intensive training
The Conference Intensive sessions lead off the training portion of the annual EXPO and feature leading industry experts to communicate and instruct on vital, timely topics.
These one-, two- or three-day sessions are designed to provide you the proficiencies you need to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving transportation landscape. These in-depth courses will also inspire you with new perspectives and help you learn valuable new skills.
Note: The Conference Intensives meet the training requirement for those seeking CCTM, CTPA, PASS, CCTS, PDS, VMMI, and CSSO certification or re-certification. All certification courses have a testing component.
Note: Participants must register and pay for these classes via EXPO registration.
Three-Day Classes
Monday, May 20 – Wednesday, May 22
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Vehicle Maintenance Management and Inspection (VMMI)
Senior Instructor: Halsey King, SAE, Halsey King & Associates, Inc.
For over 30 years, the VMMI program has trained thousands of mechanics at rural, small urban and specialized mobility providers, connecting them with the right resources to keep their buses in service. This program is designed for maintenance managers and technicians who operate/maintain complimentary vans, cutaway paratransit and small buses (i.e., less than 30-foot length) improving the maintenance oversight of these fleets of smaller transit vehicles, while adding a layer of testing, certification and performance quality.
Upon successful completion of the exam, certification is valid for three years.
Passenger Assistance Safety and Sensitivity (PASS) Train-the-Trainer
PASS Master Instructors: Russ Parish and Ralph Mason
PASS Master Trainers certify trainers so they can return back to their organization ready to train and certify drivers in the two-day PASS Driver 7.0 curriculum. PASS Trainer certification ensures that community transportation drivers have current expertise in passenger assistance techniques and sensitivity skills appropriate for serving persons with disabilities and the general public. Upon successful completion of the certification exam, attendees will receive the designation: Passenger Assistance Safety and Sensitivity (PASS) Trainer. Upon successful completion of the exam, certification is valid for three years.
Note: This session is specially discounted for National Community Transit Roadeo Drivers.
Two-Day Classes
Monday, May 20 – Tuesday, May 21
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Certified Community Transit Supervisor (CCTS)
Senior Instructor: Michael Noel, Noel Training & Consulting, LLC.
Many supervisors are promoted from within the ranks of the operating staff, and must learn to effectively supervise their peers. In their supervisory role, these individuals must also understand the overall activities and mission of the transit organization, and they must be able to convey its practices, principles and priorities to the operating staff. The session will provide comprehensive training in leadership, working effectively within a team, advanced communication skills, the supervisor’s role in safety and in customer driven service. Upon successful completion of the exam, certification is valid for three years. The Intensive registration fee includes the required Prep class that all attendees must complete by May 8, 2019.
Professional Dispatching and Scheduling (PDS)
Senior Instructor: John Cleveland, Cleveland Civil Rights Consulting
Effective dispatching can make or break a community transportation organization. In its mission to ensure the effectiveness and viability of community transportation organizations, the PDS training program focuses on operational efficiency as well as customer service techniques. Persons who successfully complete this course will have developed and demonstrated their expertise in maximizing the efficient delivery of demand-responsive transportation, conveying riders’ requests into affordable and appropriate trips, and in making effective use of their system’s transportation resources. Upon successful completion of the exam, certification is valid for three years.
Certified Safety and Security Officer (CSSO)
Senior Instructor: Joe Seitz, The Learning & Performance Improvement Group
The CSSO program is designed to help personnel build the transportation organization, enhance the professionalism of the internal team, safely serve its customers, fulfill its responsibilities in assisting in community preparedness, identify internal safety and security strengths and weaknesses while reducing system exposure to liability. The CSSO training leads the Individual through the nine critical areas of transit safety covering Leadership and Management, Transit Operations, Vehicles and Maintenance, Facilities and Maintenance, Personnel, Training, Organizational Safety, Organizational Security and Community Emergency Response Preparedness. Trainees must complete the required CSSO application by May 8, 2019. To complete your certification, you will have the option to perform an on-site Safety Skills Assessment of your existing operations OR take the CSSO Certification exam. Certification is valid for three years.
Preparing for the Certified Community Transit Manager (CCTM) and Certified Transit Public Administrator (CTPA) Exam
Senior Instructor: Chris Zeilinger, CTAA
Prepare for our industry’s professional management exam and gain a fresh overview of all the key ingredients of effective transit management while broadening your knowledge base and building your professional skills. CCTM status marks the highest performance and efficiency attainable in the community transportation industry; it is proof of the ability to manage a comprehensive and dynamic community transportation system. The CCTM application must be completed by May 8, 2019 and upon successful completion of the exam, certification is valid for three years.
The CTPA certification was developed under the guidance of a select group of state transit agency employees and is a cooperative venture of CTAA with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The CTPA application must be completed by May 8, 2019 and upon successful completion of the exam, certification is valid for three years.
Financial Management for Transit Agencies
Senior Instructor: A.T. Stoddard, LSC Transportation Consultants, Inc.
In today’s financial management you cannot afford to be without top-notch financial management skills. You must know your true costs of providing service and be able to track those costs and manage your cash flow. Learn how to use financial information, operations data, and proven financial strategies to plan, develop, and implement your transit system objectives. Learn what data to collect and monitor to ensure success and to evaluate potential changes in service – whether it is new service, service enhancements, or reductions in service. This session will provide tools that any transit manager or supervisor can use with existing data and financial reports.
