National RTAP eNews - October 15, 2020

eNews - October 15, 2020

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.

Upcoming National RTAP Webinar: Demystifying Trip Planner Licensing Agreements

National RTAP invites you to a webinar on trip planner licensing agreements on October 27, 2020, 2:00-3:00 PM ET. National RTAP has offered trip planning support through our General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) Builder tool for many years. It has often had an agency's legal review of licensing agreements slow down or halt the process of publishing the data to trip planner sites like Google, Bing, Apple, and others.

The webinar should provide answers to your legal team's questions and help you make your route and schedule information visible to potential riders through online trip planners.

This webinar will offer a deep dive into the trip plan data licensing agreement process to understand what, if any, are the risks. Presenters include an attorney and GTFS subject matter expert who will translate at least one sample agreement from legalese into English and answer questions you may have. We will also hear from a transit agency who recently published their GTFS data and will share their experience with the trip planner agreements.

SURCOM Training Added to National RTAP eLearning

Five Small Urban and Rural Center on Mobility (SURCOM) eLearning Courses were added to National RTAP eLearning in October 2020. SURCOM is a program of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at North Dakota State University.

SURCOM develops and provides training sessions for small urban, rural, and tribal transit systems, local and regional transit associations, and State DOTs.

Featured Resource

Training modules available through National RTAP eLearning are:

HR Training Short - Onboarding
Crisis Management for Rural and Tribal Transit Providers
Grant Writing for Rural and Tribal Transit Providers
Customer Service for Rural and Tribal Transit Providers
FTA 101: An Introduction to the Federal Transit Administration

Resources and Events

Rural Transit Heroes Twitter Chat Next Week

We hope you will join us for our second #RuralTransitHeroes Twitter Chat. We all need heroes and there’s no better place to look than among our own. National RTAP will host a Twitter chat on October 20, 2020, from 2:00-3:00 PM ET, to talk about people in transit who have responded in a time of need. The chat will be moderated by Julia Castillo, Executive Director, HIRTA Public Transit, and Kari Banta, Section 5304 Program Manager, TX DOT. RSVP for an email invite.

Tribal Transit Manager Peer Roundtable Presentation and Summary Available

National RTAP held a Tribal Transit Manager Peer Roundtable on September 17, 2020. Participants discussed how they have been responding to COVID-19. National RTAP staff and FTA Transportation Program Analyst Amy Fong provided updates on COVID-19 and other information of interest to the Tribal Transit community. Access the Roundtable presentation and summary.

U.S. DOT and FTA Updates

U.S. DOT's Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program has officially taken effect on October 1, 2020. The Final Rule regarding the Program was published in the Federal Register on June 1, 2020.

An FTA/U.S. DOT report, Cost Allocation Technology for Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Final Report, provides solutions for a cost allocation method/technology that accounts for divergent federal requirements and funding sources by trip for Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT).

U.S. DOT's Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance updated its Statement of Enforcement Discretion for Substance Abuse Professionals and Service Agents guidance document. The guidance is now effective until December 31, 2020.

The FTA Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) Report to the President identifies challenges and barriers to improving access to transportation for targeted populations and outlines activities undertaken by the CCAM to improve coordination across federally funded transportation services.

FTA announced the availability of $10 million in grant funding through the Public Transportation COVID-19 Research Demonstration Grant Program. Eligible projects include cleaning and disinfection, exposure mitigation, innovative mobility such as contactless payments, and measures that strengthen public confidence in transit services. Applications are due by November 2, 2020.

FTA announced Fiscal Year 2020 Helping Improve Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) Program Projects recipients. A project in New Mexico will conduct a study to coordinate transit service and improve mobility from rural areas and tribal reservations to jobs and healthcare facilities.

FTA is holding a CCAM Update webinar on November 10, 2020 at 3:00 PM ET. The webinar will cover CCAM's Federal Fund Braiding Guide, Program Inventory, and Cost Sharing Policy Statement.

