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76 Workforce Effects: Preparation and Mitigation The quantification of the potential workforce effects of transit service automation is provided in Chapter 7. This chapter provides some discussion of potential guiding principles and strate- gies that could be employed by transit agencies to maximize the positive and minimize and mitigate the negative potential workforce effects from transit service automation. This chapter is organized into the following sections: ⢠Calls for preparation. ⢠Automation-related workforce effect horizon. ⢠Current practices and resources for transit workforce development. ⢠Suggested guiding principles. ⢠Vehicle automation training and workforce development. 8.1 Calls for Preparation Transit service automation is neither the first nor the last occurrence of automation that has created or will create impacts in the workplace. Workers who have or can gain the additional skills required to take advantage of the deployment of automation in their workplaces have ben- efited from automation. However, sometimes employees may not have the ability or background to learn the added skills required of automation-related positions. Some people lose their jobs. However, employers and policy makers can help mitigate the negative impacts of automation by providing access to skills training and by improving systems and processes to help employ- ees attempting to transition from declining to growing occupations. By investing in education, training, and safety net benefits, governments and employers have, in the past, helped to maxi- mize positive outcomes and mitigate the negative outcomes of automation. Recent economic challenges highlight the consequences of limited supports for vulnerable workers. In addition, rising inequality and lessened investment in training as well as a weakened public safety net have contributed to a slow and painful adjustment to automation (McKay et al. 2019). Particularly in transportation, the case is already being made concerning the critical nature of the nationâs driving workforce and the need for governments and employers to better under- stand and prepare for the impacts of vehicle automation. For example, in 2018, the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate that addressed, among other topics, the impact of AVs on driver jobs (CTAA 2018). In the letter, the CTAA stated that it is dedicated to ensuring all Americans have access to safe, affordable, and reliable transportation and that the CTAA supports developing, testing, and piloting autonomous tech- nology and programs that will offer accessibility, safety, convenience, and affordability for all people throughout the nation. However, the CTAA expressed its concern about the potential impacts of AVs on driver jobs. The organization recommended that the Senate support research C H A P T E R 8
Workforce Effects: Preparation and Mitigation 77  and technical assistance for retraining of drivers of commercial and noncommercial vehicles. The organization believes some drivers who may be displaced will be able to fill other positions within the transportation industry. They expressed the view that others may have to find work elsewhere, requiring education and training to do so. In addition, it was the CTAAâs position that Congress has an obligation to consider and debate how AVs will affect the many Americans who earn their living as drivers. The letter went on to say the USDOT should be empowered to research successful practices for retraining large numbers of workers and enabling those workers to find positions with equal compensation. An additional recommendation was that research should also include possibilities for innovative retraining and for determining what other support drivers need as they experience substantial changes in their livelihood. The USDOTâs Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0 report (USDOT 2018) emphasizes that AVs could have impacts on the work-life of millions of Americans in driving-related jobs. While this is true, there is high uncertainty about how these impacts will affect different job categories. Past transportation-related technology experiences suggest there are sometimes new and unanticipated employment opportunities. This occurred with the advent of the widespread ownership of automobiles after World War II and the explosion of vehicle manufacturing and servicing of vehicles. A wave of AV deployment will likely create jobs in programming, cybersecurity, and other areas. This may result in the demand for new skills and subsequent demand for new associated education and training. The USDOT is aware of the need to develop a transition strategy for driving occupations and is working with other federal cabinet agencies to analyze automation-triggered employment and workforce effects (e.g., see USDOT 2021). At the same time, state DOTs are reaching out to other stakeholders to sponsor research on workforce issues affecting different modes of transportation. The report suggests the entities that are developing and deploying automation technologies should consider how to assess potential workforce effects as well as future new skills needs and capabilities. Additionally, consideration will need to be given to how workforces will transition into new roles in a way that identifies workforce and training needs to support new technologies (USDOT 2018). Yankelevich et al. (2018) suggested that the advent of AVs will bring about substantial oppor- tunities for educational and training activities. Their study revealed that educational efforts will need to be multidimensional since different segments of the workforce need to be targeted