Broadening Workforce Participation in Transportation: Challenges and Strategies

Abstract:

Broadening workforce participation in the transportation industry is incredibly challenging. State of practice research highlights the reasons why this lack of participation in the workforce occurs. Fortunately, there are also identified strategies for alleviating the workforce challenges. This report highlights measures that transportation organizations can take to combat some of the workforce challenges they are facing. When organizations are willing to have candid conversations and invest in meaningful policies, this can accelerate a shift in the trust and culture within an industry, making that industry more attractive to the talent pool that exists. Beyond the extensive literature review, this report describes the findings from an industry survey. The survey was distributed for a three-month data collection period, which concluded in July 2024, resulting in 996 usable survey responses. Additionally, the research team interviewed 15 transportation professionals in 2024 to gain deeper insights into the challenges and solutions to the workforce participation in the transportation industry.

Publications:

Broadening Workforce Participation in Transportation: Challenges and Strategies (Full Report)

Research Brief

Authors:

Jodi Godfrey, MSCE
Jodi Godfrey has been a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Urban TransportationResearch (CUTR) at the University of South Florida (USF) since 2012, where she works on the Transit Safety and Workforce Development Program. Ms. Godfrey received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from USF. Jodi is the faculty advisor of the USF ITE Student Chapter, the co-chair of the International Women in ITE Committee, the secretary of the Transportation Research Board's Standing Committee on Transit Safety and Security (AP080), and a member of the TRB Women and Gender in Transportation Committee (AME20).Ms. Godfrey also serves as the vice chair of the American Public Transportation Association Bus Safety Committee. She is passionate about safety, improving diversity in the transportation industry, and fighting to end human trafficking.

Stephanie Ivey, PhD
Dr. Stephanie Ivey is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Memphis (U of M). She directs the U of M’s Southeast Transportation Workforce Center and is Associate Director of the Division of Transportation and Logistics in the Center for Applied Earth Sciences and Engineering Research. She has a strong record of STEM workforce and education research, with special emphasis on transportation workforce development, partnerships between industry and academia, and increasing representation of women and other underrepresented groups in transportation.

Dr. Ivey is co-chair of the Institute of Transportation Engineers STEM Committee and serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Transportation Industry Council and the Board of Directors for the Greater Memphis IT Council.

Published:

November 2025

Keywords:

Workforce

Survey

Interviews

Gender parity

Representation