News

National Joint Transit Rail Vehicle Standards Committee Releases Report

Posted May 2012

After seven years of diligent effort the transit industry’s National Committee on Transit Rail Car Training Standards has released its Findings and Recommendations for Implementing Standards-Driven, Partnership-Based Training.  This important document is the product of joint transit management and union subject matter experts working together to develop better industry training and thus a more efficient and effective frontline rail vehicle maintenance technician cadre.

Members of the National Committee on Transit Rail Car Training Standards represent management and unions from MARTA, Atlanta, GA; MBTA, Boston, MA; CTA, Chicago, IL; RTD, Denver, CO; LACMTA, Los Angeles; Miami-Dade Transit, Miami, FL; Metro Transit, Minneapolis, MN; NYCMTA, New York, NY; SEPTA, Philadelphia, PA; Port Authority, Pittsburg, PA; TriMet, Portland, OR; SacRT, Sacramento, CA; UTA, Salt Lake City, UT; VTA; San Jose, CA; and WMATA, Washington, DC.  The individual unions represented were from the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Transport Workers Union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.  The Committee is co-chaired by Jayendra Shah of New York City Transit and John Costa, International Vice President of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

The Committee was initially convened to address the transit industry’s widespread lack of skilled rail vehicle maintenance workers to fill positions throughout the country.  Exacerbating the problem has been the expansion of rail lines, baby boomer retirements and constant introduction of new technologies - all demanding more workers and better training.

The Committee’s work began with the identification of all the learning objectives needing to be taught in a comprehensive, high quality training system.  The Committee identified over 3,000 of these objectives which they then arranged into an order of instruction and finally into a complete three and one-half year apprenticeship program template that has been submitted for registration to the U.S Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship.  Perhaps most impressive is the construction of a national system of qualification that aims to combine all the various elements; courses, on-the-job-learning exercises, best practices and more into one comprehensive system that is standardized yet flexible enough to be tailored to the specific needs any local transit agency and its work force.

The complete Committee Findings and Recommendations and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded below or from our Publications and Reports section.

If you are interested in participating in the rail vehicle qualification system contact Center Senior Associate .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).