with different customized educational and training interventions. Some gaps already exist due to a lack of training and retraining activities. In some cases, these gaps are expected to widen unless education and training activities are developed across a range of AV workforces. With the deployment of AVs, industries and educational entities will have to quickly get up to speed to implement the needed skills. They will need to be forward-thinking since AV technology will continue to evolve as new job titles and classifications that require skill sets not known today come to the forefront. In some cases, this might be achieved through partnerships with local community colleges or vocational institutions. Transit unions have generally been supportive of AV technologies when they help improve the safety and well-being of operators (USDOT 2021); however, unions have vocalized their concerns that the deployment of automated transit vehicles may take away jobs from their membership and have deleterious consequences on employees and the safety of the public. The Transport Workers Union (TWU) organized a statewide coalition to âprotect Bus Operators, bus riders and the public in Ohio from unchecked and dangerous automationâ (TWU 2018). The Transportation Trades Department (TTD), a coalition of 33 member unions, articulated eight policies to âpromote safety [and] protect transit jobs in an era of automationâ (TTD 2019). These eight policies are reproduced in Figure 14. Similar concerns have been raised by ATU in its Powered by People document (Amalgamated Transit Union, n.d.), which describes ATUâs proposal for the reauthorization of the transit
78 The Impacts of Vehicle Automation on the Public Transportation Workforce provisions of the Fixing Americaâs Surface Transportation Act. The document includes an entire section on automated buses and describes several concerns regarding automated busesâ safety, the potential for workforce transportation and displacement, the need to train affected transit workers, and quality-of-life effects on transit workers and passengers. ATUâs document argues that bus operatorsâ abilities to operate safely, anticipate the actions of other road users, interact with passengers, and handle emergencies will likely never be matched by automated buses. 8.2 Automation-Related Workforce Effect Horizon The timing of workforce effects stemming from transit service automation is difficult to pre- dict, given that there are many steps between where the transit industry is today and a level of automated transit service deployments that is significant enough to produce noticeable effects in the overall transit workforce. First, there is significant debate about when different applications of automated transit vehicles will be ready for full commercial deployment. For example, consid- ered a rather strong candidate for large-scale vehicle automation, automated trucking is still believed to be at least a decade away (USDOT 2021). Second, there is even higher uncertainty about the timeline for significant deployment of automated transit services either to replace conventionally driven services or to expand transit service to new areas. For example, Leonard et al. (2020) suggest that fully automated driving will be restricted to limited geographic regions and climates for at least the next decade (see also Pettigrew et al. 2018) and that increasingly automated mobility systems will thrive in subsequent decades. Winter climates and rural areas may experience still longer transitions (Pettigrew et al. 2018). Data from a transit agency survey suggest that while transit agencies of all types have some plans for implementing advanced driver assistance systems (e.g., collision avoidance systems) in the next 5 to 10 years, very few rural and small urban and less than half of large urban agencies have plans to use L4 or L5 vans or buses within the next 10 years (see Figure 15), and intended procurements of vehicles with some level of automation are not planned for 5 or more years for most transit agencies (see Figure 16). (Some level of vehicle automation could include a wide array of relatively basic automation technologies, as shown in Figure 15, and should not necessarily be considered as procurement of an L4 or L5 vehicle.) Source: TTD (2019). 1. Transit agencies must give workers advance notice before deploying AVs. 2. The collective bargaining rights of transit workers must be preserved. Additionally, transit agencies must negotiate the use of automated technologies with their unions. 3. Automated transit vehicles must adhere to strict federal safety standards. 4. Drivers must remain onboard on AVs, regardless of how far technology develops, to ensure safety, respond in emergencies, and provide backup in case of technological failure. 5. Congress should establish a transportation workforce fund to help cover wages, health care costs, unemployment benefits, and training or retraining programs for workers affected by driverless technology. This fund will be paid for through a mileage-based user fee of highly or fully automated transit vehicles. 6. Transit agencies wishing to use AVs must examine the impact they will have on transit workers and issue a report. 7. The U.S. Departments of Labor and Transportation should also examine the impacts automation has on transit ridership, capacity, and employment. This includes examining the direct and indirect impacts automated ride-sharing or ride-hailing services have on transit services. 8. Before transportation agencies implement automated technology, they must issue a workforce training plan. Figure 14. TTDâs eight policies to promote safety and protect transit jobs in an era of automation.
