What happens when you conceptualize a better way-to-do-something? What happens when instead of saying it’s too much work and leaving it to someone else to do, you get busy and do it yourself? You might end up doing something notably significant in your workplace and in the process make a recognized contribution to your industry. That’s just what the SCRTTC (Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium) did with its Innovative Transit Training Learning Model.
In 2015, the SCRTTC’s modern, forward thinking training program was recognized at the state and national level. They received the prestigious Achievements in Transit Training Model Program Award from the National Transit Institute (NTI) and the California Transit Association’s (CTA) Transit Innovation Award. The NTI supports, outstanding programs that develop, promote and deliver training and education programs in the public transit industry. The CTA supports California’s public transit systems through advocacy and education.
The Innovative Transit Learning Model is changing how transit training is done in Southern California. It’s also garnering interest for adoption on a national level. The program is the result of the SCRTTC’s focus and commitment to its mission to advance the skills of the transit workforce, preparing them for the future. The program has proved especially effective in addressing the rapid incorporation of evolving technologies in transit bus fleets and in agency operations.
SCRTTC membership consists of 30 transit agencies and 17 colleges. The creation and implementation of its ‘better way-to-do-something idea’ was to replace an inefficient model that had each agency struggling to create and deliver its own training programs. The visionary new model brings transit agencies and community colleges together to uniformly prepare workers for the challenges of a continually changing workplace.
Today the SCRTTC can attest to delivering over 65,000 hours of training, developing 22 instructor-led courses and four distance learning courses. Immersed Technologies is proud to have developed SCRTTC’s distance learning courses. They are a first for the Consortium’s transit agency members. The courses are an effective and efficient means to train geographically dispersed workforces comprised of mechanics/technicians working on a 24/7 work schedule. The initial four Distance Learning courses represent the beginning. They are a successful new component of a Learning Model that is in perpetual motion, constantly adjusting to meet the needs of the 21st-century transit agency.