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Upcoming BTS and National RTAP GTFS Webinar
 
The U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and National RTAP will discuss the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) and how it's being leveraged to collect, compile, visualize, and publish transit, intercity bus, and intermodal passenger travel datasets in a webinar on May 24th, 2018 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET.

The workshop will clarify GTFS, its significance, and provide hands-on instruction on how to build GTFS compliant data using a free Microsoft Excel application.  Register for this webinar on the BTS website.
Registration Open for Cost Allocation 101 Webinar
 
Please join National RTAP for a Cost Allocation 101 Webinar on Wednesday, June 6, 2:00-3:30 PM ET with presentations by Todd Hansen of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Rich Garrity of RLS & Associates.

The webinar will present an overview of cost allocation, why it's important, and the various uses for cost allocation (e.g. NTD reporting, performance measurement, pricing of services). The presenters will walk through a cost allocation model step-by-step and cover potential applications with utilization of the tools and techniques.

Register now for this webinar and learn how to make your financial reporting more accurate, efficient, and transparent.
Recording Available for Webinar on FTA's Low-No Emission Program: Grant Writing for Small & Rural Systems
 
In this National RTAP recorded webinar, held April 19, 2018, Tara Clark of FTA's Office of Program Management introduces the Low or No Emission Program and walks participants through the supplemental grant application.  Three successful proposers discuss how they requested grants to start low or no emission programs at their systems.  The webinar presentation and questions and answers are also available for download.

On April 23, FTA announced the Low-No Program Notice of Funding Opportunity for $84.45 million in competitive grant funds for FY18 to bring technologies like battery electric power and hydrogen fuel cells into service. Proposals are due June 6, 2018.
Yankton-Sioux Tribe's Ihanktowan Transit Launched Trip Planning with National RTAP's GTFS Builder 
 
Wesley Allen Hare, Julia Gonzales, Sherry Hare, and the team at Yankton-Sioux Tribe's Ihanktowan Transit leveraged the National RTAP GTFS Builder tool to offer digital trip planning for riders in Marty, Wagner, Ravinia, Lake Andes, and Fort Randall Casino, South Dakota. "Our tribal members who have experimented with it already really loved it," says Wesley Allen.
#Partner4HealthEquity Twitter Chat Resources

National RTAP participated in the US Department of Health & Human Services Office of Minority Health #Partner4HealthEquity Twitter Chat on April 25. Resources from the chat we'd like to share include Robert Wood Johnson's Achieving Health Equity webpage and Community Health Training Institute Health Equity Toolkit.
FTA and U.S. DOT Updates

FTA's  Reference Manual for Planning and Design of a Travel Management Coordination Center (TMCC) Report  is a reference for planning and designing a TMCC using intelligent transportation systems and other technologies to enhance coordination of mobility services for the transportation-disadvantaged. 

U.S. DOT offers a number of safety-related  eLearning and onsite trainings, such as Curbing Transit Employee Distracted Driving and Fatigue and Sleep Apnea Awareness for Transit Employees. 

The 13th Annual FTA Drug and Alcohol Program National Conference is a free three-day conference that provides a deep background on procedures for transportation workplace drug and alcohol testing programs and prevention of alcohol misuse and prohibited drug use in transit operators. To be held May 8-10 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

FTA's April 2018  Transit Safety and Oversight Spotlight  newsletter includes information about their upcoming trainings, webinars and Voluntary Interim Provisions Courses.
Resources and News

Opportunities

The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center's Getting Ready to Innovate grants are available to increase accessibility of community transportation services for people with disabilities and older adults. Grants of up to $20,000 each will be awarded to as many as ten communities. The deadline for  applications  is May 31.  NADTC is also seeking photos that illustrate the importance of mobility connections for older adults and people with disabilities. Submit your entries to their  photo contest  by May 18.

USDA seeks  applications for funding to increase access to e-connectivity/broadband in rural areas through May 14, 2018 in the Community Connect program. Grants from $100,000 to $3 million are available to state and local governments, tribes, nonprofits and for-profit corporations. Applicants must provide a 15% match.

FCMSA is looking to   award   $1,000,000 to organizations that provide Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) operator safety training. The deadline is May 14, 2018.

Webinars

The National Center for Mobility Management is hosting a webinar on May 10 at 2:00 PM on Expanding Access to Our Communities: A Guide to Successful Mobility Management Practices in Small Urban and Rural Areas. Register here.

