National RTAP is a program of the Federal Transit Administration dedicated to creating rural and tribal transit solutions through free training materials, technical assistance, and partner collaboration.
Newsletter Highlights:
Mobile Trip Planning Workshop
National RTAP 2021 Photo Contest Opens
Recording Posted for Building Blocks of Leadership and Inclusion
Send a Rural Transit Day Hero Card
New N-CATT and NCMM Publications on Technologies
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Don't Miss This Training Today - NADTC/National RTAP Online Workshop on Making Mobile Trip Planning Work for You and Your Clients |
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NADTC and National RTAP are holding a workshop about mobile/online trip planning today, June 10, 2021 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET. This workshop will include information on how mobile/online trip planners are used and how to get an agency’s transit services to show up on a trip planner. Speakers are Marcy Jaffe, Principal, Transnnovation, Inc., and Amelia Bostic, Advocate for Public Transit, North Carolina. |
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National RTAP Kicks Off 2021 Photo Contest - Buses are Beautiful!
We’re looking for photos that showcase how special and unique your bus is, and how it adds to the majestic landscapes of rural communities and tribal lands. We're showing a photo from our 2016 Photo Contest of a Clemson Area Transit (CAT) bus to give you some inspiration.
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Two Intercity Bus Peer Roundtables this Summer
National RTAP will be hosting Intercity Bus Peer Roundtables on June 23, 2021, 2:00-3:30 PM ET (co-sponsored with AASHTO MTAP), and August 19, 2021, 2:00-3:00 PM ET. Join your peers at one or both for informal discussions of issues relevant to the Intercity Bus industry.
Join our Webinar on What's New in the State RTAP Manager's Toolkit?
We've updated the National RTAP State RTAP Manager's Toolkit with new content, resources, and sections. Join National RTAP staff and Review Board member Shauna Miller, RTAP Manager, Idaho Transportation Department, for a webinar on June 24, 2021, 2:00-3:00 PM ET, for an introduction to the updated content.
National RTAP Participation in Upcoming Conferences
We are excited to announce our participation at the following in-person conferences:
Recording Available for National RTAP Webinar: Building Blocks of Leadership and Inclusion
On May 26, 2021, we held a webinar on Building Blocks of Leadership and Inclusion. Presenters Ray Leonard Jr. and Dr. Joy Bloom Wright from Launch Team Consulting shared their personal stories of growing up with limited diversity and how their lives changed when confronted with it. Access the webinar recording and presentation slides.
Next State RTAP Manager Peer Roundtable in July
Join your peers for an informal discussion of issues relevant to State RTAP Managers. No registration required; join the Roundtable on July 12, 2021 from 2:00-3:00 PM. Discussion topics include electric bus cutaway specifications, consultant labor rates, Title VI training, and CARES Act/CRRSAA funding. RSVP for a calendar initiation.
Research Citing National RTAP
Research citing National RTAP includes:
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Join our Books in Transit Discussion Group
The National RTAP Books in Transit Discussion Group's first meeting will be held on August 18, 2021, 2:00-3:00 PM ET, to discuss John Steinbeck's novel The Wayward Bus. Participants may buy or borrow the book anytime before the meeting. Register for the meeting.
National RTAP Mobility Management Topic Guide Updated
New resources include:
Look What's Happening on #RuralTransitDay!
Join our #RuralTransitDay Twitter Chat on July 16, 2021 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET, moderated by Angie Jones, District Manager, Grant County Transportation District (People Mover), Tyler Bender, Ohio RTAP Manager, and Paula Smith, Executive Director, Tri River Transit Authority. RSVP for an email invitation.
Get ready for Rural Transit Day by taking the Rural Transit Day Pledge to show your commitment to rural transit. For Rural Transit Day 2020, 66 agencies from 22 states (45 Rural, 7 State, 8 Community, 4 Intercity, and 2 Tribal Transit Agencies) took the pledge. We are aiming for 100 pledges by Rural Transit Day 2021!
Send a Rural Transit Day Hero card. Download an MS Word Rural Transit Day Hero card with two designs: Card 1 and Card 2. The card will download to the bottom left of your screen. Open the document and click on the silver frame in the middle of the card to insert a photo of your hero. Edit the Name, Organization, and Date to personalize the card. Print out or email your card to your hero and make their (Rural Transit) Day!
Neil Rodriguez Receives Equity Award
National RTAP Tribal Transit Manager Neil Rodriguez received an award for his contributions to the advancement of equity in transit. Oklahoma Transit Association Executive Director Mark Nestlen presented the award to Neil at the Oklahoma Transit Association Annual Conference & EXPO, May 18-21, 2021. |
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- The new FAQs are CA48-CA57 and AD22.
- The revised FAQs are CA2, CA21, CA28, CE1, CE14, AD8, AD15 and OF1.
FTA launched an online application to collect information from FTA recipients and subrecipients on the impacts of COVID-19. FTA will use the data to inform FTA actions in support of response and recovery efforts and implementation of the federal mask requirement for public transportation. |
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Transportation Choices Coalition's and Transit Center's next Transit Talk will be A Just Recovery Will Take Transit. Join their panel on June 16, 2021 from 4:00-5:00 PM ET to discuss questions that include: How are transit agencies preparing to keep passengers safe and moving? What should riders and employers expect? Will transit “make a comeback,” and what would it mean if it doesn’t?
The Transportation Learning Center Bus Maintenance Apprenticeship Committee was started under a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. For more information on bus maintenance apprenticeships, contact John Schiavone. |
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TRB's New IDEAS for Transit includes a project on Open Platform to Attract, Organize, and Coordinate Volunteers for Rural and Small Urban Transit from West Virginia University. The idea is a platform with an optimization matching engine that will guide the pairing of volunteers with specific transit-related tasks.
