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Tune in Tomorrow! National RTAP Webinar on  Hours of Service and Electronic Logging Devices - What You Need to Know

On Friday, January 12, 2018 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET , industry expert Mike McDonal will provide guidance to rural transit agencies about the FMCSA Hours of Service and the Electronic Logging Device regulations, including an compliance, management, technology, and implementation.    Register here for the webinar .
Upcoming National RTAP Disaster Preparedness Peer Call Series: Getting Ready for the Worst
 
This first installment of the National RTAP Disaster Preparedness Peer Call Series: Getting Ready for the Worst is co-organized by National RTAP and the South West Transit Association (SWTA).  It will take place on January 17, 2018 from 2:00-3:30 PM ET.
Upcoming National RTAP Webinar: Public Transit Drug & Alcohol Fitness for Duty Policies & Procedures 

This webinar is a follow-up to the December  webinar which covered the update to USDOT's drug and alcohol regulation, 49 CFR Part 40, effective January 1, 2018. One key piece of the update was the addition of four new prescription opioids to the drug testing panel. This webinar, presented by Robbie Sarles of RLS & Associates, will provide a discussion about best-practices and suggestions for policies and procedures addressing an employee's "fitness-for-duty" in the context of the "significant safety risk" determination by an Medical Review Officer following a USDOT drug test.   Register here for the webinar, which will be held on Friday, January 19 at 1:00-2:30 PM ET.
Updated Tribal Topic Guide

The Tribal Transit Topic Guide  in the National RTAP Resource Center was updated in January 2018. A number of new resources  were added, such as the Tribal Transportation Strategic Safety Plan and FTA Tribal Grantee Resource Center, which contains grantee packages, circulars, bulletins and other resources.
Deadline Extended! National RTAP Solicits Nominations for New  Review Board Members

For 2018, National RTAP is soliciting nominations for two state transit officials and three rural or tribal transit operators for its Review Board.   More information about this great opportunity, the nomination form, and instructions on how to apply are  available here .  The deadline has been extended to January 31, 2018.
FTA and USDOT Updates

USDOT is holding a webinar on  January 17 from 1:00-2:00 PM ET on  Advancing Transportation Data Utility While Mitigating Privacy Risk. Transit agencies contemplating connected vehicle deployments will be introduced to USDOT's new Transportation Data Privacy Protection Tool, which employs time-sequenced geolocation data.
Resources and News

Training and Webinars

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is hosting a free webinar on Reducing Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities on January 17 at 11:00 AM ET.  The webinar will discuss which promising interventions to prevent injuries and deaths from alcohol-impaired driving and ways to overcome barriers to action.

Publications

TRB's TCRP Synthesis 127  Addressing Difficult Customer Situations considers issues surrounding difficult passengers and circumstances that can arise when they utilize transit system facilities or vehicles. 

Performance Planning for Rural Planning Organizations by Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute provides a framework, performance measures, tools, and guidance to conduct performance-based transportation planning and programming in rural areas.

In Coordination: Community Models, Outcomes & Lessons Learned , NCMM looks at  coordination models that offer lessons for public and private transportation managers, Outcomes include economic revitalization, leadership and project innovation, cost savings, better customer service, and creation of partnerships.

Legislation

FMCSA is proposing to revise the regulatory guidance concerning driving a commercial motor vehicle for personal use while off-duty. One example is commuting from the last location where on-duty activity occurred to the driver's permanent residence and back to that last on-duty location. Comments are due by January 18, 2018.

Opportunities

Applications  are now open for the Leading Fleets award. The award, sponsored by Ford and Geotab, is open to government fleets and recognizes operations that are performing at a high level in fleet innovation and leadership. Applications are due February 27.

January 18 is the deadline for submitting innovations to deploy during Every Day Counts (EDC-5) in 2019 and 2020. This is your opportunity to help identify proven, market-ready innovations to enhance safety and improve environmental sustainability.
Research Databases Available for Massachusetts Transit Agencies
 
The National RTAP Resource Center has joined the Massachusetts Library System, and is now able to offer our rural and tribal transit customers based in Massachusetts access to full-text research databases that include textbooks, journals and business intelligence.  Transit-related titles include Transportation Journal, Journal of Advanced Transportation and more.  For access to the databases, please contact [email protected].
Training DVDs and CD-ROMs Available for Loan from our Resource Center
 
In addition to the many training DVDs and CD-ROMs created by National RTAP, our Resource Center has started a collection of partner trainings available for loan.  The collection includes videos for TVs and interactive CD-ROMs for computers.  Titles include NTI's The Mark security training video and CTAA's Medical Transportation Toolkit and Best Practices.  For more information about the Resource Center's circulating collection, please contact [email protected].
Look for us at these upcoming conferences!
  • Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, January 7-11
  • South West Transit Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO, March 5-7
  • Michigan Rural Transportation Managers Workshop, Mount Pleasant, MI, April 25-26
  • Montana Transit Association Spring Conference, Bozeman, MT, May 21-25
  • CTAA EXPO, Pittsburgh, PA, June 10-14

January 11, 2018
Events
National RTAP 
Hours of Service and Electronic Logging Devices - What You Need to Know
January 12, 2-3PM

NTI
RFPs and Competitive Contract Negotiations
January 15-19
Lewisville, TX
Training

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 
Reducing Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities
January 17, 2018 
11 AM

US DOT
Advancing Transportation Data Utility While Mitigating Privacy Risk
January 17
1 PM - 2 PM
Webinar

National RTAP/SWTA
Disaster Preparedness Series: Getting Ready for the Worst
January 17, 2-3:30 PM
Peer Call 

TTUC
Tribal Transportation Unity Caucus Meeting
January 17-18
Phoenix, AZ

Q'Straint 
Training Webinar
January 18, 2018
12 PM

National RTAP
Public Transit Drug & Alcohol Fitness for Duty Policies & Procedures
January 19, 1-2:30 PM 

TRB
Vizguide: Data Visualization for Transportation Agencies
January 23,  2-3:30 PM 

NTI
Transit-Oriented Development
Pompano Beach, FL
January 23-24

NTI
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
January 24-25
Miami, FL
Training

NTI
Orientation to Transit Procurement
January 29-February 2
Chicago, IL

South West Transit Association
2018 SWTA Freedom Through Transit Annual Conference
March 5-7
Denver, CO

NTI
Project Management for Transit Professionals  
April 4-5
Houston, TX
Training

CTAA Expo 2018
June 10-14
Pittsburgh, PA

RIBTC
National Conference on Rural Public and Intercity Bus Transportation
Sept 30-Oct 3
Breckenridge, CO
Conference

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

All event times listed as Eastern Time
Resource Spotlight
Advocating for Your Transit System Technical Brief

Advocacy is one of the most important tasks of a transit manager. This National RTAP Technical Brief, Advocating for Your Transit System, will provide you with the tools you need to successfully build coalitions to coordinate available resources, consolidate service in order to eliminate duplication, and communicate effectively with your community.
National RTAP is a program of the Federal Transit Administration dedicated to creating rural and Tribal transit solutions through technical assistance, partner collaboration and FREE training materials.

Contact us:
Main:  5 Wheeling Avenue, Woburn, MA 01801, 888-589-6821
Washington, D.C.:  718 7th Street NW , Washington, DC 20001