Webinars and Training

Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) announced a new virtual training and certification program - Fit for Success. Attendees can register for 1 or 2-day sessions on November 9-10, 2020. Sessions include Passenger Assistance Safety and Sensitivity (PASS), Vehicle Maintenance Management and Inspection (VMMI), Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT), and others.

Oregon Transit Association Transportation Tuesdays will be held instead of an in-person 2020 Oregon Public Transportation Conference. These sessions are free and open to all states. Sessions include Racial Justice Leadership and Action in Transportation, Facilitating Boards and Committees, and Grant Writing.

Publications

Prairie Hills Transit (PHT) in Spearfish, SD has received an Accelerating Innovative Mobility (AIM) grant from FTA, which will be used to automate PHT's paratransit dispatch system using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The system will collect real-time field data to replace most radio communication, allowing PHT to manage more rides with the same number of dispatchers while decreasing costs. Read more.

USDA published a report on The COVID-19 Pandemic and Rural America. The report includes data that display cumulative cases in metro and non-metro regions and their economic types through September 1, 2020.

TCRP's Transit Signal Priority: Current State of the Practice documents current practice and provides case studies. The study found that transit signal priority reduces travel time and improves schedule adherence.

Communicating TSMO is a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) outreach kit with testimonials, FAQs, talking points, examples, videos, and other resources. TSMO typically involves integrating a range of strategies, technologies, data, and partnerships, and a mindset to determine the best way to optimize the mobility and reliability of the existing system with limited resources.

TRB's Transportation is an Essential Piece of Equitable, Effective COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution outlines how a vaccine (when available) may be given to transit workers and those dependent upon public transportation.

National RTAP Customer Service Topic Guide Updated

National RTAP has begun updating our series of Hot Topic Guides in our Find Anything Toolkit. Our hot topics are chosen based on questions asked to our Resource Center over the past year and answers to our Transit Manager's Survey. Customer Service was a topic in previous years, but not in 2019. We've posted the guide again and updated it with:

TCRP's Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and Transparency Practices
Metro Magazine's How Can Transit Enhance the Customer Experience?

Databases and Tools

Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) has launched a new Resource Library, a database of automated vehicle resources collected from PAVE members, academic institutions, agencies, and experts in the field. Individuals are welcome to submit resources.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) has been updated with Alternative Fueling Stations data. Lightning icons on the maps indicate the locations of charging stations.

Opportunities

America Walks and Active People, Health Nations opened this year's Community Change Grant program. This program will award grantees $1,500.00 in community stipends for projects related to creating healthy, active, and engaged places to live, work, and play. Applications are due November 9, 2020.

USDA is soliciting applications for its Community Connect Grants. The application deadline is December 23, 2020. Financial assistance is available to provide broadband service in rural, economically-challenged communities where service does not exist.

Legislation

The Charging Helps Agencies Realize General Efficiencies Act became law on October 1, 2020. Federal agencies may now use a charge card to pay to charge federal electric motor vehicles at commercial charging stations. Within 180 days of the bill’s enactment, the General Services Administration (GSA) must issue charge cards to federal agencies for electric vehicle charging.

FCMSA has updated the date they are providing a waiver from certain regulations applicable to interstate and intrastate commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders and to other interstate drivers operating commercial motor vehicles to December 31, 2020. The Third Party CDL Skills Test Examiners and Expiring Driver’s Licenses and Medical Examiner’s Certificates waivers were also extended to December 31, 2020.

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) issued two infrastructure-related Final Rules in the Federal Register: Facilitating Shared Use in the 3100–3550 MHz Band and a correction to Accelerating Wireline and Wireless Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) published an Interim Final Rule with guidance about forgiveness and loan review processes for Paycheck Protection Progam (PPP) loans of $50,000 or less.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

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.

TRB

Determining Social and Economic Qualifications in the DBE Program

October 15, 1:00-3:00 PM