Transportation Workforce

Compiled by Dave Jones, Reference Librarian and Margaret Hawes, Reference Librarian

National Transportation Library

http://www.ntl.bts.gov

November 2009

1. Transportation Workforce References

American Public Transportation Association

Workforce Development

http://www.apta.com/resources/hottopics/Pages/WorkforceDevelopment.aspx

A series of documents and reports created by APTA’s Workforce Development Initiative and Workforce Development Blue Ribbon Panel.  Problems addressed include “retirement of baby-boom era employees, a generally tight labor market, increasing technological requirements across job functions, and growing diversity of the workforce.”  They were charged with searching out and developing “new opportunities, programs and services geared to helping to create and sustain a stronger, vibrant, and efficient and effective workforce.”  Focus areas include higher education and youth outreach and awareness.

Center for Urban Research

Employment in New York City’s Transportation Sector

http://www.urbanresearch.org/news/employment-in-new-york-city2019s-transportation-sector-new-report-sept-19-2008

The paper presents major research findings and discussion among  New York’s top experts in transportation and workforce development.  Coverage of Air Transportation, Truck Transportation, Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation, Support Activities for Transportation, and Occupations and Occupational Trends is provided.  Also addressed is the impact of the aging transportation workforce.

Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).

Workforce Development: A University-Based Approach to Supporting A National Strategy, by John Collura and Robert Plymale. 2009.

http://utc.dot.gov/cutc/WorkforceDevelopment_RPlymale_JCollura.ppt

Presentation from the CUTC 2009 Annual Summer Meeting emphasizing the importance of workforce development to the national transportation industry.

George Mason University Master of Science in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Degree Seminar Series

Transportation Workforce Development Challenges: The Role Community Colleges Can Play, presented December 4, 2008 by Omar Elkassed

http://www.civil.gmu.edu/seminars/798seminars.html

The purpose of this thesis was to provide a synthesis on workforce development challenges facing the transportation industry and to gain insight on the role community colleges can play in addressing these challenges.

Institute of Transportation Engineers

Transportation Education Council

http://www.ite.org/councils/Education/index.asp

At educational institutions nationwide, engineering enrollment is decreasing while the demand for skilled transportation engineers is increasing. The ITE Transportation Education Council provides a focal point for identifying and addressing emerging and evolving needs of educational institutions.

ITE Journal, March 2004.

Developing Tomorrow’s Transportation Workforce, by Joseph S. Toole and Clark Martin

www.ite.org/membersonly/itejournal/pdf/2004/JB04CA26.pdf

Policy-makers and program managers face a real challenge in ensuring that the current and future transportation workforce has the skills and knowledge it needs to be effective in all aspects of the transportation enterprise. It is not too early to consider how we need to support the next generation of transportation professionals in their development.

Oregon Department of Transportation

Workforce Development Program

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/CS/CIVILRIGHTS/wdp.shtml

Finding, training and employing a diverse, skilled workforce that is prepared to meet upcoming construction demands was ODOT's goal in creating the landmark Workforce Development Program. The program is designed to expand diversity in employment, increase apprenticeship participation, and increase training resources and opportunities for highway construction jobs throughout the state.

Pan-Organizational Summit on the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce:

Meeting Summary.  November 11-12, 2002.

Includes Transportation Workforce Issues and Opportunities, a Keynote Speech by Joseph S. Toole, FHWA

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10727

The speech addressed the challenge of meeting the increasing need for engineers in the transportation workforce.

Public Roads Magazine, July/August 2001.

HELP WANTED - Meeting the Need for Tomorrow's Transportation Work Force

by Clark Martin

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/julaug01/helpwanted.htm

The entire transportation community - public and private sectors - is facing a very critical work force problem, primarily because of the pending retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. To avoid serious repercussions, a more proactive approach to work force planning and development is required.

Special Libraries Association Transportation Division

Transportation Research Board (TRB) 85th Annual Meeting Committee Agendas

January 22-26, 2006.

Future Transportation Workforce: Success Stories in Building, Retaining, and Strengthening the Workforce

http://units.sla.org/division/dtrn/kaleidoscope_nov05.html#trb

The purpose of the session is to give the audience practical ideas they can use in their own organizations to build and retain an effective workforce now and in the future. Presenters in this session will provide information and discuss strategies they have used to build and retain an effective workforce and competencies in the transportation industry.

