News

Center Gets Input from Coach Operator Apprenticeship Committee for TCRP Study

Posted July 2021

On July 8, the Center held a virtual Transit Coach Operator Apprenticeship Committee meeting. Labor and management from agencies all over the country connect with each other through the committee around the common goal of implementing a registered apprenticeship for new coach operators. Meetings, whether virtual or in-person, provide agencies with the opportunity to ask advice from locations currently running an operator apprenticeship and to learn from each other. During this meeting, Center staff, along with Brianne Eby from the Eno Center for Transportation and Instructional Designer Melissa Huber, conducted a focus group to help inform work on the Transportation Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) F-28: Practitioner's Guide to Bus Operator Workforce Management. The committee represents a sample of agencies that are committed to improving operator training and they provided valuable information on best practices in operator workforce management. The committee also discussed the close of the Center’s American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) grant. Although the AAI grant period is quickly coming to an end, committee members advocated to keep the group active because of the valuable exchange of ideas and because the program it represents is badly needed. In every committee meeting, locations with operator apprenticeship discuss the benefits observed from the program and how it has helped new operators succeed in their career. Despite setbacks for some agencies, there is general consensus in the committee on the merits of apprenticeship for coach operators and enthusiasm to implement the program in the near future. For more information on Transit Coach Operator Apprenticeship, please contact Kenyon Corbett at kcorbett@transportcenter.org