Opening Session

WELCOME FROM THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

Mary Leary, Associate Administrator, Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation, Federal Transit Administration

Mary Leary, associate administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation provided opening remarks for the workshop. Leary spoke about FTA’s various workforce development initiatives, including innovative transit workforce development projects, the National Transit Institute (NTI), the Transit Workforce Center (TWC), high school and youth outreach, and the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) National Center for Applied Transit Technology Data Literacy for Transit Workers. In particular, the CTAA National Center is targeted toward tribal, rural, and small urban transit agencies to ensure that all organizations are able to integrate their data to improve services and access to information. In addition, Leary highlighted an FTA and TWC Regional Transit Agency and U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) Partner Networking Event, where they hold convenings in each FTA region to encourage networking, joint planning efforts, and information sharing about workforce programs.

Leary encouraged those attending to reach out to TWC, connect with NTI training, and other partners, including unions and industry organizations. FTA is looking for ways to build partnerships, and Leary strongly encouraged those attending to focus on those key partners that could enhance future workforce initiatives.

KEYNOTE SPEECH

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of Transportation, California State Transportation Agency

California Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin gave the keynote talk for the workshop. He opened by discussing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act¹ and the different areas of investment where there could still be focus, including the transition to electric vehicles, the growth of the electric grid, broadband deployment, and water quality. He noted that the departments associated with these initiatives—at the federal, state, and local level—have a lot of money dedicated to developing a green workforce that creates jobs focused around sustainability and the environment, and, therefore, these areas have opportunities for workforce development.

Omishakin then discussed the current state of the transportation infrastructure workforce. Compared to other occupations, people who work in infrastructure tend to have high school diplomas as their highest attained degree. Unfortunately, data show that people with this level of education attainment are more likely to lose their jobs to automation compared to people with higher level degrees. Concurrently, those with increased education and training are more likely to maintain jobs and not become displaced when new technology and automation is introduced, emphasizing the importance of strong education and training programs.

Based on current projections of future infrastructure jobs needed by 2030, there is a large gap in the number of projected employees versus what is needed to get the jobs done, meaning there will be a constant need to grow the workforce over the next 5 to 10 years. One approach to tackle this shortage is by tapping into new populations, as diversity within this industry is a huge challenge. From electricians to installation of solar energy, women represent a small percentage of these employees, and Black/African American people are also underrepresented. To help with the latter, the U.S. Department of Energy recently provided $100,000 to 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to build new programs and provide opportunities in clean energy skills and workforce development.

Lastly, Omishakin focused on his state of California, where the four core priorities of the California State Transportation Agency (Caltrans) are safety, equity, climate action, and economic prosperity. As the state continues to focus on these goals, they also need to focus on growing the overarching transportation workforce that will be joining them on their mission. To do this, California is engaging not only with universities, but also