Texas Transit Association Statewide Training Initiative
TTA is now expanding access to educational resources by launching a Statewide training initiative covering the many obstacles that transit staff face, including funding, procurement, and regulatory compliance. This training opportunity is made possible with a grant through TxDOT.
To administer this program, TTA will work closely with Easterseals, which has over 34 years of experience developing and implementing training programs and workshops for rural, suburban, and urban transit agencies. This training curriculum will be designed and delivered to be relevant to transit providers at various levels of management, accounting, and procurement professionals, front-line supervisors, dispatchers/ call center staff, and drivers. It will incorporate best practices from both the public and the private sector.
All courses, workshops, and webinars, in-person or virtual, are designed to be interactive and participatory. These courses will be offered to Transit agencies in Texas at no cost, but space is limited, so make sure that you and your staff don’t miss out on this great opportunity.
TTA’s Upcoming Courses
De-Escalation Training – Recording of Webinar
Project Management – Recording of Webinar
Conflict Resolution – Recording coming soon
Driver Customer Service (Virtual Workshop) (2-days) – Carol Wright Kenderdine, Instructor
Cost: There is no fee for this training, but registration is required due to limited space. These courses are made possible through a grant with TxDOT.
Trainer: Carol Wright Kenderdine, Easterseals Project Action
September 13, 2023- Drivers: Taking Customer Service to the Next Level
Time: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Central
Date: September 14, 2023 – Drivers: Attitudes –Personal Attitude Assessment and Dealing with Your Stress
Time: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Central
Description: When you are on the “front lines” you have to handle many difficult situations. This 2-part workshop will prepare you for many of the things you encounter on a day-to-day basis. It includes customer service: dealing with difficult people (and includes difficult work relationships too); de-escalation of tense situations, and best practices for communicating with people with disabilities. The class covers personal attitude assessment and handling stress. There will be time set aside to discuss your unique situations and get your particular questions answered. You may participate in one or both sessions. Only one registration is required.
Financial Management II Workshop (In-Person)
Cost: There is no fee for this training, but registration is required due to limited space. These courses are made possible through a grant with TxDOT.
Dates: September 20-21, 2023 – 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. CST each day
Location: Brazos Transit District, Bryan College Station, 1759 N Earl Rudder Fwy, Bryan, TX 77803
Trainer: AT Stoddard, Instructor
Description: This workshop builds on the Level 1 course and provides more in-depth training in the areas of strategic planning, cost allocation plans, determining contract rates to provide service, and monitoring performance to evaluate success. The training will include the development of cost allocation plans and build on the use of cost allocation models for specific applications, particularly related to establishing contract reimbursement rates for service and how to integrate financial management with strategic planning. Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to develop a cost allocation plan, determine reimbursement rates to provide service and integrate financial management with the development of a strategic plan.
Advanced Transit Management Workshop (In-Person)
Cost: There is no fee for this training, but registration is required due to limited space. These courses are made possible through a grant with TxDOT.
Dates: October 18-19, 2023 – 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. CST each day
Location: Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG), 2700 NE Interstate 410 Loop Suite 101
Trainer: Carol Wright Kenderdine, Instructor
Description: This 2-day workshop is designed for seasoned managers looking for new and improved approaches to managing their transit programs. It is a follow-up course to the Fundamentals of Transit Management. This course will challenge you to rethink some of the principles you thought you already knew. It will help you look at things from a number of different perspectives and provide you with hands-on activities and take-home resources that will enable you to implement what you learn in your own agency.
Modules for Advanced Transit Management include:
- Human Resources – Recruiting Good Employees; Performance Appraisals; Resolving Workplace Conflict (i.e., Managing Employee Conflict; Managing Difficult Employees; etc.); Succession Planning
- Financial Management – Evaluating Financial Capacity and Decision-Making
- Strategic Management – Benefits of Strategic Management; Implementing the Strategic Management Process; Marketing/Links to Stakeholders
- Advanced Service Planning — Service Deployment; Technology Needs; Service Effectiveness & Efficiency; Setting Fares; Service Monitoring; and Best Practices
- Leadership Skills and Development
This workshop includes scenario-based exercises; problem-solving exercises; valuable group discussions; hands-on training; best practices; and resources.
Human Resources: Dealing with Unacceptable Behavior Webinar (Online Webinar)
Date: October 25, 2023 – 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Central
Cost: There is no fee for this training, but registration is required due to limited space. These courses are made possible through a grant with TxDOT.
Trainer: Kristen Joyner, Instructor
Description: This session will focus on fixing small problems to prevent a larger problem from happening. That is certainly true, especially in public transportation. Fact: Just one negative interaction has five times the impact of a positive interaction. That means just one person exhibiting unacceptable employee behavior – could be destroying morale, crushing productivity, and making your job five times harder! This class will provide you with effective strategies for addressing difficult behavior so that you and your organization can be successful.
Upcoming Courses:
November:
Emergency Management Workshop (In-Person) – Lenzy Williams, Instructor
Dates: TBD
Location: TBD
Public Engagement (Online Webinar) – Jeremy Johnson-Miller, Instructor
Date: November 14, 2023 – 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Central
Description: “Public” is an essential piece of public transportation, it is literally in the name! DOT federal regulations require public engagement and public input as part of the planning process, but how much are you involving the public into your decision-making and data-collection process? Many agencies tend to simply complete tasks as instructed, but this session will get you thinking about how to use stakeholders to gather better data and more community input. The instructor will talk about various forms of community outreach like mobility management, listening sessions, and surveys to connect with the community to enhance or design your transit system for the actual user.
Agencies interested in hosting future training classes can contact Allen@TxTransit.org for details.
- Host agencies are expected to provide the following:
- Training Room with a projector that can accommodate up to 35 individuals classroom style.
- Refreshments and coffee for morning and afternoon breaks.
- Please note that the training location must be in close proximity to dining establishments to allow participants to leave and return within one hour.
- Host agencies may also provide lunch if there are no dining establishments nearby.
- The host agency is encouraged to offer tours of their facility.