Workforce Effects: Preparation and Mitigation 79  ere are many forces that will slow the large-scale adoption of automated transit vehicles and services, many of which are discussed in Section 2.5. However, a signicant additional factor that should be considered is that transit agency eets do not turn over quickly, with most vehicles having a useful life of around 10 years or more. Cash-strapped transit agencies are not likely to retire old vehicles before fully using them, and vehicles purchased with federal assis- tance have minimum useful life requirements. ese vehicles must be kept for their useful life, or transit agencies may need to repay the federal governmentâs investment in the asset. Still, even gradual increases in automation may have noticeable impacts on the transit work- force. New opportunities may arise, such as in the maintenance or remote operation of AVs, but the quality, qualications, and compensation of these new jobs are uncertain and depend somewhat on policy choices (Pettigrew et al. 2018). With extended lead time, policy makers and transit agencies can act now to prepare for potential workforce eects to provide the highest degree of benet possible through the new technology. 8.3 Current Practices and Resources for Transit Workforce Development Changes in the transportation industry, evolving technology, and impending retirements in the U.S. workforce create workforce development challenges for transit agencies, which gener- ates the need for continual workforce development eorts from governments, training providers, academic institutions, and other transit stakeholders. Source: Godavarthy (2019, 18). Figure 15. Timeline for transit agencies to use various transit automation technologies. Source: Godavarthy (2019, 18). Figure 16. Timeline for procuring transit vehicle/vehicles with some level of automation.
80 The Impacts of Vehicle Automation on the Public Transportation Workforce Transit workforce development is a topic that has also received attention from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The agency was tasked by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs with studying various issues related to the sufficiency of the transit workforce (GAO 2019). The report that resulted discusses the extent to which information exists about future workforce needs and FTA efforts to provide assistance to address current and anticipated workforce needs. FTA supports transit workforce development mainly by providing financial and technical assistance. For example, the FTAâs Innovative Public Transportation Frontline Workforce Pro- gram (Section 5314 grants) provides funds through a competitive process to transit agencies to assist with the development of innovative human resources and training activities. Additionally, transit agencies can use up to one-half of 1 percent of certain grant funds (e.g., Section 5307 grants) for eligible human resources and training activities with USDOT approval. FTA also funds the National Transit Instituteâs (NTIâs) development and delivery of train- ing programs for federal, state, and local transportation employees. One example of an NTI program, the Transit Maintenance Leadership Workshop (NTI 2020), has been delivered to more than 150 transit maintenance professionals from across the country (GAO 2019). The workshop was created in response to an identified industry need, supported through a survey of more than 250 transit professionals (NTI 2020). FTA collaborated with NTI to conduct an industry workforce needs assessment to identify training, skills, and educational gaps that exist in the industry, as well as within current NTI programs, to help keep NTI resources in line with transitâs changing workforce, technologies, and operating environment. [The needs assessment, Identifying Current and Future Training Needs of Public Transportation Industry, can be found at https://www.transit.dot.gov/research-innovation/identifying-current-and-future-training- needs-public-transportation-industry (Noland et al. 2021).] Although FTA is providing this assistance to transit agencies, GAO made three recommenda- tions based on its review of FTAâs practices and interviews with transit workforce stakeholders: ⢠In collaboration with transit stakeholders, determine whether additional workforce data are needed to identify potential future transit occupational shortages. ⢠Develop a comprehensive transit workforce strategy that outlines how FTA will help address future transit workforce needs. ⢠Develop performance goals and measures for FTAâs transit workforce efforts (GAO 2019). In arriving at these recommendations, GAO researchers found that future workforce needs information is limited because of the absence of transit-specific workforce projections. Data available from BLS are combined with ground transportation data such as school buses and taxis and therefore do not exclusively reflect transit workforce data. Although FTA provides financial assistance for workforce development, GAO found a need for improved strategic planning practices, including the need to establish clearly defined performance goals and measures related to transit workforce development efforts. However, FTA is not the only entity that recognizes the importance of transit workforce development and seeks to deploy workforce development strategies. In fact, several excellent examples of transit stakeholders addressing workforce needs were included in the GAO report: ⢠The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has developed an upskilling program to provide growth opportunities at all levels of the agency. ⢠The International Transportation Learning Center has organized four industry consor- tiums to develop national-standards-based courseware for transit front-line technicians that includes both classroom and on-the-job training. It has also assisted local agencies and unions in implementing registered apprenticeship programs for bus operators and technicians.
