Workforce Development Initiative
What's New
- The Transit Workforce Center (TWC) will host the Making Connections 2024 – The National Transit Workforce Conference (MC24) November 11-13, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland. Attendees will have an opportunity to learn new skills, meet and network with others in the transit industry, and hear the latest innovations to help build a better transit workforce.
- On Monday, June 17, 2024 at 1:30 p.m. ET, the Transit Workforce Center (TWC) and partner transit agencies will hold a virtual webinar on Powering Up the Workforce: Transit Workforce Center's Zero-Emission Bus Resources. This webinar will feature the tools and resources TWC has available to help frontline technicians with the necessary training to meet the challenges and demands of this new technology.
- On August 15, 2023, FTA posted the Federal Transit Administration National Transit Workforce Development Strategic Plan 2023 to 2028, which 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.
- Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Hiring Preference. In 2021, FTA announced an initiative, implemented as a pilot program, to permit transit agencies to use hiring preferences on FTA-funded construction projects to promote equitable creation of employment opportunities and workforce development activities, particularly for economically or socially disadvantaged workers. The initiative has transitioned in response to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes hiring preferences related to the use of labor for transportation construction projects. Section 25019 provides an express authorization for FTA grant recipients and subrecipients to use a geographical or economic hiring preference for the construction of federally supported transit projects. See the Federal Register Notice.
Transit Workforce Center
On August 2, 2021, FTA announced the award of a $5 million cooperative agreement to the ITLC to support the TWC. The TWC is the first FTA-funded technical assistance center to directly support public transit workforce development. Its mission is to help transit agencies recruit, hire, train, and retain a diverse workforce needed now and in the future. The TWC will also help address the national transit worker shortage by providing technical assistance activities geared towards developing frontline transit workers’ skills and recruiting workers to transit careers through various programs, such as apprenticeships, and partnerships.
Over the previous decade, FTA has invested more than $20 million for Innovative Transit Workforce Development, funding over 45 different grants. The TWC will build upon the findings of these critical investments by assisting transit agencies in developing comprehensive, research-based workforce development programs. In addition, the ITLC will facilitate partnerships between transit agency management and labor unions, which they have been doing over the last several years. ITLC will also use their extensive experience and knowledge of bus electrification operations and maintenance to reskill and upskill current and future transit workers. The TWC’s future efforts to assist the transit industry with electrification directly support the Biden-Harris Administration's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 while creating well-paying union jobs. For technical assistance, complete the Technical Assistance Request form or email the TWC.
As transit agencies look to the future, a diverse and robust workforce is more critical than ever. The #ConnectingMyCommunity toolkit from the national Transit Workforce Center provides sample strategies, tips and ready-to-use materials to design effective recruitment campaigns.
Overview
The FTA Workforce Development Initiative provides resources and support for public transit agencies to recruit, retain and train transit workers to ensure the transit industry has the workforce needed for today and in the future. Elements of the initiative include:
- Cooperative agreements with transit agencies to develop innovative workforce projects
- Reports and information on the results of those projects
- Meetings and conferences to gather information about public transit agency workforce issues/concerns
- A new transit workforce technical assistance program
Over the last decade, FTA provided over $20 million to fund innovative workforce grants, and to date, most of those grants are complete. See the evaluation reports. This initiative also ensures that agencies can upskill, reskill, and hire an equitable and diverse workforce for current and new jobs emerging through advanced technologies.
FTA’s Workforce Development Initiative seeks to:
- Provide a roadmap and strategic support to help transit agencies recruit, retain, and train their workforce for today and tomorrow
- Develop resources to ensure equity and diversity in the public transit workforce
- Help agencies use the half of one percent available from urbanized area formula grants and other funding investments to develop workforce initiatives that address the unique needs of each agency
- Partner with the Department of Labor to help agencies leverage funding and initiatives across both federal agencies
- Help support the development of internships, apprenticeships, and/or work-based skills training
- As needed, develop a transit curriculum for transit operators and engineers/technicians especially in safely working with low or zero-emission buses while ensuring there is no duplication of training activities led by the National Transit Institute
- Support academic and technical trade education partnerships, especially with community colleges
- Assess and develop partnerships with social services programs to ensure workforce development programs also have resources to support worker transitions from other fields or disadvantaged backgrounds
Eligible Activities
FTA’s Workforce Development Initiative is authorized under FTA’s Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program (49 U.S.C. § 5314). The types of projects eligible for funding under this program include 1) technical assistance, 2) human resources/training, and 3) innovative public transportation frontline workforce development.
- Technical assistance activities
- Human resources and training projects including:
- Employment training programs
- Outreach to specific under-represented populations in the workforce
- Research on public transportation personnel and training needs
- Training and assistance for veteran and minority business opportunities
- Consensus-based national training standards and certifications in partnership with industry stakeholders
- Innovative public transportation frontline workforce development projects including:
- Developing apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and instructional training for public transportation maintenance and operations occupations
- Building local, regional, and statewide public transportation training partnerships with local public transportation operators, labor union organizations, workforce development boards, and State workforce agencies to identify and address workforce skill gaps
- Improving safety, security, and emergency preparedness in local public transportation systems through improved safety culture and workforce communication with first responders and the riding public
- Addressing current or projected workforce shortages by developing partnerships with high schools, community colleges, and other community organizations
Eligible Recipients
Eligible applicants depend upon what type of project is being funded. Typically, eligible recipients include urban and rural transit agencies; state departments of transportation providing public transportation services; metropolitan planning organizations; Indian tribes; nonprofit institutions; and institutions of higher education.
Statutory References
Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program (49 U.S.C. § 5314)
Allocation of Funding
Workforce Development Program projects are funded annually under the Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program (49 U.S.C. § 5314).
Match
Typically, federal grants under this program provide an 80-percent government share, leaving a 20-percent match requirement for recipients. Recipients may derive that match through in-kind activities not funded by the federal government and match from other federal agencies as noted in the Coordinated Council on Access and Mobility resources on match.
However, projects funded under Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program (49 U.S.C. § 5314 (a)), through a cooperative agreement (not a grant), may be funded at 100 percent and do not require a local match.
Funding Mechanism
Competitive Cooperative Agreement
Previously Awarded Workforce Projects
- 2015 Innovative Workforce Development Grants
- 2012 Innovative Workforce Development Grants
- 2011 Innovative Workforce Development Grants
Resources
- Federal Transit Administration National Transit Workforce Development Strategic Plan 2023 to 2028 (Report 0251)
- Bus Operator Workforce Management: Practitioner’s Guide (TCRP Research Report 240)
- Innovative Transit Workforce Development Projects of 2015: Summative Evaluation (Report 0153)
- Innovative Transit Workforce Development Program: Key Lessons Learned (Report 0139)
- Innovative Transit Workforce Development Projects of 2012: Summative Evaluation (Report 0128)