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.
Recruiting Through Connection
This case study describes the OECC (Operators Engaging and Connecting Communities) program in Metro Transit, MN, which sends operators out to community events as a recruitment tool and to help the community understand the role of the operator.
Transit Workforce Center
November 2023
LEARN MORETools for Building an Equitable Infrastructure Workforce
This toolkit from the Women’s Bureau provides guidance on strategies and best practices for recruiting and retaining women in construction, manufacturing, and clean energy jobs.
Department of Labor
September 2023
TOPICS: Career Pathways, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access, Hiring and Recruitment, Policy and Planning, Retention
This toolkit provides guidance on strategies and best practices for recruiting and retaining women in construction, manufacturing, and clean energy jobs. The strategies describe how to make the intentional choice to build a diverse workforce, create targeted recruitment, address barriers of entry, and retain a diverse workforce.
Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide
This report is a practitioner’s guide that provides recommendations and resources enabling transit agencies to better assess, plan, and implement their operator workforce management programs. A link to a related TRB webinar is also included.
Transit Cooperative Research Program
August 2023
TOPICS: Apprenticeship, Career Pathways, Hiring and Recruitment, Labor-Management Partnerships, Mentorship, Policy and Planning, Retention, Safety and Health, Training, Workforce Shortage, Zero Emission Buses
Contributor(s): National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Transportation Research Board; Transit Cooperative Research Program; Robert Puentes; Philip Plotch; Brianne Eby; Paul Lewis; Karitsa Holdzkom; Xinge Wang; Douglas Nevins; Kenyon Corbett; Melissa Huber
National Transit Workforce Development Strategic Plan 2023 to 2028
The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) first National Transit Workforce Development six-year Strategic Plan outlines goals and objectives to address workforce challenges and opportunities in the public transportation industry.
Federal Transit Administration
August 2023
LEARN MORE
The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) first National Transit Workforce Development six-year Strategic Plan outlines goals and objectives to address workforce challenges and opportunities in the public transportation industry. The plan has six overarching goals: ensuring worker safety and health, investing in workforce development, driving workforce recruitment, ensuring worker retention, developing worker skills, and tracking success through appropriate metrics. FTA’s Transit Workforce Center led the development of this plan collaborating closely with FTA and with stakeholders across transit agencies, unions, national transit associations, the US Department of Labor, and workers. The plan will guide FTA’s activities and investments to support transit agencies as they recruit, retain, and train the diverse workforce they need today and tomorrow.
Opening Doors: Including People with Disabilities in the Transit Workforce
In the transportation industry, individuals with disabilities should comprise part of a diverse workforce and can be included in recruitment and retention initiatives. “Opening Doors: Including People with Disabilities in the Transit Workforce” offers an overview of strategies and is one of the feature articles in the July-August 2023 edition (Issue 346) of TR News, TRB’s magazine.
TR News
August 2023
TOPICS: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access, Hiring and Recruitment, Retention, Workforce Shortage
In the transportation industry, individuals with disabilities should comprise part of a diverse workforce and can be included in recruitment and retention initiatives. “Opening Doors: Including People with Disabilities in the Transit Workforce” offers an overview of strategies and is one of the feature articles in the July-August 2023 edition (Issue 346) of TR News, TRB’s magazine.
Authors: Judy Shanley (National Center for Mobility Management), Shayna Gleason (Transit Workforce Center), and Patricia Greenfield (Transit Workforce Center)
Driver Recruitment and Retention Strategies
This blog post from the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center discusses recruitment and retention strategies for transit agencies, particularly in regard to older and disabled workers in the face of industry-wide labor shortages. It includes examples of successful partnerships and effective mentoring programs.
National Aging and Disability Transportation Center
July 2023
TOPICS: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access, Hiring and Recruitment, Mentorship, Retention, Workforce Shortage
Hiring and Retention Strategies Whitepaper: A Perspective from Florida Transit Agencies
This study examines what transit agencies are doing to address hiring and retention challenges, what strategies are working, and what problems still need to be solved. The report includes six case study sites from Florida transit agencies and one non-Florida transit agency, that were selected due to a variety of characteristics, including partnerships and implemented service changes.
Center for Urban Transportation Research
June 2023
LEARN MORETransit-Community Partnerships: Advancing Workforce Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion
In this webinar, hosted by the Transportation Equity Caucus and Transit Workforce Center, panelists with experience in community-based partnerships that embrace diversity, equity, inclusion, and access discuss a variety of ways community-based organizations, transit agencies, and unions can engage in creating a strong workforce that fully reflects their communities.
Transportation Equity Caucus
June 2023
TOPICS: Apprenticeship, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access, Hiring and Recruitment, Labor-Management Partnerships, Mentorship
Featured Speakers:
- Beth Berendsen, Policy Director, Chicago Women in Trades
- Rich Diaz, Bus Operator Mentor Lead, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1575
- Aaron Koski, Senior Manager – Workforce Development, Metro Transit (MN)
- Anna Penland, Assistant Transportation Manager – OECC Coordinator, Metro Transit (MN)
- David Stephen, International Transportation Learning Center/Transit Workforce Center
- Chris VanEyken, Director, Research and Policy, TransitCenter