Find & Retain the Best, Engage or Confront the Rest: How to Wake Up Your Organization and Form a More Perfect Work Environment
Senior Instructors: Duncan Dickson Ed.D, A&D Partners and Caryn Souza, CTAA
Employees are the most-valued asset of any organization. It is of utmost importance that leaders commit to an environment that treats employees professionally and fairly. Building a winning team is established on the foundation of the organization’s mission and tied in with positive expectations, open communication and a climate of good will based on the overall goals of the organization. Learn how to expand the skills that will help you achieve the greatest effectiveness from your workforce. In this interactive session, you will learn how to effectively hire the right people, evaluate job skills that directly relate to your job requirements, establish performance standards, and coach and counsel to motivate employees for peak performance. This course will reinforce what you already know while expanding your view about all aspects of effective employee relations. Whether it’s the fundamentals about the legal side of HR to performance based management and evidence based leadership by the end of this course you’ll be refocused on promoting your organization’s values through your people and succeed at being a compassionate, professional employer. If you manage people, this session is for you.
One-Day Classes
Monday, May 20
Transit Marketing and Communication for Community and Public Transportation
Instructor: Selena Barlow
This workshop offers an overview of communications strategies to help any transit agency build visibility, community support and ridership. The class begins with basic marketing and communication principals and shows how these apply specifally in the public transportation environment – whether fixed route or demand response. Particular emphasis is placed on user-focused and innovative passenger information tools that makes transit easy to use and on community-based marketing strategies which capitalize on transit’s connections within the local community. Throughout the workshop, the presenter uses real-world examples from her 20+ years as a Transit Marketing consultant working with more than 100 community transportation systems throughout the U.S.
Grant Development and Writing
Instructor: Dr. Matilda Harris
Navigating the world of grants and grant development can be daunting. Learn from experts in the grant development process how to convert your ideas into fundable projects. Acquire the skills needed to:
- Identify key sections of successful proposals
- Secure partnerships with private sources of funding
- How to write a convincing argument for funding
- Create an effective business plan
- Utilize the Logic Model to clarify and graphically display your projects intent
- Address outcomes and deliverables
- Review, score and discuss a full transportation related proposal
The training addresses the overall strategic plan for writing grants, including: needs statement, mission, goals, objectives, activities, evaluation, key personnel, and budgets. You’ll also learn how to utilize logic models to clarify and graphically display your project’s inputs and outcomes. Whether you new to the field of grant development or a seasoned veteran this course will enhance the skills you need to succeed in your search for funding.
Note: Please bring a laptop and power cord to this training.
Leading Innovation in Your Organization
SOLD OUT: Registrations for this intensive are closed
Instructor: Amy Conrick
We know we need to move beyond “the way we’ve always done things,” but where to start? This course, designed for transit leaders and mobility management professionals, addresses how to leverage staff and customer insights to inspire innovation in your operations. Participants will have hands on experience with techniques to tap into the customer experience as a source of innovation, de-risk any innovative solutions before expending scarce resources on implementation, among other techniques.
Tuesday, May 21
NEMT: Beyond Medicaid
Instructors: Scott Bogren and Alex King are Moderators
Too often, the world of non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) has revolved exclusively around Medicaid – and not without reason. Medicaid invests billions of dollars in transporting its recipients to eligible medical appointments every year. But every year, the politics around the Medicaid transportation benefit get rougher, compliance gets tougher and its dependability as an investment stream grows less reliable. This session, designed for NEMT and public transit operators, managers, and advocates alike, is a deep dive into the other world of NEMT – one dominated by managed care organizations and private sector health care providers, and one that is growing in investment and importance, facing rapidly changing technology, and increasingly having to address the expectations for on-demand service. This session is for those who are looking to make sense of the ever-growing connection between mobility, transportation, and health care and understand how to grow and create successful partnerships and programs within this space.
Attendees will learn how and where to seek these new opportunities, and to look at NEMT from an entirely new perspective. From discussions with transportation and health care experts to interactive activities looking at how these topics can be applied to their own communities, attendees will leave with new ideas and tools of their own so they can begin to move their ideas beyond talk into action.
Building a Sustainable Driver Workforce From Recruitment to Retention
Instructors: Lyn Hellegaard
You know that drivers are the front-line representatives for your agency. So what can transit leaders do to address the current driver shortage? Organizational awareness, executive support, and understanding effective employee relations are critical factors impacting your service and are key in any effort to address driver shortages. Very few decisions a supervisor makes has the importance of hiring an individual, particularly in the critical customer service position as a driver. The effort and attention that’s put into all aspects of employee retention has a direct correlation on the need for driver recruitment. Throughout this interactive session, you’ll learn about all aspects of driver recruitment and retention with the focus on building a sustainable driver workforce that engages the best people with the right attitude, which ultimately leads to job satisfaction and reduced employee turnover.
Effective Procurement Strategies
Instructor: Kelly Shawn
Many transit providers and communities require contracted services because they may not have the capacity to provide the services themselves. In other cases, contracted services like maintenance, operations and management may prove to be more cost effective through a contract versus in-house. This session will provide a comprehensive review of third-party contract management starting with the identification of need for contracted service, procurement process, contract award, contract oversight and contract termination or renewal. We will discuss all aspects of contracting services effectively and responsibly while reducing exposure to risk.
Understanding ADA
Instructor: Monica L. Simon, National Transit Institute
For people of all abilities and ages, public transportation provides a lifeline to jobs, education and medical care. The goal of the “Understanding the Americans with Disabilities Act” course is to provide an overview of the basic ADA service requirements that apply to public transportation related entities. This includes placing ADA in the context of civil rights, identifying the components of accessible transportation, determining whether an entity must provide complementary paratransit service, reviewing compliance procedures, and discussing enforcement and investigation processes.