September '24 Newsletter

MTI NEWS

September 2024

Rolling Through the Bay
by Matthew Guo, Monte Vista High School Junior
 

As fog pours into the valley,

The city fades into sight.

Our train exits the tunnel,

As wheels start to screech
 

In the midst of the fog,

A new vision appears
 

A bullet of red, whisks us away.

The Baby Bullet heads down south,

As the fog flicks away.
 

Rolling brown hills come into view,

Sunshine breaks as the skies turn blue.

In just a moment, the weather turns

From misty streets to balmy roads

The charm unfolds as daylight glows

Landscapes show in warm repose

As we travel around the Bay,

The wheels take their toll.

Bay Area transit continues to roll

Through the places we all call home.

Measuring Attendee Connections to the Local Community at San Jose's September 2024 Viva Calle Open Streets Event
 

Anya Kothari hasn’t even graduated high school yet, but she’s already assisting with important academic research. An 11th grader at Menlo School, Anya recently worked as a student research assistant with MTI Education Director and National Transportation Finance Center Director Asha Weinstein Agrawal on the Exploring E-Bike Safety Performance Data and Policy Options study. “I examined international e-bike regulations across 30+ countries to look for similarities and better understand how different countries deal with e-bike safety issues. My deliverable was a spreadsheet which showed e-bikes rules on speed, helmet, travel areas, etc. for countries all over the world,” explains Anya. She also studied geographic information systems (GIS) over the summer to look at bike trails in Atlanta and improve bike route safety. Anya believes, “ Transportation is so important to our daily lives and connects us all.” We are excited to see what is on the horizon for this inspiring young researcher!

In California there are 1,536 bridges and over 14,220 miles of highway in poor condition. The IIJA will invest $4.9 billion in the state for highway-related infrastructure projects. The findings in this project are from a literature review of current sources and informal interviews with stakeholders of the three economic sectors of interest (agriculture, tech, and healthcare). Causes and solutions of labor shortages in each of the economic sectors were investigated, with a particular focus on the impact of changes in policies and processes. Agriculture labor recruitment strategies offer some potential solutions to similar issues in highway construction because of the cyclical nature of work in each—the agricultural cycle of agricultural crops and the project cycle of construction. Solutions include foreign worker programs, employee referral programs, and improving working conditions. In the technology sector, there has been some success in filling specialized-skill positions with workers who have trained in online, modular skill training provided by large companies such as Google or Microsoft. Leading highway construction firms could form a public partnership to develop and provide similar trainings for the highway construction skills in demand. The healthcare sector has been addressing a shortage of low-skill workers for a longer period of time and offers the broadest potential solutions. There has been some success in finding workers using policies for tuition reimbursement and incentivizing seasoned professionals to become instructors for programs that provide in-demand skills. 

Governing Structures for Successful Regional Transit Coordination and their Formation

The expansion of metropolitan areas in California has further prompted the need to improve transportation options for all, more effectively linking origins and destinations through key enhancements to the existing network of transit services. This study provides planners and policymakers examples of effective regional transit coordination agencies. To improve multimodal connections and enhance transit services at the local and regional levels, this study explores regional coordination, focusing on entities charged with coordinating multiple transit agencies in a single metropolitan area. The study identified 16 regional transit coordinators (RTCs), identifying the structure, scope, and management of each.

The results revealed that there are many factors involved in creating an organization with the authority to coordinate regional transit, including how the organization was established and elements related to the formation of an RTC (e.g., regional dynamics and board composition). It is also important to study the powers vested in different types of boards and members, as well as the executive director. There is a wide range of state legislation for the legal establishment of RTCs. The authors offer recommendations for establishing an RTC in California, including a multi-county owned corporation with an ex officio board; an agency of the state or regional government; and a special district with an ex officio board representing counties, cities, planning staff, operator staff, and state transport agencies. Finally, suggestions for creating the board are provided along with a recommendation that the state develop a legislative framework to establish RTCs in its metropolitan areas.

California’s Active Transportation Program (ATP) is a competitive, grant-based program that serves as a major funding stream for active transportation infrastructure in California. The program has six goals to increase nonmotorized transportation, safety, equity, sustainability, and health. Evaluation of the ATP’s administrative and scoring processes is crucial to ensure goals are met as equitably and efficiently as possible. Additionally, establishing a methodology for evaluating the safety impacts of active transportation projects is critically important. Through a series of interviews and an extensive review of the documents and rubrics of the program, this report discusses how California’s ATP can serve as a model for other states, regions, and localities to follow. Building from this approach, the research team poses questions and considerations that could lead to program improvements, including increasing funding for the program, improving data collection, facilitating the funding of a larger number of smaller projects, and expanding long-term monitoring. 

Research to Practice Transit Symposium
*The Symposium is convened by a partnership between APTA, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), University of Florida Transportation Institute, the T-SCORE University Transportation Center, and the Mineta Transportation Institute.

The 2024 “Research to Practice” Transit Symposium will take place October 22-24, 2024, and will be streamed on YouTube. As the transit industry is poised to take advantage of the largest transit and rail investment in our lifetimes, the symposium provides a platform where transit experts share insights on how evidence-based research is being or can be, used to make the most of these opportunities in a changing environment. This year’s symposium will focus on the following topics:

• Transit leaders’ perspectives on the future of transit
• Practical applications of transit data
• Transit fare policy
• Transit equity
• Women in transit
• Transit infrastructure costs
• Transit research implementation

AICP credits are available for this event.

Who Works in Transit? Establishing a Baseline of Transit Workforce Diversity
*This Research Snaps webinar was co-sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

Public transit agencies function best when the diversity of their workforce represents the communities they serve—yet research finds mismatched representation, with fewer women and people of color in leadership positions and an overconcentration of men and people of color in operational roles. This Research Snaps was based on the MTI report Understanding Workforce Diversity in the Transit Industry: Establishing a Baseline of Diversity Demographics. The report authors shared the latest data on racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the U.S. transit workforce. They also discussed promising practices to help transit agencies attract and retain staff who reflect and embrace the vibrant diversity of their communities. 

Presenters:

• Asha Weinstein Agrawal, PhD, Research Associate & Education Director, MTI
• Evelyn Blumenberg, PhD, Professor; Director, Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies in the Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA
• Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, PhD, Distinguished Professor; Interim Dean, Luskin School of Public Affairs and Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA