UMass, Conn. bus system seek to draw young workers

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Krystal Oldread, a student of regional planning and civil engineering and an experienced bus driver, is exactly what the transit industry is looking for.

Oldread, a 25-year-old graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, will participate in a partnership taking shape between the Amherst school and Connecticut's state-owned bus system intended to train new employees to replace an aging workforce nearing retirement.

Oldread said she believes her timing is good as policy makers plan new transit systems closer to downtowns as an alternative to automobiles and promote other efforts for more efficient public transportation.

"I do see a pretty good future," she said.

UMass Transit, which employs about 200 students like Oldread who drive buses and work as dispatchers and mechanics, is working with the university's College of Engineering and CTTRANSIT in Hartford to offer a certificate in transit management and operations.

UMass Transit operates vans and buses for UMass and four other area colleges and several towns in western Massachusetts.

The certificate program, which is expected to launch in the fall of 2012 and issue the first certificates the following year, will train future transit workers and managers and help students find jobs. It's being funded with a Federal Transit Administration grant of about $127,000 to help pay to develop the courses and offset student fees.

It's one of 12 programs funded by $3 million in grants nationwide, including on-the-job training in streetcar maintenance and repair in New Orleans, an online learning system for transit training in rural communities and a Chicago plan to evaluate candidates for transit jobs.

David Lee, general manager of CTTransit, said the program formalizes "what has been informal relationship" between UMass academic programs, the university's transit service and CTTransit.

"We're always looking for new ways to attract talent," he said.

A significant number of retirements are expected in the coming decade, a 2010 report by the American Public Transportation Association said. Supervisory and leadership training at all levels are the "dominant training need for the industry," the transit group said.

The jobs require more technical knowledge and experience, said Allan E. Byam, general manager of Transit Services at UMass Amherst. Computer programmers and engineers who oversee the construction of bus garages, bridges and rail tracks will increasingly be in demand.

Public transportation has in the past focused on highways, but as gas prices and environmental concerns rise, cars increasingly are seen as pricey polluters, said John Collura, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the UMass Transportation Center.

"For improving the quality of life, more public transportation is good, not less," he said.

However, the "single most important challenge" is how to secure funding amid government cuts at all levels, Collura said. Tolls will likely be a big part of the solution, he said.

UMass has been working with CTTRANSIT for several years, but the two are stepping up the program. One of the plans is for students to shadow the Connecticut system's maintenance director, operations manager and others to see how a large transit system operates, Byam said.

The academic side of the program at the UMass College of Engineering will include labor management, finance, policy, administration and other subjects to round out their on-the-job experience, he said.

"Get a degree and with this level of experience they can hit the ground running," Byam said.

Lee, who has been in the business 40 years, said a large number of transit workers were drawn to the industry in the 1970s are now ready to retire. Work experience needs to be supported by an education in planning, finance and even politics because transportation funding is approved or rejected by elected officials, he said.

It's that variety that attracted Oldread to the industry.

"I started out just needing a job," she said. "I became very interested in how it runs, how it works, the amount of knowledge you need to do all of this. It's so diverse. Whatever you're interested in, you can apply to transportation."