The Committee on Future Surface Transportation Agency Human Resource Needs: Strategies for Recruiting, Training, and Retaining Personnel was formed to study the future human resource needs of transportation agencies and to identify potential strategies for recruiting, training, and retaining these personnel. The charge to the committee is presented in Box 1-1. The predominant surface transportation agencies—in terms of the number of transportation professionals and operating and support personnel employed—are state departments of transportation or highways (SDOTs) and regional and local transit agencies (TAs). Other public agencies play important roles in surface transportation—rail, water, and intermodal—and also employ transportation specialists. In addition, private engineering, planning, and consulting firms employ a large number of transportation professionals and compete with public agencies for many of the same people and skills in the labour market. Nonetheless, the committee focused primarily on several key employee categories within SDOTs and TAs in its information gathering and discussions. While most of the conclusions and recommendations presented in this report are directed at SDOTs and TAs and these key employee categories, they also apply to other public agencies and private firms, as well as other categories. There are also recommendations aimed at components of the federal government — Congress, the administration, and the U.S. Department of Transportation — responsible for the nation’s transportation system. The study was requested by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Funding support was provided from FHWA, the Research and Special Programs Administration, and the National Co-operative Highway Research Program. (Author/publisher)
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