No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a Transit Workforce Center by adding a new subsection (d) to the technical assistance and standards development program (49 U.S.C. 5314), which authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants, contracts, and agreements to help public transportation providers improve service, comply with federal law, and enhance operations. The Secretary must award grants to a qualified national nonprofit organization—defined by criteria including experience in workforce technical assistance, standards-based training, emerging technologies, and project management—to carry out the Center's mission of supporting recruitment, hiring, training, and retention of skilled frontline public transportation workers to enable more efficient, safe, and reliable transit service. The Center's duties include the following: (1) developing and directly providing training programs addressing workforce needs specific to urbanized, suburban, rural, and Tribal public transportation providers; (2) developing and disseminating educational materials and resources; (3) leading presentations, dialogues, learning sessions, and strategic planning in partnership with industry entities on topics such as recruitment, retention, job readiness, and emerging technologies; (4) providing technical assistance on workforce development; (5) conducting data analytics and trend analyses; (6) leveraging workforce data to support recruitment, retention, and advancement; and (7) conducting outreach and marketing to increase industry engagement with the Center's resources. In operating the Center, the Secretary must permit collaboration with the Federal Transit Administration administrator, public transportation providers, professional associations, and frontline employee representatives and must require consideration of provider feedback for training programs.