Events
ITS PCB Community College Virtual Workshop Series
The ITS JPO invites you to join our 2020 Community College Virtual Workshop Series. The Workshop will be a multi-week collaborative event where educators and practitioners will define current and emerging entry-level ITS technician needs, discuss the relevant technical skills taught at community college programs, and evaluate the potential for bridging the current skills gap through community college partnerships. The workshop will feature presentations, panel sessions, and discussion with educators, professional associations, federal employees, and practitioners from state DOTs, MPOs, and private consultancies.
Please register on Eventbrite. We will email a webinar link in advance of each session to registered participants.
Workshop Schedule:
The dates of the following sessions are confirmed:
Session 1: Series Introduction and Transportation Agency Needs: Tuesday, June 30, 1:00-3:00pm EDT
Includes series intro from USDOT, overview of USDOT efforts in this area and how this workshop will be used to round out this effort (EPAWs), and discussion of existing and emerging needs from DOTs and transportation agencies.
Session 2: Community College Programs: Thursday, July 2, 1:00-2:30 pm EDT
Session 2 begins with a recap and summary of Session 1, followed by a panel session highlighting Community College educational programs that may align with the needs described in Session 1. An open discussion will follow, noting any additional learning objectives (and related teaching resources) that may be required to enhance a program such that graduates can immediately (and productively) join the ITS workforce. During open discussion, other CCs are encouraged to discuss other programs that align with transportation needs.
The dates of the following sessions are tentative:
Session 3: Community College and Transportation Collaborations: Wednesday, July 8, 1:00-2:30pm EDT
Some Transportation Agencies and Community Colleges have already benefitted from collaborations. Some have attempted to collaborate and/or to create a pipeline for hiring new staff. However, some of these partnerships have run into difficulties. Others have found ways to successfully recruit and build a transportation workforce using community college graduates. This session will include representatives from community colleges and industry discussing collaborations, collaborative potentials, and hurdles. During open discussion, other transportation agencies are encouraged to share how they’ve been able to successfully recruit from CCs as well.
Session 4: Welcome to Turner Fairbank (part 1 of 3): Wednesday, July 15, 1:00-2:30pm EDT
FHWA’s Research and Development headquarters, Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC), has been developing new technologies to advance the state of transportation, along with trainings and materials that could further advanced education of emerging topics in transportation. This session features tours and demonstrations from TFHRC, along with information for how folks can get involved in this cutting-edge research.
Session 5: Recap and Open Discussion: Wednesday, July 22, 1:00-2:30pm EDT
This session will feature a summary recap of everything learned to date, followed by an open panel discussion about the potential for strengthening the transportation workforce with community college graduates. Panelists will discuss the merits of engaging community college students and graduates, and will discuss how the USDOT, transportation agencies, industry, educators, and others, can and should get involved in the process.
Session 6: Turner Fairbank Workforce Development (part 2 of 3): Wednesday, July 29, 1:00-2:30pm EDT
A continuation of Session 4.
Session 7: Turner Fairbank Workforce Development (part 3 of 3): Wednesday, August 5, 1:00-2:30pm EDT
A continuation of Sessions 4 and 6.
Session 8: Wrap-up and next steps: Wednesday, August 12, 1:00-3:00pm EDT
USDOT will summarize all main points discussed. A brief (~30 minute) period will be set aside for open discussion from all participants. Following that, USDOT will discuss clear action items in GOST format, and will invite (… and encourage!) all participants to engage in one of the task implementation/action item teams.
ENO Center Webinar: Empowering a Resilient Transit Workforce
June 30, 2020 2:00 pm to 2:45 pm ET:
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed transit professionals to establish new standards for resiliency. At the same time, leaders in transit are seeking new ways to promote social mobility through career pathway opportunities. Drawing from industry experience and research, this webinar will delve into resiliency challenges and education and training solutions to cultivate a more resilient and empowered transit workforce. The webinar will identify critical labor market benchmarks impacting the transit workforce and address ways to prepare the public transportation workforce for the post COVID-19 world.
Registration link: https://www.enotrans.org/event/webinar-empowering-a-resilient-transit-workforce/
Moderators:
Tyler Reeb, Director of Research and Workforce Development at the Center for International Trade and Transportation at the California State University of Long Beach & Editor of Empowering the New Mobility Workforce: Educating, Training, and Inspiring Future Transportation Professionals
Robert Puentes, President and CEO, Eno Center for Transportation
Panelists:
Xinge Wang, Deputy Director of the Transportation Learning Center
Joanne Peterson, Chief of Human Capital & Development at Los Angeles Metro
Jess Guerra, Executive Director of the Transportation Workforce Institute at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College
Eno Road to Recovery Webinar: More Than Meets the Eye: Density and Transportation During COVID-19
The impacts of density on the COVID-19 pandemic are currently the center of attention in public opinion, policy decisions, and planning practice. The concerns and assumptions surrounding density challenge the foundation of modern cities and have immediate implications for transportation expenditures, urban redevelopment, tax policy, congestion pricing, smart growth, and affordable housing. However, a recent study titled “Does Density Aggravate the COVID-19 Pandemic” suggests quite the opposite. The authors found that density is not linked to rates of COVID-19 infections and that COVID-19 death rates are lower in denser countries and higher in less dense ones. In this webinar, we will discuss the study’s findings on density and COVID-19 and their implications for transportation, urban planning, and more.
Speakers:
Shima Hamidi, Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Reid Ewing, Professor of City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah
Sadegh Sabouri, Ph.D. Research Assistant, University of Utah
Robert Puentes, President and CEO, Eno Center for Transportation
Click here to register for this event
2020 NTTD/NLTAPA Annual Conference
Transportation Training Professionals: 2020 NTTD / NLTAPA Annual Conference registration is now open for the 2020 Virtual To You (V2Y) NLTAPA/NTTD Annual Conference. A gathering of professionals responsible for training the current and future transportation workforce, the National Transportation Training Directors (NTTD) & the National Local Area Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA).
To register and see the draft agenda please go to https://nltapa.org/workgroups/conference/. We’re virtual and free this year! We’ll meet from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM (Central Time) from July 28-30, 2020.
We will have general sessions, technical sessions, state sharing, and hot topics. There are three opportunities to directly participate:
- If you are interested in doing one of the three 5 minute state sharings, reach out to Keith Knapp (kknapp@iastate.edu) or Colleen Montague (Colleen.Montague@vermont.gov) in the next couple of weeks so we can put you on the agenda ASAP.
- If you have an interesting poster on training or learning, please reach out to Marilee Lafond (Marilee.LaFond@unh.edu) for more information.
- Hot Hot Hot Topics. If you have any ideas about hot topics please contact me (kknapp@iastate.edu) or Matt Enders (matthew.enders@wsdot.wa.gov).
Transportation Training Professionals: 2020 NTTD/NLTAPA Annual Conference
Registration is now open for 2020 Virtual To You (V2Y) NLTAPA/NTTD Annual Conference. A gathering of professionals responsible for training the current and future transportation workforce, the National Transportation Training Directors (NTTD) & the National Local Area Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA).
Learn more about the conference here.