Workforce Developments

Workforce development + public transit + social media

One last post on Tuesday's Joblinks conference. Yesterday I raised the question of whether workforce boards are working with transit agencies as well as they might. On Monday I blogged about this weekend's 21st Annual CTAA Roadeo.

The Joblinks conference was called Thinking Outside the Bus: New Approaches to Commuter Transportation. It was all about how to help people get to work any way other than in a car. I was there to talk about social media on the panel about technology.

Also with me on the panel were Sean O'Sullivan from Avego, a tech company that has created software that helps people set up ride shares on demand via cell phones. It's a great idea - do check it out. Kay Carson was there from MassRIDES at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. She talked about how much transit technology and our expectations of it have changed in three short years. Two big take-aways from her talk: First, our idea of personal "touch" has changed and involves a lot more technology. Second, if you're thinking about investing in transit-related technology, don't be so quick to pour a lot of money into a customized solution - there are a lot of great off-the-shelf products out there today. 

Joblinks share info about their Transportation Toolkit for the Business Community, which looks like it may be as helpful for individual commuters as for businesses. I'd recommend that workforce development professionals take a look at this toolkit and see if it might help you plan programs and/or serve your customers better.

One of the highlights of my day, though, was learning a new jargon term from the transit world: slugging. Slug-Lines.com defines it this way:

a unique form of commuting found in the Washington, DC area sometimes referred to as "Instant Carpooling" or "Casual Carpooling." It's unique because people commuting into the city stop to pickup other passengers even though they are total strangers! However, slugging is a very organized system with its own set of rules, proper etiquette, and specific pickup and drop-off locations.

How cool is that? Learn more about slugging on Wikipedia and NPR.

Finally, here's the powerpoint I used for my presentation on the nexus between workforce development, public transit and social media:

If you don't see it above, click here to see it on Google docs.

Workforce development and public transit: can we all get along?

I had a great time at the Thinking Outside the Bus conference yesterday talking with and listening to folks who provide a whole range of public transportation services, from vanpools to ridesharing to rental bikes and scooters. They're a dedicated group who understand how important it is to help people from all walks of life get to the places they need to go. 

The focus yesterday was on New Approaches to Commuter Transportation. As a workforce development professional, I was definitely in the minority in the room. The conference was hosted by the Joblinks Employment Transportation Initiative at the Community Transportation Association. There were a few folks from workforce boards speaking on panels, and I think we heard one thing loud and clear: many transit agencies find it hard to connect and work with their local workforce boards. 

There were a few workforce board folks on the panels - some were staff, some on the boards themselves. They emphasized how nice we workforce people are and how helpful we can be in connecting to employers. One speaker also pointed out that there are lots of different people on workforce boards, so if you hit a brick wall with one, try another.

Several speakers and audience members wondered why it's so hard to convince employers as well as workforce and economic development folks to understand the value of public transit in what we do. Speaking as a workforce development person, I'd say we do understand the value, but we don't always take the time to make the transit connection. Based on what I heard at the Joblinks conference, I think we don't understand the full range of transit options for the people we're trying to help. I recommend connecting to your local transit agency to learn more. 

I'd like to hear from you on this issue.

Do you work with your local transit agency? Why or why not? 

Tomorrow I'll share a bit more from the conference. In the meantime, check out the #ctaaexpo tweets. 

Celebrating transit drivers at the 21st Annual CTAA Roadeo

What a blast! I spent yesterday at the Community Transportation Association of America's 21st Annual Roadeo. Community and public transit drivers from across the country competed to to see who's the best transit driver in America. Many of them were already state roadeo champions.

I had a chance to ride along on board and to watch the drivers on the course. I'm already a big fan of public transit. What I saw gave me a lot of respect for what transit drivers do every day. In the roadeo, they had to complete a written test, obstacle course and safety skills demonstration. They had to be able to do all this:

• Inspect a vehicle and find safety problems,
• Properly bring a wheelchair onto a bus and secure it safely,
• Drive through a challenging obstacle course accurately, quickly and smoothly, and
• Demonstrate their knowledge of the rules of the road for transit drivers.

I tweeted the event and shot some video live from the course:

You can see more video from the course and find other people tweeting the CTAA Expo on the hashtag #CTAAexpo.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be speaking on a panel at the CTAA 2010 Expo titled The Goldilocks Approach to Technology: How Much is Just Right? The full day is titled, "Thinking Outside the Bus: New Approaches to Commuter Transportation." I'll focus on the nexus between social media, workforce development and community transportation in my remarks. I hope to learn a lot from my fellow panelists and from the audience too.

Here's a photo of one of the drivers in his official roadeo t-shirt waiting for his turn to compete:

Job training and unemployment bill - act TODAY

Rumors are that Congress will take up HR 4213 - the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 - for a final vote soon. As early as today.

It's also called the American Jobs Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act. 

It's an important workforce, employment and jobs bill. A wide range of organizations are urging action on it, including CLASP, Coalition on Human Needs and National Skills Coalition. If you haven't called your Congressional rep encouraging them to vote for HR 4213, do it now. 

Why should you act? Here are some excerpts from the calls to action:

From CLASP:

The bill funds the TANF Emergency Fund for another year, extends unemployment insurance benefits for the long-term unemployed, and temporarily increases the share of Medicaid and child welfare costs paid for by the government.

From CHN:

More than 20 states have assumed the additional federal funding in their budgets for next year. If the funding is allowed to expire, the cuts will be brutal.  With well over 6 million long-term unemployed people, it would be unthinkable to end the federal UI extended benefits program, but it will expire on June 2 if Congress does not act. Eligibility for COBRA health benefits expires on May 31. Unemployment benefits and TANF assistance both help people to live and  pump money into the economy. TANF emergency funds are expected to create 185,000 temporary jobs by the end of September. But these funds will expire September 30 if Congress does not act.

From the National Skills Coalition:

Unfortunately, the odds of passing this legislation – which may represent our last real chance to fund these critical job training and supportive services programs in 2010 – are looking increasingly shaky. There are reliable reports that a number of House Democrats are expressing concerns about the overall cost of the bill, which would further add to the federal deficit. This means that programs that matter to the workforce development field that are currently in the bill could be cut back or eliminated to cut costs, particularly if Members of Congress are not aware that these programs are a priority for their constituents.

You can follow updates on HR 4213 on this Twitter search.

If you need a little guidance on what to say when you call the office of your member of Congress, check out these guidelines from CHN.

If and when Congress acts, please alert WorkforceDevelopments via the comments below or Twitter.

Recycle, Renew, Restore, and Repair: Workers in public art

I was recently in Santa Monica, where I ran across this wonderful mural showing workers in different types of jobs. It was designed by artist Eva Cockcroft, and text on the mural says it's "Dedicated to all those workers who do the difficult but essential task of keeping our society and planet in good shape."

Recycle, Renew, Restore, and Repair

View more presentations from workforcedevelopments.

Read more about the mural, or find more public art in Santa Monica, California.

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