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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
Updated National RTAP Website Accessibility Videos and Southern Connect Spotlight Article
National RTAP Fundamental Financial Management RFP Pre-Proposal Call
National RTAP Review Board Member Spotlight Article - Michele Smith
FTA's Fiscal Year 2024 Comprehensive Contractor's Manual Published
Grants Available from National Safety Council and National Energy Technology Laboratory
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Updated National RTAP Website Accessibility Videos
National RTAP updated its Website Accessibility Video Training on Color Contrast, PDF Documents, and Links, Images, and Alt Text. The video series helps users design websites with accessibility in mind.
The videos focus on websites that use National RTAP’s Website Builder tool and hosting service, but the information can be applied to other website platforms.
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Website Builder Spotlight Article: Southern Connect
The newly launched Southern Connect website uses National RTAP's Website Builder. The website includes many interactive and unique features, including a carousel of photos and quotations, a map of Mississippi regional coordination transportation groups, videos from state and local partners, a searchable database of contacts, and a newsletter.
Donna Bailey, Southern Connect Regional Mobility Manager, will serve as the website administrator and feels that the website is an outstanding networking tool that will unite and increase partnerships, connect resources, and improve access to transportation services.
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National RTAP Fundamental Financial Management RFP Pre-Proposal Call
National RTAP will be creating an eLearning course for our Fundamental Financial Management training and will be holding a Request for Proposals (RFP) Pre-Proposer Call on May 7, 2025 between 2:00-3:00 PM ET.
Qualified proposers can register for the call and send questions to Scott Zadakis, National RTAP eLearning Project Manager, by April 30, 2025.
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Upcoming National RTAP Events
National RTAP is hosting two Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) trainings in Ketchikan, AK: Substance Abuse Management and Program Compliance Course and Reasonable Suspicion and Post-accident Testing Determination Seminar on May 4-9, 2025. Register through TSI, or for more information send an email to Neil Rodriguez. The room block is at the Cape Fox Lodge. Attendees will need to call the hotel and tell them they are attending the National RTAP Training and the training will be at the Ted Ferry Civic Center.
In our Opportunities for Rural Mobility as a Service (MaaS) webinar on June 18, 2025 from 1:00-2:30 PM ET, we'll share lessons from two successful MaaS initiatives, one in rural Minnesota, the other from the San Joaquin Valley in California, which contains a number of rural areas. We'll also demonstrate how your scheduling and dispatch software can interface with existing MaaS platforms to seamlessly connect customers to fixed-route and demand-responsive transit, along with carshare, vanpool, taxi, and ridehail services.
Register for the upcoming 2025 National RTAP Tribal & Rural Transit Mini-Conference that will take place on June 24-26, 2025 in Santa Fe, NM. National RTAP is providing three (3) full days of tribal and rural transit training. The mini-conference kicks off with a two-day grant writing workshop. On Day 3, attendees can choose from either a day-long training on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or taking a concurrent day-long training, which will include: a morning with Customer Service and Dealing with Problem Passengers training modules; and an afternoon of PASS Securement training. PLEASE NOTE: You must register for all three days of the workshop (6/24/25 through 6/26/25). Only those attendees who attend all three days of the mini-conference, and who are present to win, are eligible for the raffle at the end of Day 3. See the Conference Flyer.
The National RTAP Books in Transit Discussion Group selected Bus People: 30 Days on the Road with America's Nomads by Mike Pentecost as its next book to read for its August 19, 2025, 2:00-3:00 PM ET meeting. Bus People focuses on the stories, hopes, and dreams that accompany the passengers that Greyhound serves. Register for the meeting. The author will be joining us! If you would like to borrow the book from the National RTAP Resource Library, please contact us.
Technology Tools Office Hours
National RTAP offers free, live GTFS Builder support on Thursdays from 1:00-1:30 PM ET. Use this link to join. National RTAP also offers live technical support for Website Builder on Tuesdays from 1:00-1:30 PM ET. Share your screen, ask questions, and get help. Use this link to join – no need to register for either session.
Opportunities to Participate in the
2025 National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference
The 6th National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference, Wrangling Access and Mobility in Rural and Tribal Transit, will take place in Austin, Texas between December 7-10, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency Austin on 208 Barton Springs Road. We will post more information on our conference web page when available.
Lillian Karabaic will deliver the keynote presentation at our conference. She is the host of Oregon Public Broadcasting's Weekend Edition and also hosted Stop Requested, a series about traveling around Oregon on Public Transit.
We are still accepting presentation proposals.