Workforce Effects: Preparation and Mitigation 81  ⢠The Conference of Minority Transportation Officials has an internship program to prepare post-secondary education students to enter transit and other transportation-related fields. In 2018, the program placed 29 interns nationwide in architectural and engineering firms as well as local governmental agencies. ⢠The ENO Center for Transportation provides classes for mid- and senior-level transit execu- tives and first-line supervisors. The training includes classes, job shadowing, mentoring, field trips, and meetings with counterparts. ⢠CTAA conducted research through surveying its members in 2018 about salary and benefits for professional transit positions in the transit industry. The survey yielded 236 responses. ⢠The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has established the Workforce of the Future work- ing group to prepare the workforce to incorporate emerging technologies as it transitions its aged, elevated, and automated people-mover system to autonomous vehicle technology. Although automated transit vehicles are not likely to have significant deployment and transit agency adoption within the next decade, there are many reasons to believe that the forces driving transit vehicle automation will continue to push advances in technology forward to significant automated transit vehicle deployment. Moreover, although vehicle automation may take time, so does preparation. Workforce policies, training programs, and other initiatives require invest- ment, development, and testing before they can be applied. As such, preparation should begin in earnest. 8.4 Suggested Guiding Principles Because the timing and workforce effects of transit vehicle automation will vary significantly depending on the use case, operational model, and adoption scenario, it was beyond the scope of this report to specify concrete strategies for each possibility. However, this section provides a suggested set of guiding principles for the transit industry to prepare for eventual transit auto- mation workforce effects. These guiding principles could apply both to public agencies and private companies that operate transit services. (In this section, the term transit agencies is used to refer to both public and private transit providers.) These suggested guiding principles are mostly based on the professional judgment and experience of the research team and are not official guidance or policy and should not be taken as such. Also, transit agencies must always fulfill their obligations under Section 13(c) of the Federal Transit Act, and these guiding prin- ciples do not supplant or replace transit agenciesâ specific plans to provide fair and equitable treatment of employees who are adversely affected. 8.4.1 Suggested Principle 1: Be Employee Centric An employee-centric approach contains two main objectives: involving current employees and retaining as many current employees for as long as feasible. Involving current employees may be difficult and even uncomfortable; however, when employees are engaged in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of automated transit services, transit agencies, impacted employees, and customers will likely see more positive outcomes. Employees will better under- stand transit agency decisions and can make informed choices for how to respond to or prepare for automation. Agencies could include union leadership and other official employee representatives as advisors at the beginning of the process. They could seek input on how to effectively test and prepare for automated transit technologies and how to best communicate with front-line employees about AV strategies and implications to help employees understand the objectives of AV testing and implementation, potential changes in workplace practices, and how the agency is helping to prepare the workforce for advances in technology.
82 The Impacts of Vehicle Automation on the Public Transportation Workforce Retaining current employees for as long as feasible reduces negative outcomes on current employees and gives impacted employees time to make any necessary changes to maintain stable employment. If reductions in the workforce occur, allowing these reductions to be driven by retirements and other forms of attrition can help increase current employee job confidence and reduce the stress that would occur if separations were involuntary. In addition, an employee- centric approach forms the foundation for all other guiding principles. 8.4.2 Suggested Principle 2: Prepare Employees for Success and Advancement Building on an employee-centric approach, the next step is to work diligently to prepare the current and future workforce for success in transit automation. Even with automated transit services, many front-line transit jobs will still be needed, and some will be even more complex or require new skills and expertise. Preparing employees could include the following steps. The industry needs to prepare job descriptions that proactively identify the KSAs for auto- mated transit jobs. Thought experiments, tabletop discussions, and stakeholder interviews regarding hypothetical automated transit jobs and, of course, actual job analyses of individuals who have performed roles in automated transit services (e.g., as automated shuttle safety drivers) are all essential to developing working job descriptions. (A job analysis is a step-by-step pro- cess that collects and reviews job-related data such as the jobâs tasks and duties to determine the KSAs needed to successfully perform a job. A job analysis offers a clear sense about what to look for in candidates and what it takes to succeed in the job.) As more transit workers begin to interact with or operate automated transit vehicles, the transit industry can collect more real- world data about the characteristics of automation-related jobs. Validated tests such as the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey and the Strong Occupational Interest Survey are useful in guiding employees into occupations for which they may have an aptitude. Through guided self-inventory of capabilities and interests, employees can, with the assistance of human resources staff, develop a career plan and path that can be actualized within the current employer. For employees and employers to be able to know their skills and abilities related to automated transit services, the transit industry could develop or adopt testing or other forms of assessments as methods to qualify (or not qualify) interested employees to enter into training programs for automated transit jobs. Training programs can help bridge the gaps between current and new jobs related to auto- mated transit for those employees who are interested in and qualified for automated transit jobs. Also called reskilling or upskilling, this is a top strategy to close potential skills gaps in organizations (Tyler 2020). Reskilling, the process of learning new skills, can be undertaken by employers as a reten- tion strategy by launching proactive initiatives to determine what skills will be needed in the coming years and then comparing those to the skill sets of the current workforce. Next, by assessing what necessary skills the workforce is lacking, training programs can be set up for employees to close the gaps. Upskilling, a companion strategy to reskilling, facilitates continuous learning by providing training programs and development opportunities that expand employeesâ abilities and minimize skill gaps. Upskilling focuses on improving cur- rent employeesâ skill sets, usually through training, so they can advance in their jobs and find different roles and opportunities within the organization. The U.S. Department of Labor has excellent resources to help affected employees reskill or upskill. More considerations for train- ing are discussed in Section 8.5.
