National RTAP eNews - December 26, 2019

eNews - December 26, 2019

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 on FTA Outreach to Tribes on Government to Government Training

A National RTAP webinar on FTA Outreach to Tribes on Government to Government Training will take place on January 7 from 2:30-3:30 PM ET. The webinar will provide an opportunity for tribal participants to provide direct input and feedback on the development of Government-to-Government training programs for FTA Tribal Liaisons and FTA decisionmakers.

Donovan Gomez, Transit Administrator, Hopi Senom Transit, and Jenny Rowland, Transportation Manager, Bois Forte Public Transportation, will moderate the discussion. Register for the webinar.

A n End-of-Year Message from the National RTAP Executive Director, Robin Phillips

This has been an eventful year for us at National RTAP. We have reached out to many new people and learned about the innovations and ideas many of you have put in place. We also proposed for our next five-year contract and were selected to continue our journey with you. We see many opportunities on the horizon to coordinate resources and build new capacity in rural communities to support access and mobility for all.

Thank you for the hard work you do and the information you share with us, that we can then share with other rural and tribal transits around the country.

Resources and Events

National RTAP Reasonable Suspicion Training for Supervisors Webinar Recording Available

National RTAP staff and Diana Byrnes, CSAPA, CUTR provided an overview of the Reasonable Suspicion Training for Supervisors National RTAP eLearning course and discussed how it fulfills federal training requirements on December 18, 2019. Access the webinar recording .

National RTAP RFP for 2021 Technical Assistance Conference Local Host

National RTAP is requesting proposals for a location for our 5th biennial rural and tribal technical assistance conference in fall 2021. See the 2021 National RTAP Conference Local Host RFP for full details.

National RTAP Solicits Nominations for Review Board Members

For spring 2020, National RTAP is soliciting nominations for two state transit officials and one rural or tribal transit operator for our Review Board. The nominations from this solicitation will be used to fill vacancies in fall 2020 and into 2021. The term is three years starting with the member's first meeting. More information and the nomination form are available here. The deadline is January 31, 2020.

U.S. DOT and FTA Updates

FTA's Mobility Payment Integration: State-of-the-Practice Scan presents findings collected through a literature search and inventory of mobility payment integration (MPI) deployments and conveys key implementation issues and potential solutions. Implementation challenges include payment policy, planning, governance, multimodal products, architecture, settlement, testing, reconciliation, and implementation.

U.S. DOT launched the annual Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award. Entrants compete for a $50,000 cash award that will be awarded to the individual(s) or entity selected for creating the most impactful counter-trafficking initiative or technology. Submissions will be accepted January 1-31, 2020.

On December 16, 2019, FTA released its 2018 NTD data products, which provide the most recent data on transit ridership, expenses, fares, safety, assets, and other transit system information. Registered Rural iNTD users now have access to a new iNTD peer grouping feature Learn more about the new peer grouping feature.

Webinars and Training

There are many diverse onsite training sessions offered this winter, including:

Rutgers' Community Approach to Resiliency Planning
APTA's Marketing & Communications Workshop
Shared Use Mobility Center's National Shared Mobility Summit

One Month Until the National RTAP #Succession2Transit Twitter Chat

National RTAP will host a Transit Succession Planning Twitter Chat

on January 28, 2:00-3:00 PM with Dr. Mike Mowery of Strategic Government Resources. Join us as we learn together about best practices, pitfalls to avoid, and practical tips to prepare the next generation of transit leaders. RSVP for an email invite.

National RTAP Transit Manager's Toolkit Updated with Innovative Planning Approaches

A new section on Innovative Approaches has been added to the National RTAP Transit Manager's Toolkit. Some of the resources included are:

NCHRP's Best Practices in Rural Regional Mobility
TCRP's Innovative Rural Transit Services
RHI Hub’s Transportation to Support Rural Healthcare – Models and Innovations

Opportunities

Nominations are open for Mass Transit Magazine's 40 Under 40 Class of 2020. The awards recognize individuals who have shown a capacity for innovation, demonstrated leadership, and a commitment to making an impact in transit. The submission deadline is April 17, 2020.

TCRP Synthesis Reports are a compilation of existing practice or a summary of knowledge on selected topics. Anyone can submit topics at any time, but those who suggest topics by March 18, 2020 can be considered in the next round of selections.

The National Operations Center of Excellence and the U.S. DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Professional Capacity Building Program will host the Transportation Technology Tournament (TTT) from February to August 2020. Students will work with state and local DOTs or transit agencies to solve real-world ITS problems. The deadline for student teams to register is February 14, 2020.

The Indian Highway Safety Program announced a reimbursable grant opportunity for federally recognized tribal employees which would allow them to attend the Lifesavers Conference in March 2020. The closing date for applications is March 6, 2020.

A free, year-long subscription to TRB's TR News will be provided to people who submit articles that get published.

Publications

The Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis at NORC at the Univerisity of Chicago's Building Partnerships with Philanthropies: Emerging Strategies for Rural Communities presents emerging strategies for rural communities seeking to build partnerships with philanthropies. The brief includes guidance about identifying philanthropies for outreach and establishing partnerships with different types of philanthropies.

The Appalachian Regional Commission's Chartbook, The Appalachian Region: A Data Overview from the 2013-2017 American Community Survey provides statistics on transportation and commuting patterns. For example, 27.8% of workers over 16 who lived in households with no vehicles available took public transportation to their jobs. Report tables, maps, and data are available on the report web page.

TCRP's Social and Economic Sustainability Performance Measures for Public Transportation: Final Guidance Document is a tool to help transit agencies develop and use social and economic sustainability performance measures to plan, evaluate, and report on social and economic sustainability. The researchers determined which measures would apply to rural agencies; 592 of the measures could be applied to any agency. National RTAP Executive Director Robin Philips served on the panel for this report.

FHWA now provides data for the Annual Peak Hour Excessive Delay and the Annual Travel Time Reliability performance measures.

Legislation

FMCSA extended the compliance date for the Commercial Driver's License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse for states. The States' compliance with this requirement is delayed until January 6, 2023. This rule will still allow States the option to voluntarily request Clearinghouse information beginning on January 6, 2020.

NHTSA seeks comments on the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for Tires. They are reviewing existing regulations to determine if updates are necessary to keep pace with new technology, and on existing tire tests. Comments must be received by February 18, 2020.

On December 4, 2019, FHWA issued Interim Approval for the optional use of red-colored pavement to enhance the visibility of station stops, travel lanes, or locations in the roadway that are reserved for exclusive use by public transit vehicles or multimodal facilities where public transit is the primary mode.

FMCSA requests public comments on the National Association of the Deaf’s petition for rulemaking to rescind the requirement for interstate drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to be able to hear. Comments must be submitted by February 14, 2020.

New National RTAP Conference Landing Page

Looking for information about National RTAP's biennial technical assistance conferences? We now provide a web page with links to conference websites (where available) or programs for all of our previous conferences, as well as information for the next conference that will take place in 2021. The websites provide links to presentations, photos, and more.

Our Year in Social Media

We're ending the year on a good note socially:

431 Facebook followers
185 Twitter followers
79 YouTube subscribers
70 Instagram followers
58 LinkedIn followers

Visit our social media to keep up with our updates in between issues of eNews. Why don't you follow us too?

Calendar of Upcoming Events

National Transit Institute

Introduction to Transportation Conformity

San Diego, CA, January 6-8