Workforce 2030: Recruiting and Training the Next Generation Transportation Construction Workforce

The U.S. DOT spends $51 billion annually on construction, repair, and operation of our Nation’s public transportation systems—a significant investment benefiting multiple dimensions of society. Every $1B invested in the transportation infrastructure produces 13,000 jobs across multiple industry sectors (US Dept. of Education, US Dept. of Transportation, and US Dept. of Labor, 2015). Much of this investment is in highways and bridges developed, constructed, and maintained through state transportation agencies (STA). An increasing challenge is the availability of the construction and maintenance workforce within the agencies to keep pace with the annual $51 billion expenditures; agencies will need over 550,000 new staff within their construction and maintenance programs. However, due to current and anticipated budgeting challenges, STA will likely be working with a smaller workforce, and many new workers will require significant training to meet present and future demands. The need for this research aligns with the objectives of the Environmental, Safety, and Workforce Section within the AASHTO Subcommittee on Construction. An in-depth discussion took place on several occasions on the topic of workforce issues and workforce development at the AASHTO Subcommittee on Construction Annual Meeting in August 2017 with the result the development of this much-needed problem statement. The objective of this research is to address two primary goals: (1) Produce a ‘roadmap’ of the current workforce development system for STAs and identify critical areas for improvement to attract both the quantity and quality of individuals needed to increase representation of the next generation among the state transportation construction workforce; and (2) Identify the policy and training framework to allow state transportation agencies to develop the process for moving the workforce into the 2030 competency level.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4544
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Proposed
• Funding: $700000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 02-25

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Project Managers:

  Goldstein, Lawrence

• Start Date: 20180619
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Labor force; Recruiting; Road construction workers; State departments of transportation; Training
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Education and Training; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01669529
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 02-25
• Files: TRB, RiP, USDOT
• Created Date: May 21 2018 3:07PM