Students are invited to submit a poster for the Conference to be shown on December 7, 2025. Posters for consideration must be sent by October 1, 2025 to info@nationalrtap.org and students must be able to present their posters in-person.
The Walk of Fame will take place at the conference to recognize exemplary staff for dedication, innovation, customer service, and professionalism. Send the nominee’s name, title, transit agency, email address, and phone number, a photo of the nominee in jpeg or png format, and a paragraph (500 character limit) about why they should be honored, to info@nationalrtap.org by October 10, 2025.
Cost Allocation Calculator TechnicalAssistance
Users of the National RTAP Cost Allocation Calculator can now book a meeting for technical assistance.
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National RTAP Review Board Spotlight Article - Michele Smith
Michele Smith, Transit Manager of Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Transit, joined the National RTAP Review Board in 2025. A winner of a National RTAP Tribal Transit Champion Award, Michele oversaw the first Tribal Transit facility ever built in the state of Nevada and is continuing to expand Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Transit’s reach while providing technical assistance to other Tribes establishing transit services. Read more about Michele.
National RTAP Participation in Upcoming Conferences
We're presenting, exhibiting, and participating at the following conferences and meetings:
- NCPTA Conference, Expo, Roadeo & Golf Tournament, Cherokee, NC, April 25-30
- 2025 ALTRANS & Transit Association of Alabama Conference, Gulf Shores, AL, April 29 - May 1
- CASTA 2025 Spring Training Conference, Loveland, CO, May 6-9
- Nevada Transportation Conference, Reno, NV, May 13–14
- Community Transportation of the North West (CTANW) Summit, Bremerton, WA, May 19-20
- CTAA EXPO, San Diego, CA, June 2-4
- Special Libraries Association 2025 Annual Conference & Expo, Pittsburgh, PA, June 7-10
- Transit Retreat, Des Moines, IA, June 25-26
- National TTAP/LTAP Conference, Kansas City, MO, July 20-24
- 2025 LPTA & SWTA Summer U Joint Conference & EXPO, New Orleans, LA, July 27-30
- ATI Annual Conference, Quincy, MA, July 29-31
- Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Accreditation Commission (NEMTAC) Transform 2025 Annual Conference, Dallas, TX, August 24-26
- Tri-State Transit Conference, Portland, ME, September 3-5
- Montana Rural Transit Workshop, Helena, MT, September 3-5
- URSTA Conference and Roadeo, St. George, UT, September 10-13
- National Transportation in Indian Country (NTICC), Gila, River AZ, September 21-25
Updated National RTAP Distracted Driving Topic Guide
National RTAP continues its annual Topic Guide update with our Distracted Driving Topic Guide. Resources include:
Fundamental Financial Management Quote Acrostic Answers Published
National RTAP published a Quote Acrostic Puzzle based on our Fundamental Financial Management Training. Access the puzzle answers. Christy Olson, Powder River County Transit Coordinator, was the first person to complete the puzzle and won our contest.
Get Ready for Rural Transit Day
Rural Transit Day is July 16, 2025. Now you can purchase an official Rural Transit Day t-shirt through our t-shirt vendor, as many of you have asked for. The deadline to order is May 31, 2025.
This year we are requesting smart cards for our Rural Transit Day Time Capsule. If you have any that you can send us (no fares need to be loaded), please mail them to Cara Marcus, Knowledge and Resource Manager, National RTAP, 5 Wheeling Avenue, Woburn, MA 01801.
We will be holding a Facebook Live Rural Transit Day Chat on July 16, 2025 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET. If you would like to participate, please RSVP.
Publications Citing National RTAP
FTA and CUTR conducted research on transit mobility, infrastructure, and safety. The report Mobility Data–Standards and Specifications for Interoperability presents case studies and standards and discusses the outlook on technological
advances in interoperability within mobility. The report cites National RTAP's General Requirements for All Service Types from our ADA Toolkit as an operations standard.
Montana DOT's April 2025 Moving Montana Transit Newsletter includes an article about National and Montana RTAP on page 2.
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FTA's Fiscal Year 2024 Comprehensive Contractor's Manual was published on April 10, 2024 and conveys FTA’s expectations of our oversight contractors for assessing compliance of FTA recipients. The Manual includes a summary of changes from the previous edition.
The FTA Guidance Center contains links to circulars, grant programs, FTA region information, research, and guidance on many other topics. It was updated on April 1, 2025.
FTA updated its Organizational Chart on April 2, 2025, including its offices and divisions.
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The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) is holding an Enhanced Opportunities Using FTA Section 5310 Webinar on April 29, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET. Rhode Island RTAP Manager Joelle Kanter with Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) will discuss RIPTA’s current pilot project, RIde Anywhere, using FTA Section 5310 funding. The session will showcase the innovative approach to the delivery of statewide paratransit services, and ways it could be replicated by other transportation providers.