Special Libraries Association Transportation Librarians Roundtable:

Welcoming The Millennials, Presented June 12, 2008.

http://ntl.bts.gov/networking/tlrarchive/millennials/

Presentation on meeting the needs of Millennials (those born between 1978 and 1999) in today's transportation libraries, both as library customers and staff.

Transportation Research Board

Guide to Implementing Strategies to Attract and Retain a Capable Transportation Workforce.  NCHRP 20-81

http://144.171.11.40/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2514

The objective of this project is to develop a guide to implementing effective strategies for attracting and retaining a capable transportation workforce for public sector agencies.

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2009 Paper #09-1904

Summer Transportation Institutes: Increasing Diversity Through Partnerships

http://pubsindex.trb.org/view.aspx?id=881427

The University of Vermont Transportation Research Center served as the coordinating and hosting entity for the 2008 Summer Transportation Institute, funded by Federal Highway Administration. 20 high school students participated in this four week residential program. Ten of these students were English as a Second Language (ESL) students. For some of these students English was their third or fourth language. Reaching underserved and underrepresented communities is a key goal of workforce development initiatives broadly within the United States Department of Transportation. The objectives of the program are twofold: First, to expose students to career opportunities within the transportation industry and, second, to provide students with a college experience.

Transportation Research Board

Task Force on Highway Safety Workforce Development

http://144.171.11.40/cmsfeed/comm_detail.asp?id=3340

The Task Force examines the issues surrounding the need for and development of the highway safety workforce; suggests actions and initiatives to encourage use of available tools and methods; identifies research needs and fosters research and develops refined and new tools, methods and processes to enhance the highway safety workforce; and reports and disseminates research to implement new activities and findings in highway safety workforce development.

Transportation Research Board

Transportation Education and Training

http://www.trb-education.org/

Website includes Session Details from 2008 and 2009 TRB Annual Meetings.  Topics include Attracting Talent to Transportation and How to Encourage and Sustain Transportation Careers: Informing, Recruiting, and Training Transportation Professionals of Tomorrow.

TRB Special Report 275, Transportation Research Board, 2003.

The Workforce Challenge: Recruiting, Training, and Retaining Qualified Workers for Transportation and Transit Agencies

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10764#toc

This report calls upon surface transportation agencies, the private sector, educational institutions, unions, and employees, to establish training as a key priority. The report recommends that this broad coalition work to expand existing federal and academic resources, create an institutional focus for the issue, and establish human resources management as a strategic function within the transportation community.

Transportation Research Board

TR News July-August 2008, Transportation Education and Training Solutions

http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/TR_News_JulyAugust_2008brTransportation_Education_160236.aspx

Articles include Building an Education Infrastructure for Railway Transportation Engineering: Renewed Partnerships on New Tracks, Developing a Waterways Curriculum for Young People: Framework for Highlighting Careers in the Marine Industry, and Building the 21st Century Workforce: Creating a National Strategy.

TRB Transportation Education And Training Committee

Building The 21st Century Workforce: Creating A National Strategy

Minutes of the Breakout Session on January 17th, 2008.

http://www.caee.utexas.edu/org/trb-education/Minutes/Breakout_2_IncreasingSupply.pdf

Increase the Supply: Making Transportation a Career Choice and Improving Retention of Engineering Students in College

U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration.

High-growth Industry Profile: Transportation Industry. 2007. http://www.doleta.gov/BRG/pdf/Transportation.pdf

A snapshot of the transportation industry, including growth projections, workforce issues, and skill sets.

U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration.

Identifying and Addressing Workforce Challenges in America’s Transportation Industry. 2007.

http://www.doleta.gov/BRG/pdf/Transportation%20Report_final.pdf

Presents the findings from an information gathering process that involved a variety of transportation industry stakeholders reflecting on workforce issues and catalogs their proposed solutions. The report outlines the process where ETA, the transportation industry business community, education, and government representatives formed partnerships and developed model solutions to address key workforce challenges.

U.S. Department of Labor.

Occupational Outlook Handbook. 2008-09 Edition.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco1011.htm

Includes information, outlook, and projected growth for air transportation occupations, air traffic controllers, aircraft pilots and flight engineers, material moving occupations, motor vehicle operators, bus drivers, taxi drivers and chauffeurs, truck drivers and driver/sales workers, rail transportation occupations, and water transportation occupations.

U. S. Department of Transportation.

2007-2011 Human Capital Plan. 2007.

http://dothr.ost.dot.gov/pdf/dot200711strathcplan.pdf

Includes DOT workforce planning and objectives, workforce characteristics, and anticipated workforce planning challenges. An update for 2008 is available at http://dothr.ost.dot.gov/pdf/dotworkforceplanfy2008.pdf.

