Programs to Expand the Skilled, Technical Transportation Workforce: Proceedings of a Workshop (2025)
Chapter: Front Matter
Proceedings of a Workshop
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This activity was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the Federal Transit Administration and the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-73246-8
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-73246-8
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/28770
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Programs to Expand the Skilled, Technical Transportation Workforce: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/28770.
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PLANNING COMMITTEE AND MODERATORS FOR THE WORKSHOP TO BROADEN THE DIVERSITY OF THE SKILLED, TECHNICAL TRANSPORTATION WORKFORCE
JAMAINE L. GIBSON, Director of Apprenticeships and Workforce Development, Amalgamated Transit Union
PATRICIA “PAT” GREENFIELD, Senior Director for Workforce Education, International Transportation Learning Center/Transit Workforce Center
STEPHANIE S. IVEY, Associate Dean for Research, Herff College of Engineering and Director, Southeast Transportation Workforce Center, University of Memphis
TODD PISANI, Training Director and Project Research Manager, Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
DAVID STEPHEN, Communications Manager, International Transportation Learning Center/Transit Workforce Center
Transportation Research Board Staff
BRITTANY P. BISHOP, Program Officer, Consensus and Advisory Studies
THOMAS R. MENZIES, JR., Director, Consensus and Advisory Studies
Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine Staff
ASHLEY BEAR, Director
Board on Human-Systems Integration Staff
EMANUEL ROBINSON, Director
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Reviewers
This Proceedings of a Workshop was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings:
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings nor did they see the final draft before its release. We also thank Andre Porter who was the National Academies’ staff reader of this proceedings. The review of this proceedings was overseen by CHRIS T. HENDRICKSON (NAE), Carnegie Mellon University. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the rapporteur and the National Academies.
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Contents
Welcome from the Federal Transit Administration
TOPIC PANELS AND BREAKOUT GROUP DISCUSSIONS
Topic 1: Recruitment of Diverse Populations and Addressing Employment Barriers
Topic 1 Breakout Group Summary
Topic 2: Building Partnerships Among Communities, Training Programs, and Employers
Topic 2 Breakout Group Summary
Topic 3: Developing Successful Training Programs
Topic 3 Breakout Group Summary
Topic 4: Resources and Funding
Topic 4 Breakout Group Summary
Preface
This proceedings summarizes the Workshop to Broaden the Diversity of the Skilled, Technical Transportation Workforce held on September 18–19, 2024, at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, DC. The workshop was sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The 2-day workshop brought together experts and educators across academia, government, and industry to discuss paths forward that focus on building the capacity and furthering the diversity of the transportation sector’s skilled, technical workforce. The workshop placed an emphasis on opportunities for training partnerships among community colleges, 4-year Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), government agencies, and the private transportation industry.
A planning committee and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) staff organized and developed the workshop program. A copy of the workshop agenda is provided in Appendix A. Planning committee members provided expertise in education and training, policy for science and technology, transportation and infrastructure, industry and labor, and equity and diversity.
The program on Day 1 began with an opening talk from Mary Leary, associate administrator of the Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation at FTA, followed by a keynote presentation from the California Secretary of Transportation, Toks Omishakin. The remainder of Day 1 consisted of a series of panels and breakout group discussions focused on four main topics: recruitment of diverse populations and addressing employment barriers; building partnerships among communities, training programs, and employers; developing successful training programs; and
resources and funding. Each topic consisted of a panel of speaker presentations, followed by a breakout group discussion among participants, which were moderated by members of the planning committee. The panels and breakout groups intended to
- Bring together key stakeholders from MSIs, community colleges, government agencies, industry, unions, transit agencies, training centers, and the private transportation industry;
- Discuss the need to expand the talent pool for skilled technical works in the technologically evolving transportation sector;
- Identify opportunities to expand this workforce’s size and quality by tapping a more diverse talent pool;
- Highlight existing training partnerships among community colleges, 4-year MSIs, other training programs, and the transportation industry that can serve as models for expanding the pipeline for minorities and women to enter the skilled transportation workforce; and
- Consider the steps needed to bring about and sustain such partnerships such as obtaining funding, addressing employment barriers, connecting employers with training and educational institutions, and apprenticeship opportunities.
For each breakout group session, participants broke into three groups to discuss strengths and strategies, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential challenges. These discussions were then summarized and compiled into a single set of notes for each topic. The list of participants and the questions for each breakout group are provided in Appendixes B and C, respectively.
The program on Day 2 began with a wrap-up discussion with all participants that focused on the key takeaways of Day 1’s discussions. The remainder of the day consisted of a 2-hour sub-workshop hosted by April Bernard, Wilson de Lima Silva, and Jorge Valdés Kroff of NSF. The sub-workshop started with a presentation on how to complete and obtain grants, followed by a breakout group session, moderated by the NSF sponsors. For the breakout group session, participants broke into three groups to discuss future ideas for collaboration between principal investigators and supporting partners.
This proceedings is a compilation of the presentations and a factual summary of the ensuing discussions at the event. The views contained in the proceedings are those of individual symposium participants and do not necessarily represent the views of all participants, the planning committee, the Transportation Research Board, FTA, NSF, or the National Academies.
Slides for the presentations can be found at https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/43227_09-2024_workshop-to-broaden-the-diversity-of-the-skilled-technical-transportation-workforce#sectionEventMaterials.
Acronyms and Abbreviations
| ATU | Amalgamated Transit Union |
| B2 | NSF Build and Broaden Program |
| CAIT | Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation |
| CDL | commercial driver’s license |
| CTAA | Community Transportation Association of America |
| DEI | diversity, equity, and inclusion |
| DRIVE | Developing Responsible Individuals with Valuable Education |
| ESL | English as a second language |
| FE | Fundamentals of Engineering |
| FRA | Federal Railroad Administration |
| FTA | Federal Transit Administration |
| GRANTED | NSF Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity |
| HBCU | Historically Black College and University |
| ID | inclusive diversity |
| MaaS | Mobility as a Service |
| MSI | Minority-Serving Institution |
| NC A&T | North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University |
| NJ-STEP | New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| NTI | National Transit Institute |
| NTU | Navajo Technical University |
| PE | Principles and Practice of Engineering |
| PI | principal investigator |
| RD&T | research, development, and technology |
| RTA | Cleveland Regional Transit Authority |
| SBE | social, behavioral, and economic |
| STEM | science, technology, engineering, and mathematics |
| SWTCC | Southwest Tennessee Community College |
| Tri-C | Cuyahoga Community College |
| TWC | Transit Workforce Center |
| U.S. DOL | U.S. Department of Labor |
| U.S. DOT | U.S. Department of Transportation |
| UTC | University Transportation Center |