Workforce Effects: Preparation and Mitigation 83  8.4.3 Suggested Principle 3: Create Meaningful and Similar Alternative Job Opportunities In cases where employees do not have the opportunity to either remain in their current posi- tions or start newly created automated transit jobs, an employer could implement a strategy to help them stay employed in an alternative position that is meaningful and as similar as possible to their current position. This strategy enables employees to use and build upon core skills and knowledge to continue to contribute to the mission of the organization. Creating meaningful alternative opportunities could include the following steps. As with Principle 2, it is important to have ways for employees to assess their current skills and abilities and for transit agencies to be able to use those assessments not only to help the employees identify their interests and career path but also to help transit agencies have a way to formally qualify (or not qualify) employees for alternative positions. For each automation-impacted job, transit agencies could have a set of jobs whose KSAs match well with the automation-impacted job. Transit agencies could build specific programs to help transition employees to these alternative jobs. Some organizations have used what is known as an underfill strategy, in which an employee is given the opportunity to take a position for less-than-entry-level responsibilities and salary as a trainee. With this approach, a performance plan can be developed to give the employee an opportunity to gain the skills needed to fully qualify for the entry-level position within a given time frame. 8.4.4 Suggested Principle 4: When Necessary, Provide Off-Ramps Despite the best actions taken, the reality is that some employees affected by transit automa- tion may no longer fit within the changing workplace. As previously discussed, by applying Principle 1, the transit agency would allow natural workforce attrition to be the driving force behind any workforce reduction. However, if other methods of workforce reduction are needed, transit agencies may take the following actions to mitigate the negative outcomes associated with job loss. Agencies could consider providing early retirement buyout options. As stated in Section 4.1.1, transit operators are older than other blue-collar workers. In fact, in 15 years, assuming the age profile of bus operators does not change, 55 percent of operators will be aged 65 or older. Other current transit jobs may not have the same age profile; however, it is likely that some transit employees that may be impacted by implementing automated transit will be eligible for and interested in retirement if and when transit automation becomes more commonplace. Transit agencies could conduct an assessment of best practices for early retirement options by researching resources available through organizations such as the Society for Human Resources Management and the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, the leading public-sector human resource organization in the world. Senior financial management staff should be included in this analysis to determine resources available for early retirement buyout. Once early retirement resources are identified, agencies could conduct an analysis to deter- mine which functions should be the target of early retirement buyout options. As with any early retirement buyout program, transit agencies should be strategic in determining employee eligibility and should avoid creating staffing gaps or loss of critical knowledge. Agencies should always provide assistance to separated workers in applying for unemploy- ment benefits, continued insurance coverage, etc. Agencies can develop an employee-friendly resource center for employees who may be considering separating from the organization;
84 The Impacts of Vehicle Automation on the Public Transportation Workforce prepare employees for the role of serving as on-call peer counselors in any area in which employees may have questions and assign specific staff to serve as internal coaches to assist employees with completing the paperwork needed to apply for unemployment, etc., in a con- fidential manner; and use resources provided by the U.S. Department of Labor that may be helpful to employers (and employees). In fact, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Actâs Dislocated Worker Program âprovides formula grants to States for services to dislocated workers. Approximately 80 percent of dislocated worker funds are allotted by formula grants to States (which in turn allocate funds to local entities) to provide training and related services to quali- fied unemployed individuals. Each Stateâs funding allotment is used to fund three categories of activities: statewide, rapid response, and local activitiesâ (USDOT 2021, 70). A chapter of the USDOT (2021) report (Chapter 4) is dedicated to a discussion of potential resources and programs that could be leveraged to support workforce training and retraining. 8.5 Vehicle Automation Training and Workforce Development To be employee-centric during the transition to automated transit services, transit agencies can make human capital development a core corporate value and a part of the internal fabric of the agency. For example, establishing an executive-level office to guide agency efforts sup- porting employees through the transition, communicating employee-centric values in internal and external communications, and investing in strategic workforce development are all good starting points to help transit agencies and their employees successfully navigate the potential workforce effects of transit vehicle automation. Effectively developing and delivering training and workforce development programs for preparing the transit workforce for vehicle automation will be a significant undertaking, the details of which were beyond the scope of this report. However, a basic outline of essential steps is provided in the following subsections. To help benefit the entire industry and to avoid incon- sistencies in workforce development training programs, the industry could take a nationally coordinated approach to these steps. 