The Transportation Research Board is conducting a free webinar, "Who's Riding TNCs and What Does It Mean for Public Agencies?", on May 15 at 2:00 PM based on TCRP Report 195: Broadening Understanding of the Interplay between Public Transit, Shared Mobility, and Personal Automobile. Register and read the report.

Podcasts

Transportation Radio released a podcast focusing on the Center for Transportation, Equity, Decisions and Dollars (CTEDD), a U.S. DOT University Transportation Center. Learn about transportation research at the University of Texas and University of South Florida.

Publications

AARP's Communities Are Embracing Development near Transit: A Snapshot of Transit-Oriented Development Support across the United States shows how state, regional, and local government support transit oriented development (TOD). This research found that transit investments support TOD travel needs, while TOD helps to generate ridership for the same transit investments.

FHWA's Travel Behavior: Shared Mobility and Transportation Equity describes how the shared use of shared short-term access to transportation on an as-needed basis can help address transportation equity challenges. This primer proposes a framework including spatial, temporal, economic, physiological, and social barriers and provides policy recommendations.
Get Ready to Celebrate TCRP DAY!

The research produced by the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) provides great benefit to the public transit industry.  Join in and volunteer as a local host as APTA and National RTAP celebrate the first-ever TCRP DAY on June 6, 2018.  

TCRP DAY hosts will be asked to either hold a brown bag lunch or staff an information table at their organizations to help educate their colleagues about TCRP. An online toolkit will be provided to help you organize your event. Please contact Peggy Wilson at [email protected] to volunteer, or with any questions. 
Look for Us at these Upcoming Conferences
  • Grantmakers in Aging Summit, Berkeley, CA, May 2-3
  • Alabama RTAP Annual Spring Meeting, May 9-12
  • Utah Urban, Rural, & Specialized Transportation Association Conference, Brian Head, UT, May 10-11
  • Montana Transit Association Spring Conference, Bozeman, May 21-25
  • Virginia Transit Conference, Richmond, May 22-23
  • CTAA EXPO, Pittsburgh, June 10-14
  • Wyoming Public Transit Annual Conference, Riverton, WY, June 19-21
  • Tri-State Conference, North Conway, NH, September 12-14
  • National Transportation in Indian Country, Duluth, MN, September 17-20
May 3, 2018
Events
National Operations Center of Excellence
Communicating Transportation: Successful Communications Strategies for Daily Operations and Technology Deployments
May 3, 2:00-3:00 PM

NTI
TCRP E-11: Relationship Between Transit Asset Condition and Service Quality
May 3, 2:00-3:30 PM

APTA
International Bus Roadeo
Tampa, FL
May 4-8, 

APTA
Bus and Paratransit Conference
Tampa, FL 
May 6-9

FTA
Drug and Alcohol Program National Conference
Fort Lauderdale, FL
May 8-10

CUTR
Managing for Performance-Safety, Customer Service, Conflict and Work Ethic: A Guide for Transit Operator Trainers
Tampa, FL
May 9-10

Q'Straint 
Training Webinar
May 10, 12:00-1:15 PM

NCMM
Expanding Access to Our Communities: A Guide to Successful Mobility Management Practices in Small Urban and Rural Areas
May 10, 2:00 PM

NTI
Managing Community Mobility
Columbia, SC
May 14-15

FTA
Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation
Boston, MA
May 14-18
Training

NTI
Transit Academy 2018
Salt Lake City, UT
May 14-18
Training

TRB
Who's Riding TNCs and What Does It Mean for Public Agencies?
May 15, 2:00-3:30 PM

U.S. DOT TSI, FTA and CUTR
Effectively Managing Transit Emergencies
Tampa, FL
May 15-18 

VTA
Virginia Transit Conference
Richmond, VA
May 22-23
 
FTA
Real Estate Requirements
Denver, CO
May 22-23

BTS/National RTAP
GTFS Webinar
May 24, 2:00-3:00 PM

National RTAP
Cost Allocation 101
June 6, 2:00-3:30 PM

CTAA 
Expo 2018
Pittsburgh, PA
June 10-14

RIBTC
National Conference on Rural Public & Intercity Bus Transportation
Breckenridge, CO
Sept 30-Oct 3
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
Sample Transit Agency DBE Program Plan

Do you need an example of a DBE program plan? Southern Nevada Transit Coalition has provided National RTAP with one you can download. Attachments to the plan and a DBE directory are also included in a zip file.
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.

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Washington, D.C.:  718 7th Street NW , Washington, DC 20001