Arkansas Transit Association is holding a Human Trafficking 101 for Transportation Workers Webinar on May 6, 2025, between 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET. The webinar is presented by Partners Against Trafficking Humans (PATH) and will create awareness of and foster prevention of human trafficking.
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TCRP's Examination of Transit Agency Coordination with Electric Utilities provides practitioners and operational staff at public transit bus agencies and electric utilities with the state of current practices by agencies and utilities that are collaborating on battery electric bus planning and deployments. For example, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) in Aspen, Colorado, is collaborating with Holy Cross Energy, a rural electric co-op, on the depot charging for its eight-bus pilot battery electric bus program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated Rural America at a Glance. Data focuses on demographics, labor market participation, poverty, broadband, and other topics.
The National Aging and Disabilities Transportation Center (NADTC) published a rack card about Service Animals and Transportation that explains the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the U.S. DOT definitions and clarifies comfort animals versus service animals.
The National Center for Applied Transit Technology (N-CATT) published a guidebook on How to Decide on Hydrogen vs. Battery Buses. A table includes facts about range, capital costs, maintenance costs, and other factors.
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The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) Transportation Secure Data Center (TSDC) provides free access to detailed transportation data from hundreds of travel and transit surveys and studies, including household travel data, transit passenger data, and spatial data.
geOps is a map that shows scheduled transit routes as well as real-time positions from more than 200 public transportation systems worldwide.
Engagement Tools: Approaches to Public Engagement from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority is a strategy database that lets users search through hundreds of tools and approaches for conducting public engagement. There is also a search tool that provides filters for public engagement strategies.
The Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility Technical Assistance Center (CCAM-TAC) Community Transportation Provider Map enables users to find a transportation provider through an interactive map. Users can also view a national map to gain a better understanding about which counties contain the most transportation services.
New U.S. Census Transportation Planning Products. Data includes demographic characteristics, home and work locations, and journey-to-work travel flows.
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The National Safety Council (NSC) Work to Zero Pilot Grant program will support workplaces by matching organizations with innovative technology providers to trial emerging technologies in real-life applications toward eliminating or reducing heat stress exposures. Submissions must be received by May 1, 2025.
The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Fiscal Year 2025 Vehicle Technology Office Program Wide will support innovation to reduce the energy and cost needed to move goods and people across the U.S. The closing date for grant applications is June 18, 2025.
The International Transportation Learning Center (ITLC) provides a form for agencies who would like to request technical assistance for Low-No Workforce Solutions Interest Session. Individuals can request support for Low-No workforce transition planning or training efforts.
Metro Magazine is seeking bus operators who have recently partnered with a solutions provider within the last year to implement an innovation that has helped save money, improve safety, streamline operations, improve customer satisfaction, or increase ridership for its Innovative Solutions Awards. The application deadline has been extended to April 30, 2025.
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An Executive Order on April 9, 2025 ordered a sunset rule, effective on September 30, 2025, that will insert conditional sunset dates (dates that regulations will cease to be effective and be removed from the Code of Federal Regulations) into specific covered regulations pertaining to energy, such as the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Changes have been made to Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to align with statutory language and privacy.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) plans to issue a Final Rule rescinding Federal Management Regulation Case 2024-03: Federal Management Regulation; Updating Transportation Management, With Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Language.
Within 45 days of the April 15, 2025 publication date of the Executive Order on Updating Permitting Technology, the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, in consultation with the National Energy Dominance Council and relevant permitting agencies, shall issue a Permitting Technology Action Plan for modernizing the technology used for federal permitting and environmental review processes for infrastructure projects.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking comments and information through June 2, 2025 from interested parties to assist DOE in identifying potential modifications to its procedures, interpretations, and policies for considering new or revised energy conservation standards and test procedures for certain commercial and industrial equipment.
Within 60 days April 16, 2025 publication date of the Executive Order on Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts, each federal agency’s approval authority shall direct the agency’s contracting officers to conduct a review of all open agency solicitations, pre-solicitation notices, solicitation notices, award notices, and sole source notices for non-commercial products or services.
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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 5 or 6 for Hawaii (depending on daylight savings time).