8.5.1 Determine Employee Knowledge and Skills Gaps To provide the right training and workforce development activities, the transit industry must identify the KSAs needed in different potential automated transit jobs. As mentioned in Section 8.4, identifying KSAs could be done by creating job descriptions for positions that do not yet exist by developing robust concepts of operations for automated transit services and by conducting job analyses on employees who have performed roles in automated transit (e.g., safety drivers in automated shuttles). For instance, the KSAs for mechanics working on automated transit vehicles might change to include more knowledge of the automation-supporting systems (e.g., LIDAR). Mechanics could conceivably need to be certified to maintain AVs and their supporting systems. Once KSAs are identified for automated transit jobs, the industry could perform a self-assessment of current workers to identify which needed KSAs are not prevalent in the current workforce. The current worker KSA assessment could be compared with automated transit KSA needs to identify the knowledge and skills gaps in the workforce. 8.5.2 Identify Workforce Development Partners and Resources To fill identified knowledge and skills gaps, the transit industry and individual transit agen- cies will need to identify partners and resources to develop and deliver the necessary training to upskill the transit workforce.
Workforce Effects: Preparation and Mitigation 85  Partnering with local community colleges, vocational schools, and other educational and training resources to help employees get retraining is a strategy some transit agencies have employed in anticipation of job market shifts. Community colleges often use advisory committees composed of professionals in the field of study to advise on the planning, administration, curriculum development, and evaluation of education programs. Advisory committees create a critical linkage between industry and the college, enabling the college to respond to the needs of a constantly changing labor market. By serving on advisory committees and working with com- munity colleges and vocational schools in general, transit agencies may be able to leverage them as strategic training partnersâboth for the pipeline of new employees but also as a mechanism for delivering training to current employees. Another approach may be the formation of regional consortia that will allow more than one transit agency to send employees to participate in learning activities at one centrally located facility. The work of the International Transportation Learning Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public transportation at the national level and within communities, demonstrates how partnerships in the area of labor management can benefit the industry. Areas of success include training partnerships that improve organizational performance, expand workforce KSAs, and promote career advancement. Through its bus maintenance apprenticeship committee made up of transit professionals, the International Transportation Learning Center has worked in collaboration with the Urban Institute to develop a competency-based framework that can assist with the development of a bus maintenance apprenticeship program. The bus operator apprenticeship program is recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor, focusing on not only technical skills of maneuvering a bus but also the essential skills of customer service. NTI has a long history of sponsoring and scheduling training for transit maintenance employees in leadership positions to be taught new skills by peers from other agencies. A review of curricula for NTI programs reveals a combination of transit agency professionals and consultants serving as teaching faculty for a variety of programs (NTI 2020). Transit agencies could also take advantage of lessons learned from peer agencies that have instituted autonomous vehicle projects or taken other related actions. One recent research report, TCRP Research Report 199: Transit Technical Training, Volume 1: Guide to Applying Best Practices and Sharing Research, highlighted models of best practices used throughout the nation to convert traditional approaches of performing work to adapt to major technological changes (Weisenford et al. 2018). Related to training and development for automated transit vehicle deployment, some transit agencies may face a lack of on-site training resources to pre- pare mechanics for the new responsibilities of maintaining AVs. One proposal is to provide them with resources such as distance learning through internet-based courses that can be easily delivered. Other resources include expanding the role of OEMs in providing training on core competencies (Weisenford et al. 2018) and applying the train-the-trainer model so that OEM- provided training can be effectively passed on by in-house staff. Of course, developing training and workforce development programs also requires funding. As discussed earlier in this chapter, FTA does provide both competitive and formula-based grant funds that support eligible workforce development activities. In addition, transit agencies could consider pooling resources and look for non-USDOT sources of funding, as well as work to direct the strategic development of curricula through existing transit workforce development resources like NTI. 8.5.3 Develop and Implement Needed Training Programs and Evaluation Methods Once partners and resources have been identified, the actual training programs targeting the identified KSA gaps can be developed. Specific goals, learning objectives, and evaluation methods should be established to help ensure that training effectiveness can be assessed regularly.
