Asphalt and track, sensors and signals – these are essential elements of what moves us, but they can never be enough on their own. We must have skilled people who plan, design, build, staff, and maintain these critical components of our everyday world. According to National League of Cities statistics,…
When I think of workforce development, I am reminded of a quote by Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. He said: “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” Now more than ever, these words ring…
When I began my career in transportation, one of the biggest challenges I faced, from a workforce perspective, was how to deal with the loss of institutional knowledge when baby-boomers retired. These engineers, operators, and analysts spent their careers building infrastructure projects that helped shape the 20th century landscape. Over…
At L.A. Metro, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to solve the workforce shortage through a number of innovative approaches. These include efforts to recruit new workers into transportation, as well as programs to better train and develop our existing workforce.
In 2018, the “Introducing Youth to American Infrastructure+ (iyai+)” nonprofit was launched. Iyai+ is a national educational nonprofit tasked with the goal of helping to address the high-risk, next-generation workforce development challenges facing our nation’s critical infrastructure sectors.
August 16, 2019 – The Congressional Budget Office is scheduled to release its annual summer update to its Budget and Economic Outlook on August 21.
August 19, 2019 – This week, the Federal Railroad Administration announced the availability of $252.5 million in fiscal year 2019 funding for rail capital improvement grants under the CRISI program (Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements) established by the FAST Act in 49 U.S.C. §22907.
August 15, 2019 – Since the recent introduction of scooters, some cities have piloted or allowed them on all streets as a potential means to reduce vehicle miles traveled. But similar to their ride-hailing peers, it has been difficult for cities to assess whether these devices are, in fact, replacing vehicle trips or siphoning away walkers and cyclists.
August 14, 2019 – Over the past two decades, research from economists has brought parking policy to the forefront of transportation discussions and raised awareness of the impact of cheap, plentiful parking on mobility and housing affordability. In the past several months, Houston, Austin, San Diego, and Los Angeles have taken up parking reform efforts that could mark a departure from the status quo.
August 16, 2019 – It may be a quiet Congressional recess in most places around the nation’s capital, but work continues in some circles on the fiscal 2020 appropriations process, focusing on three areas: drafting an initial stopgap continuing resolution, making most of the hard choices on the Senate appropriations bills, and giving initial thought to how to downsize some of the House appropriations bills.