News

In Effort to Increase and Strengthen Applicant Pool

Posted May 2016

Over thirty aspiring Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) operators and electrical and mechanical technicians arrived at El Barrio Workforce Development Center in Cleveland on May 18 to participate in the first pilot of Module 1 of the new ten-module Transit Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3) - Public Transportation Industry Overview.  TC3 is being developed by the Transportation Learning Center, in collaboration with working groups of agency subject matter experts from labor and management, along with experienced educators and trainers involved in career and technical education and workforce development.  TC3 is designed to introduce diverse groups of young people and adults in the communities public transportation serves to frontline career opportunities in the industry generally and to provide baseline knowledge and skills in electrical and mechanical theory and practice and vehicle and facilities maintenance. TC3’s goal is to provide participants nationally the opportunity to become strong and successful applicants, trainees and apprentices.

The pilot brought together two FTA-funded Innovative Workforce Development initiatives, as TC3 becomes part of GCRTA’s partnership with El Barrio and Cuyahoga Community College to recruit and train women, minorities and veterans, especially from low income communities, to enter the GCRTA workforce.  GCRTA and El Barrio leadership and trainers attended the pilot, and their feedback and the evaluations collected from the participants—with a majority ranking the overall program at 9 or 10 on a scale of 10—will be used to create the final draft of the TC3 Overview materials.  Pilots of a variety of TC3 module will continue throughout the year, with programs currently being planned with Mile High Youth Corps in Denver and the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority in Boston.  For information about TC3, please contact Pat Greenfield at pgreenfield@transportcenter.org.