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Abstract
The success and value of transportation, whether rail, air, highway, maritime or any other
mode, is ultimately dependent on people. However, there are a number of factors that are
currently affecting this mix that should be cause for concern. First, we are facing the
retirement of a large number of “baby boomers” that have been the foundation of many
transportation organizations. At the same time, low birth rates in the 1970-1980’s have
resulted in a general shortage of new entrants in the American workforce. In addition to
the smaller general workforce, a lower proportion of these young people are pursuing
technical disciplines such as engineering that are critical to transportation. This gap in
the transportation workforce comes at a time in which the skills needed to work in the
transportation field are changing and expanding. Given this backdrop, the transportation
industry needs to be looking at how it can attract and retain the workforce it needs in the
future. In particular, there is a need to look further back into the “pipeline” to reach
students, and provide them with the early education and personal experiences that can
attract them to this field.