TRB
Supply Chain Based Resilience Planning in the U.S. Webinar
April 24, 12:00-1:30 PM
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
April 24, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
New
Northeast Passenger Transportation Association (NEPTA)
Understanding Maintenance Finance 101 Parts 1 and 2 Webinars
April 24 and May 8, 1:00-2:00 PM
National Center for Rural Road Safety
Planning for Spring Road Users Webinar
April 24, 1:00-2:30 PM
North Carolina Public Transportation Association (NCPTA)
NCPTA Conference, Expo, Roadeo & Golf Tournament
Cherokee, NC, April 25-30
Please visit our booth!
North American Fleet Association (NAFA)
NAFA 2025 Institute & Expo (I&E)
Long Beach, CA, April 28-30
New
National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC)
Enhanced Opportunities Using FTA Section 5310 Webinar
April 29, 1:00 PM
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
April 29, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
Vision Zero Network
Leveraging SS4A Funding for Safe Streets Webinar
April 29, 1:00-2:00 PM
New
National Center for Rural Road Safety
Low Volume and Rural Road Safety Webinar
April 29, 1:00-2:30 PM
Transportation Alliance
Legislative Fly-In
Washington, DC, April 29-30
ALTRANS & Transit Association of Alabama
2025 ALTRANS & Transit Association of Alabama Conference
Gulf Shores, AL, April 29 - May 1
Please visit our booth!
University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies (CTS)
CTS Webinar: Pedestrian Safety and Driver Behavior Near an Automated Vehicle
April 30, 1:00-2:30 PM
U.S. Access Board
U.S. Access Board Meeting
April 30, 1:30-3:00 PM
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
May 1, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE)
TOM Talks: May 2025 Webinar
May 1, 1:00-2:30 PM
National RTAP and Transportation Safety Institute (TSI)
National RTAP/TSI Safety Trainings in Alaska
Ketchikan, AK, May 4-9
To register, send an email to Neil Rodriguez
New
Arkansas Transit Association
Human Trafficking 101 for Transportation Workers Webinar
May 6, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
New
National Safety Council (NSC)
The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health: Lessons from the Pandemic Webinar
May 6, 1:00 PM
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
May 6, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
Small Business Administration
National Small Business Week 2-Day Virtual Summit
May 6-7
National Transit Institute
Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making
Tampa, FL, May 6-8
New
CASTA 2025 Spring Training Conference
Loveland, CO, May 6-9
Please visit our booth!
National Institute for Congestion Reduction (NICR)
Using Disaggregate Vehicle Data to Investigate How Transit Accessibility Influences the Use of Ride-Hailing Services and Personal Vehicles Webinar
May 8, 12:00-1:00 PM
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
May 8, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
AASHTO 2025 Spring Meeting
Hartford, CT, May 12-15
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
May 13, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
FORTH
Building EV-ready Communities to Accelerate Adoption Webinar
May 13, 4:00-5:00 PM
Nevada Department of Transportation, University of Nevada Reno, FHWA, Regional Transportation Commission
Nevada Transportation Conference
Reno, NV, May 13–14
Please visit our table!
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
May 15, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
Community Transportation Association of the North West (CTANW)
CTANW Summit
Bremerton, WA, May 19-20
Please visit our booth!
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
May 20, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
American Bus Association (ABA)
2025 WIB (Women in Bus) Meet & Eat Session
May 21, 1:00 PM
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
May 22, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
May 27, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
TRB
TRB's Conference on Data and AI for Transportation Advancement
Seattle, WA, May 27-29
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
May 29, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
CTAA EXPO
San Diego, CA, June 2-4
Please visit our booth!
Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy
2025 Safe System Academy Conference
Washington, DC, June 2-6
National Transit Institute
Transit Academy 2025
Salt Lake City, UT, June 2-6
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
June 3, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
Special Libraries Association (SLA)
SLA 2025 Annual Conference & Expo
Pittsburgh, PA, June 7-10
We're presenting!
New
National Transit Institute
Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making Online Course
June 9-12, 1:00-5:00 PM
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
June 10, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
New
National Transit Institute
Crisis Communications for Transit Managers Online Course
June 10-11, 1:00-4:30 PM
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
June 12, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
June 17, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
National RTAP
Opportunities for Rural Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
June 18, 1:00-2:30 PM
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
June 19, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
TRB
TRB National Conference on Tools of the Trade
Albuquerque, NM, June 23-25
National RTAP reviewed session abstracts
National RTAP
GTFS Office Hours
June 24, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
National RTAP
2025 National RTAP Tribal & Rural Transit Mini-Conference
Santa Fe, NM, June 24-26
NPMA and HIRTA
Transit Retreat
Des Moines, IA, June 25-26
We're presenting and exhibiting!
National RTAP
Website Builder Office Hours
June 26, 1:00-1:30 PM
No preregistration necessary - join at the time of the meeting
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 info@nationalrtap.org.
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