Abstract

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) commissioned the National Transit Institute to conduct a study to assess and codify the public transportation industry’s training practices, interests, and priorities and determine training needs.

This report identifies the training needs of the public transportation industry. It includes background information on expected trends in the industry, a review of prior work that examined training issues, and a qualitative and quantitative research approach to gather more detailed information.

Key findings include:

• Resources and available training time are scarce.
• Agencies use a variety of strategies for recruitment.
• Rapidly-changing technologies are a challenge.
• Selected strategies include the following:
  • Pursue partnerships within and beyond the public transportation industry.
  • Consider the creation of a fresh, public-facing national campaign.
  • Identify and clearly communicate transit industry staffing needs.