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Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
Mining
Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
June 2006
Managing the Changing Workforce
in Southwestern Pennsylvania
A Closer Look at Issues Related to Our Regions Aging Workforce
Carnegie Mellon
Center for Economic Development
CED Study Partners
This study was conducted by the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB) and the
Center for Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University.
The Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB)
The Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board (TRWIB) is an employer-driven, policy-making
entity for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Board members are appointed by the Mayor of
Pittsburgh and the Chief Executive of Allegheny County and share a concern about workforce
quality and the availability of good jobs in the region. The 1998 federal legislation that
consolidated employment and training programs, The Workforce Investment Act, also created
local workforce investment boards, including the TRWIB.
Center for Economic Development (CED)
The CED is afliated with the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at
Carnegie Mellon University. Established in 1968 and renamed in 1992 in honor of the late U.S.
Senator from Pennsylvania, the Heinz School improves the ability of the public, private and
non-prot sectors to address important problems and issues facing society.
Managing the Changing Workforce
2 Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
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Acknowledgements
Study research team:
Theodora Finn, Senior Policy Analyst, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
Margie Lubet, Marketing Manager, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
Ron Painter, Chief Executive Ofcer, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
Greg Lagana, Workforce Projects Director, Center for Economic Development,
Carnegie Mellon University
Jerry Paytas, Ph.D, Director, Center for Economic Development, Carnegie
Mellon University
This study would not have been possible without the contributions of:
Don Belt, Chief Investment Ofcer, Hefren-Tillotson
Kelleigh Butler, Program Monitor, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
Bill Ceriani, Workforce Information Specialist, PA Department of Labor and
Industry, Center for Workforce Information Analysis (CWIA)
Vanessa Lund, Project Director, Human Capital Policy Initiative (University
of Pittsburgh)
Steve Mitchell, Ph.D, Director, Workforce Connections, Pennsylvania Economy
League of Southwestern Pennsylvania
Mildred Morrison, Administrator, Allegheny County Department of Human
Services, Area Agency on Aging
Research Assistants Prudence Marasigan and Ruth Salcedo
We would also like to acknowledge the support of The Regional Workforce
Collaborative of SWPA (RWC) and The Heinz Endowments. The RWC lever-
ages and connects the strengths, resources and programs of the regions five
Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), State WIB, four Community Colleges, and
regional economic development institutions.
In addition we would like to thank the various industry experts who provided
insights into this prole. Background
Understanding the implications of the aging of our regions workforce is a pressing issue for
several policy areas including: human services; housing; transportation; healthcare; and workforce
development. Assessing the impact on specic industries can help dene sound policies and strategies
to address this demographic shift. In partnership with Carnegie Mellon Universitys Center for
Economic Development, the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board has conducted this study of
industries affected by the aging demographics of the southwestern Pennsylvania region. Overall
southwestern Pennsylvanias workforce is older than many of our peer regions workforces and our
regions workforce is slowly aging. However, these demographics vary by industry and an industry
with an older workforce does not necessarily spell a problem for that particular industry.
Using U.S. Census Bureau Local Employment Dynamics data, this study identied the age distribution
of all industries in our region to determine which of our regions industries have the oldest workforces.
The following prole uses census data, employer surveys, and secondary research to understand
demographic and employment trends in one of the industries with the oldest workforce compositions in
our regionTransit and Ground Passenger Transportation.
Managing the Changing Workforce
4 Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
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Highlights
Data from the U.S. Census department indicates that
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:
The regions transit and ground passenger transportation industry has one of the oldest
workforces in the region.
The industry is relatively large, and supported an estimated 11,600 jobs on average
through 2004.
Counties with sizable older workforces in this industry include Allegheny, Beaver, Butler,
Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland.
Most of the jobs in this industry are in school bus services, with urban transit systems a
distant second, followed by charter bus services, taxis, limousine services, and other ground
transit services.
School bus services, charter bus services, taxi and limousine services all have a greater share
of jobs held by workers 55+ than urban transit systems.
Employment in school bussing is seasonal, and since this portion of the industry dominates
ground transportation employment, several employment related measures for ground
transportation exhibit seasonal patterns.
Earnings for employees and new hires in the industry are actually below average earnings for
the region. This may be due in part to seasonal work stints, and part time work.
Industry turnover is slightly below the regional average.
Feedback from regional transit operators suggests that:
The older workforce in transit does not represent an imminent workforce problem.
Instead the large concentration of older workers in the industry seems to be the ongoing
result of longstanding dynamics in the industry.
Transit operators noted that drivers in public transit stay in the job for a long time, but upon
retirement, many seek work in school bus and charter bus services.
One position that public transit agencies are nding more difcult to ll is vehicle maintenance. Economic and Workforce
Characteristics of Southwestern
Pennsylvanias Transit and Ground
Passenger Transportation Industry
Industry Description
In SWPA this subsector includes public transit systems, school bus and charter bus services, and
taxis. The industry is composed of both public city and county transit systems, as well as for-prot
passenger transportation rms.
Economic Relevance
Based on the Bureau of Economic Analysis measure Earnings by Place of Work, earnings for this
industry in the seven county Pittsburgh MSA in 2003 amounted to about $149M or about 0.2% of
nonfarm earnings for the region.
Based on the LED QWI measure Total Payroll, earnings for the industry in 2004 was $285M, or 0.7%
of total payroll for the entire nine county region.
Statewide, this industry contributed $942M to the Gross State Product (GSP) of Pennsylvania in
2003, or 0.2% of the total.
Although the economic footprint of this industry is smaller in terms of earnings and contribution to
GSP compared to the other industries proled in this report, the measures above exclude any positive
externalities (including reduced trafc congestion, reduced fuel consumption, and reduced pollution)
that this industry provides to the region.
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Workforce Outlook
Data from the LED program indicates that the transit and ground transportation industry has a
much older workforce (in the 55+ range) than the other industries proled in this report, and that
school bus, taxi, and charter bus services have especially older workforces.
However, feedback from local transit system managers at a recent Regional Operators Transit
Consortium meeting suggests that the older workforce may simply be due to long standing labor
Managing the Changing Workforce
6 dynamics within the industry rather than a harbinger of an imminent workforce problem.
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Public
transit operators noted that:
Vehicle drivers (bus/rail/etc.) make up a large portion of the regional public transit workforce;
Turnover within the driving workforce is low;
Many workers who retire from local public transit systems choose to keep busy with part-
time work in school, taxi, or charter bus services; and
These services, along with providers of public vehicle transit for the elderly and disabled,
often hire older, retired, or displaced workers from other industries.
Results from the Changing Workforce Survey did not contradict these ndings, with several transit
respondents indicating that replacing retiring workers would not be a serious problem.
Although no public transit operators specically identied a problem with the driving workforce, a
possible challenge with the vehicle maintenance workforce was noted.
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Operators observed that as
the technology of public transit has advanced, the basic academic and technical skill requirements to
maintain equipment have increased, and vehicle maintenance positions have become harder to ll.
Workforce Development Opportunities
One major new transit-related workforce development initiative has emerged at the national level,
and has engaged in