News and Updates

Center Report on Establishing a National Rail Vehicle Technician Qualification Program Now Available

Posted August 2014

For the past five years, the Center has worked to establish a nationally recognized qualification system for rail vehicle technicians, as part of an effort to develop standards-based training for all frontline technical occupations in US public transportation.  This work was made possible by funding from the Transportation Research Board (TRB).

Center Expertise in Training & Partnership Building Contribute to Summer Job Program at MBTA

Posted July 2014

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) are partnering with local, state, and national level organizations, including the Transportation Learning Center,  to create a transportation-focused pathway for students from high school into secondary education and perhaps into a career in transportation. 

Dr. Scott, who has long served on the Board of the Transportation Learning Center, reached out to Brian Turner and Jack Clark, Director and Deputy Director of the Center.  The Center’s expertise on effective systems of training for front-line transit workers has helped to shape the TranSTEM initiative.

The Center Joins 44 Workforce Development Leaders in Declaring Commitment to Career Pathways

Posted July 2014

The Transportation Learning Center joined with 44 other leading labor-management and union programs in declaring a commitment “to participate in the national engagement campaign organized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Administration to expand opportunities for adults to assess and strengthen their foundation skills.”

Career Pathways Grant Strengthens Summer Youth Program by Training SEPTA Employees to be Mentors

Posted July 2014

On June 25, students and their families attended the SEPTA TWU Summer Youth Program Orientation Night hosted at the Transport Workers Union Local 234 Hall.  Representatives for Philadelphia Academies recruited the students from four Philadelphia Career and Technical Schools, Mastbaum, Swenson, South Philadelphia and The Workshop School.

The Center Joins 44 Workforce Development Leaders in Declaring Commitment to Career Pathways

Posted July 2014

The Transportation Learning Center joined with 44 other leading labor-management and union programs in declaring a commitment “to participate in the national engagement campaign organized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Administration to expand opportunities for adults to assess and strengthen their foundation skills.”  That commitment, set out in a letter to Assistant Secretary of Education Johan Uvin, responded to what the signers called “troubling findings” in the OECD’s Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies Fall 2013 Survey of Adult Skills.  According to the survey, approximately 36 million adults ages 16 to 65 in the United States have low skills in basic numeracy, reading and problem-solving; over a third of this population is looking for work, and many who already have work are in low-wage jobs that provide neither job security nor other benefits that make a job a “good job.”