Current and future public transportation workers will need new skills and training to prepare them for high-speed rail technologies, but the U.S. lags other countries in preparing for the changeover.

That was the consensus of a group of researchers who have examined rail systems in various pockets of the country. They presented their findings at a June 6 session, “Training Partnership Programs for the Rail Industry’s Next Generation Workforce,” during APTA’s 2012 Rail Conference in Dallas.

The consistent feedback from employers is that they “can’t find enough home-grown talent,” said Jeffrey Wharton, co-chair, APTA Business Member Business Development Committee, and president, IMPulse NC LLC. He noted the lack of undergraduate degree programs in railway engineering, explaining that existing classes tend to focus on traffic and planning—although employers report their desire for more engineers, researchers, technical workers, and manager.

In contrast, he said, Europe, India, China, and South America are providing far more educational opportunities, although U.S. universities are “starting to see the need.”

Wharton was one member of an “elite panel” that provided a wide range of “new concepts, lessons learned, and out-of-the-box models,” said moderator Carol Wise, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. “What a critical and timely topic for our session today,” she added.

Each of the panelists provided a detailed peek into the inner workings of existing rail systems in different regions of the country.

The findings are clear: workers need more training, they want to be engaged, they want to be able to problem-solve as part of their jobs, and they’re already sold on the idea of preparing for new technologies, said Brian Lester, a senior consultant with Educational Data Systems in Dearborn, MI.  He studied the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority in Philadelphia.

Lester said the qualities he cited are interconnected and “a piece of what we hope is a pyramid.” Taken together, he said, these elements provide a portrait of future workers that is “ready to go forward.”

Robert J. Cerra Jr., regional manager, New York Metropolitan Area, for LTK Engineering Services, said existing training procedures are sometimes unevenly applied, making it difficult to measure employees’ knowledge gaps until there’s an outside review. “Largely, the information existed, but it just hadn’t been assembled in this manner,” he said.

Employers who invest in measuring workers’ abilities and providing additional training realize a substantial return on their investment, Cerra said. They become more efficient, reduce downtime, make fewer mistakes, and are better at diagnosing problems.

Dr. Peter J. Haas, education director of the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) in San Jose, CA, sounded a similar note. His organization partnered with the California State University system several years ago to do a needs assessment study after the state’s voters approved a high-speed rail system.

The study revealed that much of the anticipated spending would go toward construction, much of that to cover labor costs, and that the high-speed rail project would require workers from a wide range of educational backgrounds.

“What this really shows you is, to create a high-speed rail system, you need the entire [educational] spectrum,” Haas said.

Although progress on the project has slowed significantly because of the economy, he said, the research has already spurred collaborations that did not exist until all stakeholders were made aware of the gaps in preparing for a high-speed rail workforce. “We found that by showing everyone that there were lots and lots of needs…they were eager to work together,” Haas explained.

Wharton said MTI’s experience shows how energized organizations can become when presented with solid information about future needs. “We need to leverage that within our own organization,” he added.

Speakers at the session on training partnerships included, from left, Jeffrey Wharton, Brian Lester, Carol Wise, Robert J. Cerra Jr., and Dr. Peter J. Haas.