Appalachian, Delta, and Northern Border Regions

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Description: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department), announces the availability of approximately $49,200,000 in grant funds authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) for the sixth round of Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (WORC) Initiative demonstration grants. The WORC Initiative provides grant funds to enable impacted communities to develop local and regional workforce development solutions aligned with existing economic development strategies and community partnerships to promote new, sustainable job opportunities and long-term economic vitality. Questions regarding this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) may be emailed to DOL-ETA-DWG@dol.gov. We encourage prospective applicants and interested parties to use the Grants.gov subscription option to register for future updates provided for this particular FOA.

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Passenger Ferry Grant Program

Administering Agency: Federal Transit Administration

Posted Date: Apr 17, 2023

Closing Date for Applications: Jun 17, 2023, 11:59 pm Eastern Time

Funding Range: Estimated Total Program Funding: $51,000,000

Geographic Scope: National

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Description: The Passenger Ferry Program provides funding to improve the condition and quality of existing passenger ferry services, support the establishment of new passenger ferry services, and repair and modernize ferry boats, terminals, and related facilities and equipment. Under the Passenger Ferry Program only, recipients are permitted to use up to 0.5 percent of their grant award to pay for not more than 80 percent of the cost for workforce development activities and an additional 0.5 percent for costs associated with training at the National Transit Institute.

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Communities Taking Charge Accelerator

Administering Agency: U.S. Department of Energy, Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, National Energy Technology Laboratory

Posted Date: Apr 16, 2024

Concept Paper Submission Deadline: May 20, 2024

Closing Date for Applications: Jul 16, 2024

Funding Range: Total funds available:  $54,000,000 — Grant award maximum:  $4,000,000

Geographic Scope: National

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Description: The Communities Taking Charge Accelerator FOA seeks applications that will help further the Joint Office’s vision of a future where everyone can ride and drive electric. This FOA will fund innovative approaches to expanding EV adoption and charging access, particularly at the local level in urbanized areas where land use, density, car ownership rates, grid considerations, and other factors add further complexities to electrifying the transportation network while the demand for transportation access is at its highest density.

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Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Technical Assistance Grant Program

Administering Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Womens Bureau

Posted Date: Apr 11, 2024

Closing Date for Applications: Jun 10, 2024

Funding Range: Total funds available:  $6,000,000 — Grant award maximum:  $750,000; Grant award minimum: $350,000

Geographic Scope: National

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Description: This program aims to provide technical assistance (TA) to employers (which may include public sector entities) and labor unions in the United States and its territories to encourage employment of women in both apprenticeable occupations and nontraditional occupations (A/NTO), specifically in the following ways:

  • Developing (establishing, expanding, and/or enhancing) pre-apprenticeship, youth apprenticeship, Registered Apprenticeship (as defined in Appendix B “Acronyms and Definitions”), or other nontraditional skills training programs designed to prepare women for careers in A/NTO;
  • Providing ongoing orientations or other resources for employers, unions, and workers on creating a successful environment for women in A/NTO; and/or
  • Setting up support groups, facilitating networks, and/or providing supportive services (as defined in section IV.E.3) for women in A/NTO to improve their retention.

Applicants may propose to provide technical assistance to support women’s participation and success in the full range of industries in which women are historically underrepresented or where women are disproportionately concentrated in the lower-wage occupations. Such industries include, but are not limited to; advanced manufacturing, construction, energy, health care, information technology, finance, and transportation. Applicants with experience working with or as an equity intermediary are encouraged to apply, as well as applicants with a proposed focus on expanding outreach/recruitment to historically underrepresented communities, including but not limited to women of color and women with disabilities, women at or below the federal poverty line, formerly incarcerated women, immigrant women, transgender women, and women who live in rural geographic areas

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Fatigue Resources for Transit Operations

To support the transit industry, FTA has compiled resources that can be used to better understand fatigue and fatigue-related issues in the workplace. The site includes resources about understanding sleep, causes of fatigue, symptoms and warning signs, effects, relevance to transit workers and agencies, and fatigue risk management systems.

Federal Transit Administration
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Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development

Administering Agency: Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Posted Date: Mar 25, 2024

Closing Date for Applications: May 24, 2024

Geographic Scope: National

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Description: The NIST National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) is seeking applications from eligible applicants for activities to establish community-based partnerships to develop cybersecurity career pathways that address local workforce needs. Effective multistakeholder workforce partnerships will organize multiple employers with skill shortages in specific occupations to focus on developing the skilled workforce to meet industry needs within the local or regional economy.

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