Our #ClimateTransit Twitter chat on April 20, 2021, from 2:00-3:00 PM ET, will discuss how climate change could impact rural communities and transit agencies. Learn how transit agencies can prepare for the potential effects of a changing climate and tackle emissions to mitigate potential climate impacts. The chat will be moderated by Marcela Miceli, Manager, Energy Transition, Climate Nexus. Panelists are Jimmy O’Dea, Senior Vehicles Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Camron Gorguinpour, Director of Sustainability Solutions, ENGIE Impact. RSVP for an invite.

U.S. DOT announced the “Mask Up,” campaign to help ensure the safety of transportation workers. The campaign includes a digital toolkit with posters, social media, FAQs, and other resources. Questions answered include, "Can transit agencies choose not to deny boarding or remove passengers who refuse to wear a mask if local law enforcement does not assist, or if doing so would impact service or put operators in harm’s way?" and "How does the requirement apply to riders who use oxygen?"

FTA published the Fiscal Year 2021 American Rescue Plan Act Supplemental Public Transportation Apportionments and Allocations, including tables for rural, tribal, and intercity providers, and RTAP programs.

U.S. DOT updated two of its Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Reference Architecture Tools: Regional Architecture Development for Intelligent Transportation (RAD-IT) and Systems Engineering Tool for Intelligent Transportation (SET-IT). Updates included new features for interconnect diagram outputs and a new “line text” tool and revised Enterprise diagram generation.

FTA's March 2021 Transit Safety and Oversight Spotlight Newsletter is available. The issue includes guidance on Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) requirements for documentation and record-keeping, a data spotlight on collisions by the time of the day, and eLearning Self-Paced Online Courses, such as Fatigue and Sleep Apnea Awareness for Transit Employees and Roadmap to Drafting an Agency Safety Plan for Bus Agencies.

The Colorado Association of Transit Agencies (CASTA) offers a Defensive Driving for Transit Operators Certification (DDTOC) Program. Participants learn how to recognize potential and immediate driving hazards and avoid traffic violations and collisions in a variety of driving conditions. Drivers need to be certified by DDTOC Certified Trainers. If any trainers outside of Colorado are interested in becoming certified to train their own drivers, they can contact Joseph Parks at [email protected].

The National Center for Applied Transit Technology (N-CATT) Promising Practices Guide: Transit Technology Adoption examines a range of technologies, including maintenance operations, fare payment, software interoperability, alternative fuels, and GTFS. Examples of rural technologies include the Go Vermont! Trip Planner and Portneuf's Smartphone CAD/AVL and Fare Collection System.

The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) published a policy paper on Rural America’s Senior Citizens: Considerations for Transportation, Healthcare Access, Connectedness, Nutrition and Economics. The researchers found that for rural seniors, transportation issues involved weather conditions, limitations associated with personal driving skills, and lack of public transportation options.

NCHRP's Guidebook for Managing Data from Emerging Technologies for Transportation provides guidance, tools, and a big data management framework, and it lays out a roadmap for transportation agencies on how they can begin to shift toward effectively managing data from emerging technologies. NCHRP's related Framework for Managing Data from Emerging Transportation Technologies to Support Decision-Making describes the process of developing the knowledge, environment, projects, and buy-in to move incrementally and iteratively from a traditional data management approach to establishing data management policies, procedures, technologies, and practices that fully meet the modern data management needs of an agency.

AASHTO provides an Economic Benefits of Transportation interactive map. Users can click on any state to find stories of how State Departments of Transportation are providing benefits to their communities, such as GDOT Works to Meet Georgia’s Growing Rural Transit Needs and UDOT’s Innovative Use of Data for Quality of Life.

Applications are now open for the Government Fleet magazine and the American Public Works Association (APWA) 2021 Leading Fleets award. The award is open to government fleets and recognizes operations that are performing at a high level in fleet innovation and leadership. Applications are due May 19, 2021.

The TACL Task Force is seeking volunteer resource reviewers for future submissions to the TACL database. Resources are reviewed on 4 criteria; no written reviews are required and reviewers will be trained. Reviewers may be transit professionals, students, or riders with an interest in transportation coordination. If interested, please contact [email protected].

The Small Business Administration (SBA) increased the maximum eligible amounts for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Beginning April 6, recipients, including those who previously received an EIDL, can access up to $500,000.

H.R. 1651, COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021, became law on March 27, 2021. The legislation extended personal and small business bankruptcy relief provisions that were part of the CARES Act through March 27, 2022. The Act also renewed the $7,500,000 expanded debt limit.

H.R. 1276, Strengthening and Amplifying Vaccination Efforts to Locally Immunize All Veterans and Every Spouse Act, was signed into law on March 24, 2021. The Act expanded the Veterans Administration’s authority to provide COVID-19 vaccinations.

Email your full name and agency to [email protected].

April 7, 12:00 PM

April 7, 12:00-3:00 PM

April 8, 12:30-1:15 PM

April 8, 1:00-2:30 PM

April 13, 1:00-2:30 PM

April 13, 1:00-4:30 PM

April 13, 2:00-2:45 PM

April 13-15

Apr 16, 1:15-2:45 PM

United Motorcoach Association

April 27, 1:00-4:30 PM

April 28

Gulf Shores, AL, April 28-April 30

April 29, 2:00-3:30 PM

Email your full name and agency to [email protected].

FTA

Enid, OK, May 16-18

Enid, OK, May 18-21

May 19, 1:00-3:00 PM

Baltimore, MD, June 2-4

Email your full name and agency to [email protected].

Kalispell, MT, June 7-8

Kalispell, MT, June 7-11

For a listing of all National RTAP and other national events, view our Calendar. Also, see the FTA Events Calendar. To submit an event, email [email protected].