Hello newsletter readers,

Have you ever been stuck without a ride somewhere? Maybe you decide to go out for a long walk - it's a nice day to go a couple miles to a big city park. You decide it's worth it but keep in the back of your mind the reserved dinner plans at a fancy restaurant with a few friends in a couple hours. You decided to find a new route and begin your journey. About half way through your jaunt, gigantic dark storm clouds roll through. And, oh no, incredibly wet & warm weather you weren't expecting (and especially not prepared for) strikes.

Now this could spell an issue for just about anyone (say for example, me). A couple things might happen with the missed dinner: a costly no-show fee is going to be charged and rescheduling will prevent you from good times with friends you haven't seen in a while. You could be out of luck if you're not sure of what your options are to get wherever you want to wait out the rain.

Fortunately, where I live has plenty of transit service (multiple modes too!) and the local public transit provider shows via a mobile app (mostly) real-time service information, like nearby transit routes, current vehicle location, & their headways. It also shows microtransit and ridehailing options and their costs. I'm able to gauge the various ways of getting where I need to go, from where I am, and the estimated time duration and cost for generated trips. These apps, laying at various levels of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) development, allow for the flexibility of knowing, in real time, the best way to get wherever you need to go.

I ended up making it home to dry off and to dinner just fine thanks to the nifty app that told me all about trips I didn't even know existed. You may be lucky like me and have such a nifty app in your area. Next time you're caught in the rain, with no known way of getting back, check if there's a real-time service app for you - then you'll be good for the next storm too.

Stay well,

Kirby Wilhelm

(202) 489-6020

NCMM, in partnership with fellow FTA technical assistance centers, the National Rural Transportation Assistance Program and the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center, is creating a database of community transportation services across the nation. Listed services will include any fixed-route, deviated fixed-route, demand responsive, volunteer drive, and on-demand services. As NCMM begins this project, we'd like to ask you for guidance in finding datasets from your communities that provide information about these services. If you are aware of any of these datasets, please send them along to [email protected]. Many thanks!

NCMM is announcing a new grant opportunity. The 2021 Ready-to-Launch Grants, funded by the FTA, of up to $75,000 will allow communities to pilot a promising mobility solution, the development of which was inspired and informed by the results of community research. The solution being proposed must be a new idea, not the expansion or continuation of an existing service. The solution also must address transportation equity with regard to low-income, elderly, and/or underserved individuals. The deadline to apply is Oct. 1, 2021. Learn more at the NCMM grants page.

NCMM is excited to release its sixth episode of the Mobility Lines Podcast. This conversation with Janae Futrell focuses on on gaining key skills for implementing and maintaining One-Call/One-Click systems while avoiding common stumbling blocks. Listen to this conversation, along with past episodes, here or search for Mobility Lines Podcast on your favorite listening channel, such as Spotify.

During this session, participants will hear from a wide range of national mobility management experts who have conceptualized, developed, and piloted a variety of Mobility on Demand projects that have resulted in long-term, sustainable programs. Speakers will discuss the challenges, successes, and lessons they learned as they used creative strategies to unify varying transportation modes to ensure riders receive safe, reliable, and efficient trips. The webinar will be held Sep. 30 at 3 p.m., ET. Register for the webinar here.

Attendees will have a triple-header Tuesday, Nov. 9, at this year's Mobility Management Forum: 1) The morning will feature a presentation on How to Achieve Equity in Transportation; a panel showcasing Virginia mobility managers' projects; a panel on Innovative Projects from around the country, including NCMM grantees; and a presentation on Applying MaaS Strategies to Advancing Transportation Options in Small Communities. 2) Attendees will be welcomed at CTAA's Opening EXPO lunch. 3) During the afternoon, NCMM will host an "unconference" on Mobility Innovation. For this session, the mobility management attendees drive the agenda-bringing forth issues they would like to learn and share with others in three fast-paced 50-minute sessions. There is no fee to attend any of these events. (NCMM will cover the lunch cost for those who attend the forum only; others will have lunch included in their EXPO registration). Register at CTAA EXPO 2021.

Begin preparing now to showcase a poster of your work on the CTAA EXPO Trade Show Floor. The poster sessions give mobility management practitioners a chance to shine, sharing their innovative practices in an informal setting with all EXPO attendees. All accepted poster presenters will be provided $500 scholarships. Deadline to submit your posted is now Oct. 15. Learn more here.

The Transportation Technical Assistance Coordination Library (TACL) provides a sustainable methodology and platform for access and findability of coordination resources across a diverse range of transportation technical assistance centers and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

The FTA-funded technical assistance centers participating in this ongoing work are:

The TACL Task Force uses a systematic review process for resources included in this database.  Visit TACL and its resources here.

For mobility managers working in community action agencies or similar organizations, you may be interested in this webinar. On Thursday, Sep. 30, 2021 (11:00 a.m. to noon ET), the Administration for Community Living (ACL) will host a webinar about the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), which makes funding available to states, territories, local governments, and tribes to assist households that are unable to pay rent or utilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out more about the webinar here.

The National Center for Applied Transit Technology is excited to announce an opportunity for up to three state Departments of Transportation to hold State Technology Summits with their small-urban, rural, and tribal agencies. This is an opportunity for agencies across the state to bring in challenges they face and use those to work with their statewide peers to collaborate on technology priorities and begin mapping out tech investments at the state level. Please submit your application in one document in PDF format to [email protected] no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT, on Sep. 24, 2021.

Microtransit is a wide-ranging concept that can take many forms. What you hope to accomplish affects the design, or flavor, that you choose. In part two of N-CATT's microtransit webinar series, N-CATT talks to experts and operators of varying flavors of microtransit to give an overview of how different models serve different agency goals. This event will be held on Sep. 28 from 1- 2 p.m. Register here!

Data is becoming easier to collect - almost too easy. The firehose of information can be useful if you can figure out how to manage and interpret it. This National Center for Applied Transit Technology Technology (N-CATT) sponsored intensive will help you understand promising practices for collecting, organizing, and maintaining, and then making decisions from that information to maximize your impact in the community. More details here.

The National RTAP Community Rides Grant Program offers current recipients and subrecipients of the FTA's Formula Grants for Rural Areas (Section 5311) and Tribal Transit Program the opportunity to apply for grant awards for projects that develop or strengthen transportation partnerships that improve social determinants of health in rural and tribal communities. After a thorough review process and with FTA approval, National RTAP has selected 19 projects to fund. You can learn more about the selected projects here.

The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, supported by the U.S. DOT, invites your participation in the 16th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Older Adults and People with Disabilities (TRANSED), to be held September 2022 in Seattle, Wash. Abstracts can be submitted for presentations until the extended Oct. 29 deadline. To find out more about the conference and abstract submission process, visit the TRANSED 2022 Abstract Call webpage.

As e-scooters continue their introduction and proliferation across the country, one of the earliest adopters - San Francisco - have required vendors to permanently keep adaptive scooters on the street. A great way to get more people riding and hopefully coming soon for other places with e-scooters on their streets.

Mobility Management News is the newsletter of the National Center for Mobility Management (NCMM), which is operated jointly by the Community Transportation Association, the American Public Transportation Association and Easter Seals under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Transit Administration.