The latest installment in the National Transportation Knowledge Network (NTKN) Libguide Petting Zoo blog series focuses on the NTKN Communities of Practice. Read the blog post and visit the Libguide.
N-CATT's Framework for Making Successful Technology Decisions aims to help people change their viewpoint by offering a framework for successfully articulating their operational needs, assessing whether technology can be part of a solution to them, and evaluating options.
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FHWA provides Transit Agency Dashboard and Reports that identify metrics and targets for a selection of transit agencies in the U.S., collected in the National Transit Database (NTD) Asset forms. Data includes asset, financial, and service information. |
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USDA is making available up to $3 million in cooperative agreements under the Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge for eligible entities to help them provide planning support, technical assistance, and training to foster placemaking activities in rural communities. The application deadline is July 26, 2021.
The Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant Program provides $10,000 in startup funding for resident-driven groups in small cities and towns with populations of 2,500-30,000 to implement the Community Heart & Soul model.
USDA Rural Business Development Grants provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses with fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue. The grants can be used for rural transportation improvement. The application deadline is June 30, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Administration for Community Living (ACL) launched a hotline to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines for people with disabilities. The Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL) is available through the web, phone: 888-677-1199, and email. |
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The Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau seek comment on aligning the Federal Communication Commission’s rules with the unwanted emissions limits into the passive 23.6–24.0 GHz band. Comments are due on or before June 28, 2021, and reply comments are due on or before July 26, 2021.
NHTSA seeks public comment on its proposed State Data Transfer for Vehicle Crash Information collection. The State Data Transfer program is a voluntary collection of motor vehicle crash data. NHTSA plans to utilize the data to identify existing and emerging safety trends, assess the effectiveness of motor vehicle safety standards, and study the impact of new and emerging technologies on vehicles and safety programs. Comments must be submitted by August 2, 2021.
On May 26, 2021, FMCSA extended a Waiver in Response to the COVID-19 National Emergency. The waiver permits, but does not require, states to extend the validity of commercial driver’s licenses and commercial learner’s permits and to waive the 14-day waiting period, and grants other waivers from certain regulations applicable to interstate and intrastate drivers operating commercial motor vehicles. FMCSA also extended waivers concerning Third Party CDL Skills Test Examiners. The waivers are in effect through August 31, 2021. |
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All event times listed in Eastern Time. Subtract 1 hour for Central Time, 2 for Mountain Time, 3 for Pacific Time, 4 for Alaska, and 6 for Hawaii.
National Transit Institute
June 10, 1:00-2:30 PM
FHWA
June 10, 1:00-2:30 PM
NADTC/National RTAP
June 10, 2:00-3:00 PM
TRB
June 14, 2:00-3:30
FORTH
June 14-16
Native Learning Center
June 15, 2:00-3:30 PM
FHWA
June 15, 2:00-3:30 PM
N-CATT
June 15-16, 12:00-4:00 PM
WYTRANS
Thermopolis, WY, June 15-17
We're exhibiting. Please stop by our booth!
National Transit Institute
June 16, 1:00-4:30 PM
FHWA
June 16, 2:00-3:30 PM
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
June 16, 2:30-4:00 PM
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
June 16, 3:00-4:30 PM
Transportation Choices/Transit Center
June 16, 4:00-5:00 PM ET
UMassAmerst
June 17, 11:00-12:30 PM
NADTC
June 17, 12:30-1:15 PM
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
June 17, 2:30-4:00 PM
NADTC
June 18, 2:00 PM
AASHTO MTAP/FTA
June 18, 2:00 PM
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
June 20-24
TRB
June 21, 1:00-3:00 PM
TRB
June 21-24
Volpe Center
June 22, 12:00-1:00 PM
FTA
June 22, 1:00-3:30 PM
National Transit Institute
June 23, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM
National RTAP/AASHTO MTAP
Jun 23, 2:00-3:30 PM
National RTAP
June 24, 2:00-3:00 PM
USDA
June 24, 2:30-4:00 PM
Native Learning Center
June 28, 2:00-3:30 PM
TRB
June 28, 1:00-2:30 PM
Native Learning Center
June 28, 2:00-3:30 PM
Electric Power Research Institute
June 28-30
U.S. DOT ITS Joint Program Office
June 29, 1:00-2:30 PM
Native Learning Center
June 29, 2:00-3:30 PM
Intelligent Transport
June 29-30
PIARC
June 30, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
SUMC
July 6, 12:00-4:30 PM
Native Learning Center
July 6, 2:00-3:30 PM
Native Learning Center
July 9, 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
National RTAP
July 12, 2:00- 3:00 PM
TRB
July 12-15
SUMC
July 13, 12:00-4:30 PM
National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC)
Jul 13, 1:00-2:00 PM
National Safety Council (NSC)
July 13, 2:00-3:00 PM
National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine
July 13, 16, and 21, 11:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Q'Straint/Sure-Lok
July 15, 12:00-1:30 PM
National RTAP
July 16, 2:00-3:00 PM
SWTA
Santa Fe, NM, July 18-22
We're exhibiting. Please stop by our booth!
National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
July 19-22
SUMC
July 20, 12:00-4:30 PM
Nebraska Association of Transportation Providers
Lincoln, NE, July 20-21
We're exhibiting. Please stop by our booth!
SUMC
July 27, 12:00-4:30 PM
West Virginia Public Transit Association
Roanoke, WV, July 27-30
We're exhibiting. Please stop by our booth!
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