86 The Impacts of Vehicle Automation on the Public Transportation Workforce For example, a training program for AV mechanics might include specific training to master the knowledge and skills required to diagnose, calibrate, maintain, and repair sensors and other automation-supporting equipment on automated transit vehicles. The curriculum could be developed by OEMs and other industry experts partnering with transit agencies. Supervisors may need the training to work with, intercept, and troubleshoot AVs in the field. Dispatchers may need training on how to monitor and remotely troubleshoot and/or control AVs. Estab- lishing and operating these specialized training programs at existing educational institutions is often an efficient way to keep the current workforce up to date and prepare for future automa- tion job opportunities (Yankelevich et al. 2018). Often, businesses such as transit agencies serve on technical program advisory boards at edu- cational institutions to ensure what is included in training programs is essential knowledge and skills for those who complete the program to be job ready. Workplaces can serve as a laboratory in which students can practice what they are taught in the classroom. This is much like students in health care fields getting clinical practice in a hospital or other health care facility. In some cases, the transit agency may actually provide the equipment and tools with which students can be taught the skills at the educational institution in combination with practice sessions at the workplace. 8.6 Data Needs to Track Workforce Effects To understand the workforce effects of transit automation, the transit industry needs to begin tracking a more specific set of workforce data that will help answer such questions as: ⢠Are there any changes to the number of full- and part-time positions in key positions likely to be impacted by transit vehicle automation? ⢠Are there any changes to the number of hours worked in those same positions? ⢠Are there any changes to wages paid for those same positions? Obviously, asking transit agencies to report staffing data for all possible transit positions would be too complex and counterproductive. However, transit agencies reporting staffing data for at least the directly affected jobs identified in this report would be a good start. Current NTD data contain some of this information from full urban reporters; however, NTD data are not detailed enoughâspecific positions are not tracked individually (e.g., mechanics are reported together with other transit maintenance employees like front-line maintenance supervisors). NTD data also only contain staffing data for directly operated services. To the research teamâs knowledge, there is no data set that contains staffing data from the nationâs private contractors that provide a significant portion of U.S. transit service. Last, the NTD has no staffing data from rural transit agencies. To help track the workforce effects of transit automation, the transit industry could explore options for transit agencies (rural and urban) to report the following staffing data by mode for their directly operated and purchased transportation services for each of the five directly affected operations jobs: ⢠Number of full-time employees. ⢠Number of part-time employees. ⢠Number of vacancies. ⢠Number of hours worked by full-time employees. ⢠Number of hours worked by part-time employees. ⢠Average hourly wage for full-time employees (or total wages paid). ⢠Average hourly wage for part-time employees (or total wages paid). Transit agencies could also report the number of vehicle hours and revenue hours oper- ated by automated transit vehicles (including pilots or demonstrations), the number of
Workforce Effects: Preparation and Mitigation 87  automation-related positions added, and the number of positions, if any, that were reduced related to the implementation of transit automation. The above data elements could be col- lected annually; however, to reduce the burden, triennial reporting may be sufficient. To better understand the demographic makeup of the transit workforce, the transit industry could also conduct an annual, biennial, or triennial survey that collects key demographic data about transit employees of all types, but especially for the directly affected operations jobs. The survey could also collect data elements that are leading indicators of workforce resiliency and preparation for the implementation of automation. Examples of elements of the survey include: ⢠Employee demographics. ⢠Employee educational attainment, training, and certifications. ⢠Employee perceptions of automation (benefits and concerns). ⢠Employer-provided training. ⢠Identified knowledge and skills gaps among existing employees. ⢠Barriers to recruiting a skilled workforce as agencies adopt additional technologies.