News

FTA Report Released on Bus Maintenance Peer-to-Peer Exchange

Posted April 2020

The FTA recently released the Bus Maintenance and Bus Testing Program Peer-to-Peer Exchange, Summary Report (Report 0160). This report presents a summary of the bus maintenance worker training peer exchange, hosted by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Significant shifts in the types of transit buses being procured (e.g., from traditional buses to alternative fuel/low- and no-emission buses) require new and different types of frontline worker training. Through the peer exchange, stakeholders, including industry representatives, shared knowledge about bus maintenance worker training and discussed best practices for developing the next generation of highly-skilled bus technicians.

At the event, John Schiavone, Program Director–Technical Training at the Transportation Learning Center, presented an overview of the current landscape of bus maintenance training and identified challenges with regard to recruitment and training. Schiavone argued for comprehensive in-house training programs and pointed to apprenticeship as a proven model for achieving this.in Washington, DC, presented an overview of the current landscape of bus maintenance training and identified challenges with regard to recruitment and training. Schiavone argued for comprehensive in-house training programs and pointed to apprenticeship as a proven model for achieving this.

The report can be found on FTA’s Reports and Publications page at https://www.transit.dot.gov/research-innovation/bus-maintenance-and-bus-testing-program-peer-peer-exchange-report-0160 .

The summary report can be accessed at https://www.transit.dot.gov/research-innovation/bus-maintenance-and-bus-testing-program-peer-peer-exchange-summary

For more information on bus maintenance apprenticeship, please contact John Schiavone