Building the Transit Workforce of the Future

Transit agencies are confronting a practical workforce challenge: maintaining and operating increasingly complex fleets amid technician shortages, evolving technologies, and constrained training capacity. As vehicle and facility systems become more advanced and interconnected, agencies have an opportunity to modernize how they develop and sustain talent.

This session presents a structured approach to workforce development that connects funding strategy, workforce assessment, and implementation. Speakers will discuss how agencies can align workforce initiatives with federal and state funding programs; conduct targeted skills-gap assessments aligned with operational needs; and deploy modern training solutions, including AI-enabled emerging training simulations, to accelerate readiness and reduce risk.

Drawing on real-world transit deployments and advanced transit technologies, the session will demonstrate how agencies can intentionally design workforce programs that are scalable, measurable, and aligned with long-term operational performance. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for moving from workforce discussions to funded, executable solutions.

Moderator:

• Ron Thiele, CEO, Xpan, Chair - APTA Technology Workforce Subcommittee, Vice-chair - APTA Business Member Workforce Development Subcommittee

Presenters:

• Mike Hynes, Deputy Director, Transit, Calstart
• James Hall, Principal & Founder, Zeb Tech