ISSUE / Weeks of August 19 and 26, 2019 (Workforce Edition)
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Leadership,Workforce developmentAugust 27,2019ETW Workforce Edition Introduction by Former Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater
By nearly any measure, we are entering an age of significant technological innovation that is transforming every sector of our transportation and infrastructure systems. While dramatic change can... -
Aviation Safety,Workforce developmentAugust 27,2019
This Labor Day Let’s Celebrate Those Who Keep Us Safe in the Skies
Labor Day is the one day of the year dedicated to celebrating America’s workers. It marks the end of the summer and the beginning of a new season. It’s a time for backyard barbeques and...
A Perfect Storm Hits the Transportation Infrastructure Workforce
In his bestselling book titled The Perfect Storm, author Sebastian Junger describes how an unusual combination of unrelated circumstances can combine to dramatically amplify an event. The Los Angeles...
Looking for Community-Builders: Infrastructure Careers are Lifetime Work
In 2018, the “Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure+ (iyai+)” nonprofit was launched. Iyai+ is a national educational nonprofit tasked with the goal of helping to address the high-risk,...
Navigating the Transportation Industry Workforce Shortage and Leadership Gap – The Solution is Hiding in Plain Sight.
Transformation is imminent in the transportation industry due to a combination of issues that headline our collective consciousness. These include the emergence of disruptive technologies, funding...
American Public Transportation Association (APTA): Delivering the Future-Ready Workforce
When I think of workforce development, I am reminded of a quote by Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. He said: “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them...
Transportation is a People-Centered Issue
There are several critical workforce challenges facing the U.S. transportation sector today and state departments of transportation are taking steps to “sound the alarm” about the...
An Intelligent Workforce For Intelligent Transportation Systems
When I began my career in transportation, one of the biggest challenges I faced, from a workforce perspective, was how to deal with the loss of institutional knowledge when baby-boomers retired....
Cultivating the Infrastructure Workforce in the Nation’s Capital
Under the leadership of Mayor Muriel Bowser, The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is working to bring Washington DC’s roadways, alleys, and sidewalks to a state of good repair over the...
Don’t Just Invest in Infrastructure; Invest in Workers Too
Summer marks the height of construction season. As many of us hit the road, we have probably seen several projects—and workers—along the way. When we’re not traveling, we might overlook...
How Atlanta is Closing its Driver Gap
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is the largest and oldest public transportation agency in the southeast. This year, we marked its 40th anniversary as a bus-and-rail system...
Training and Apprenticeships to Address Transit Workforce Gaps
It is well known that public transit in the United States faces a workforce skills crisis. A lot of attention—properly—goes to training for skilled craft positions, like bus mechanics. At the...
Today’s Infrastructure Needs Tomorrow’s Workforce
Today’s transportation industry workforce faces a myriad of challenges. Infrastructure is aging and funding to maintain and replace it is insufficient. Our transportation network is evolving before...
People With Skills: They Really Move Us
Asphalt and track, sensors and signals – these are essential elements of what moves us, but they can never be enough on their own. We must have skilled people who plan, design, build, staff, and...
A Resilient Transportation System Needs a Resilient Workforce
The transport systems that move both people and goods are, for better or for worse, a reflection of the nation as a whole. Economists look to the trucking sector for signs of an impending recession....
Redefining Transportation Training
Just-in-time (JIT) isn’t a phrase applied only to manufacturing. While in the past JIT revolutionized how companies created goods, it is also experiencing a renaissance as a new method for...
Preparing Workers For Our Autonomous Vehicle Future
The United States is on the verge of a major technological revolution that will create tremendous opportunities, as well as potential challenges, for our nation’s workforce. Continuing advances in...