U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.

European Practices in Transportation Workforce Development (Report Number FHWA-PL-03-007). June 2003.

http://international.fhwa.dot.gov/pubs/pl03007/pl03007.pdf

Report of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) offers a look at how several European countries deal with human capital issues such as how to hire, retain, and train sufficient technical and administrative workers to meet changing needs. Intended for U.S. State and Federal transportation agencies.

U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.

Focus. New Resources for Training the Transportation Workforce. 2008.

http://www.tfhrc.gov/focus/sep08/02.htm.

Describes efforts of the Transportation Curriculum Coordination Council (TCCC) to improve training opportunities for transportation infrastructure workers.

U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.

Public Roads. Filling the Pipeline. 2002.

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/02nov/02.htm

Report from the National Workforce Summit, where transportation leaders met to consider how the transportation community can address increasingly complex workforce issues.

U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.

Workforce Planning and Professional Development Task Force Final Report: Positioning FHWA for the Future. 2000.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/workforce/index.htm

Report of the Workforce Planning and Professional Development Task Force, which estimated the future needs and current make-up of the FHWA workforce on a macro-level, assessed the gap, and developed actions to address these needs. The Task Force also considered issues related to characteristics and motivations of the workforce.

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Aviation Security: Status of Transportation Security Inspector Workforce (GAO-09-123R). 2009.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09123r.pdf

Report on the operation of the transportation security inspector (TSI) program since it has been located at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) within the Department of Homeland Security, including the size of the TSI workforce, the roles and responsibilities of TSIs, and the extent to which TSA has a reasonable basis for determining the size of the workforce needed to achieve inspection goals.

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Federal Air Marshal Service: Actions Taken to Fulfill Core Mission and Address Workforce Issues. 2009.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09903t.pdf

Testimony discussing the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) operational approach or “concept of operations” for covering flights, an independent evaluation of the operational approach, and FAMS’s processes and initiatives for addressing workforce-related issues.

U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

Hearing on Mariner Education and Work Force. 2007.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_house_hearings&docid=f:38515.pdf

Transcript of hearing held by the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on trends and innovations in mariner education and to assess how growing workforce shortages will affect the maritime industry as trade continues to increase. Specifically, the hearing considers the possible impact of various factors on workforce shortage, including wage levels; lifestyle challenges associated with employment in the maritime industry; and training requirements imposed by the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (“STCW”) Convention.

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Transportation Research Board Millennium Paper 125.  2000.

Transportation Education, Peter A. Manning

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/millennium/00125.pdf

In this paper, insight into the current status of transportation education as an academic discipline is provided.

Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board

Freight Mobility Workforce Issues, Trends, and Recommendations for the Transportation Industry in the Pacific Northwest. August 2005.

http://www.swwdc.org/resources/docs/Transportation-Target_Industry_Report.pdf

The primary purpose of this study was to gain insight on local workforce trends including recruitment, hiring/screening, training and retention, in the freight transportation industry.

West Virginia Department of Transportation

Workforce Development Study Report. 2007.

http://www.wvdot.com/downloads/WVDOT%20Workforce%20Study%202007%20March%2030.pdf

The purpose of the West Virginia Department of Transportation Workforce Study was to collect and analyze data concerning the current and projected demographics of the workforce and to recommend strategies which would: address any critical shortages of workers; reduce turnover; attract the skilled personnel needed by the department and to develop a cooperative infrastructure of education and training providers.

2.  Transportation Employment Statistics

U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

National Transportation Statistics. Table 3-20b: Employment in Transportation and Transportation-Related Occupations. 2009. http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_03_20b.html

Transportation industry employment statistics compiled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics publication Occupational Employment and Wages.

U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

National Transportation Statistics. Table 3-24b: Labor Productivity Indices for Selected Transportation Industries). 2009.

http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_03_24b.html.

Output per hour and per employee in transportation occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics publication Industry Productivity.

U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary.

Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Highlights. Full Time Equivalent Employment.  2009.

http://www.dot.gov/budget/2010/bib2010.pdf

Total employment at U.S. DOT, including breakdown by modal administration.

U.S. Census Bureau.

Census of Government Employment. Government Employment & Payroll. 2008.

http://www.census.gov/govs/apes/index.html

Employment statistics for federal, state, and local governments, including air transportation, transit water transport and terminals, and highways.

Updated 01:01 PM EST, November 05, 2012