Below is the good news from Metro’s government relations team. This may not be the most glamorous issue, but Metro CEO Art Leahy and others of his ilk have noted that many transit agencies will face a lack of expertise in the future if something isn’t done to reverse course.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Announces Workforce Development Grant for Our Agency – Grant is Second Largest in the Nation

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the award of $3 million from the Federal Transit Administration’s Innovative Workforce Development Program to support programs around the country that train, hire, develop and retain transit workers.

Our agency’s proposal (“Metro University: Developing the Next Generation of Transportation Professionals”) is among 12 programs selected for funding from a total of 35 applications that were received from across the nation. Our $480,000 grant request was fully funded and represents the only grant awarded in the State of California and the second largest nationwide (with a $500,000 grant ceiling).

The grant will be used in partnership with the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) and the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College to develop a training curriculum for Technical and Leadership Development to prepare employees to step into leadership roles that will be vacated due rapid generational turnover during the next five to ten years.

This effort is an important step toward achieving budget theme #6: Prepare Tomorrow’s Workforce Today. We proposed to deploy a technology-based solution that combines the latest version of online learning management tools with the training series that LACCD and its community colleges will deliver to allow transferability to other agencies nationwide. My congratulations and appreciation to staff who worked hard to make this grant award possible.