Transit Workforce Center

Section 5314 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

(d)

Transit Workforce Center

(1)

Establishment

(A)

In general

The Secretary shall establish a transit workforce center (in this subsection referred to as the Center) and award grants to a qualified nonprofit organization to carry out the mission and duties of the Center pursuant to this subsection. (B)

Qualified nonprofit organization

For purposes of subparagraph (A), a qualified nonprofit organization is an entity that— (i)is a nonprofit organization; (ii)operates nationally; (iii)has demonstrative experience in, and abilities regarding— (I)the provision of technical assistance to address issues in public transportation workforce development; and (II)outreach and marketing activities that focus on current and emerging public transportation workforce development needs; (iv)undertakes activities to support standards-based training for the public transportation maintenance and operations workforce through collaborative approaches, including labor-management partnerships; (v)undertakes activities to support public transportation workforce development with respect to emerging technology areas; and (vi)has the project management, organizational, fiscal, and administrative capacity necessary to effectively staff any proposed initiatives and deliver proposed outcomes, including implementation of any key components of such initiatives and outcomes, such as technical assistance, outreach, and marketing. (2)

Mission

The mission of the Center is to assist the public transportation industry by supporting the recruitment, hiring, training, and retention of skilled frontline public transportation workers, which in turn may enable public transportation providers to operate transit more efficiently, safely, and reliably, to better serve communities, and to increase transit customer satisfaction. (3)

Duties

The duties of the Center include the following: (A)Developing, and providing directly through the Center, training programs to support the workforce development needs of public transportation providers, including training addressing the workforce development needs specific to public transportation providers delineated by service to each of urbanized areas, suburban areas, rural areas, and Tribal populations. (B)Developing and disseminating educational materials and other resources related to public transportation workforce development, including materials and resources designed to support training programs of the Center. (C)Developing, leading, and contributing to presentations, dialogues, learning sessions, and strategic planning sessions— (i)in partnership, collaboration, or consultation with entities in the public transportation industry, including entities that provide public transportation workforce development, career support for public transportation workers, or transit-related technical education; and (ii)regarding any topic that supports the needs and priorities of the Federal Transportation Administration or the public transportation industry, especially topics related to the recruitment, retention, job readiness, and preparation of a skilled frontline public transportation workforce capable of working with new and emerging technologies. (D)Providing technical assistance regarding workforce development to public transportation providers. (E)Conducting data analytics and providing analyses regarding public transportation workforce trends to public transportation providers. (F)Leveraging transit-related workforce data to support efforts of public transportation providers to ensure the recruitment, retention, and advancement of a skilled workforce. (G)Conducting outreach, marketing, and other similar activities to increase engagement by, and awareness within, the public transportation industry with respect to the research, resources, trainings, projects, services, and initiatives of the Center that support frontline public transportation workers, including workforce-related research and information regarding changes to applicable policies of the Federal Transportation Administration. (4)

Collaboration

In carrying out the duties of the Center, the Secretary shall— (A)permit the qualified nonprofit organization selected under paragraph (1) to collaborate or consult with the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, the heads of public transportation providers, relevant national professional membership associations, and representatives of frontline public transportation employees; and (B)require the qualified nonprofit organization to consider requests and feedback from public transportation providers when developing and providing training programs of the Center.