National RTAP eNews - September 5, 2019

eNews - September 5, 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.

Only Two Weeks Left Until the National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference! Learn How to Download and Use National RTAP's 2019 Conference Mobile App

Join us on September 10, 2019 from 2:00-2:30 PM ET for a brief webinar with step-by-step instructions on how to download and use the CrowdCompass mobile event app for the 2019 National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference: Charting New Trails to Rural and Tribal Transit, coming up on September 15-18 in Portland, Oregon! Register for the webinar today!

Transit Through the Seasons Photo Contest Award Winners Announced

We are pleased to announce the winners of our Transit Through the Seasons Photo Contest, who will receive awards:

1st place - Jennifer Balmes, Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (winning photo shown at right)
2nd place - Donna Bailey, DJ Transit
3rd place - Timothy Tobias, Rockin 66 Express
4th place - Steve Lancaster, Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA)

See all Contest Winners

All entries will be displayed on a poster at our National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference and on our social media. We've posted all this year's entries on our Facebook page.

Resources and Events

New Features Added to the National RTAP Calendar

We've added several exciting new features to our calendar of National RTAP, and selected national and regional events:

A calendar widget lets you add our calendar to your own website. Copy the code from the bottom of our calendar page
The calendar on our homepage now features upcoming events that National RTAP will host or participate in
Calendar listings for webinars and partial-day meetings now include other time zones

Save the Date for our Transit Disaster Response Twitter Chat

Our #TransitDisasterResponse Twitter Chat will take place on October 8, 2019 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET. Learn about resources and strategies for disaster planning, response and recovery, and how rural and tribal transit can help their communities during fires, floods, tornadoes, or any other disaster or emergency.

The chat will be moderated by Kelly J Scalf, Okanogan County Transit Authority and Michelle D. Horne and Jaimie Ainsworth, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. RSVP for a calendar invite.

U.S. DOT and FTA Updates

U.S. DOT issued an interim policy in the Federal Register on Interim Policies on Page Limits for National Environmental Policy Act Documents and the Application of the One Federal Decision Process to DOT Projects. This interim policy provides that DOT operating

administrations limit text of environmental impact statements to 150 pages, unless unusual in scope or complexity. The interim policy recommends that environmental assessments not exceed 75 pages. Comments must be received by September 23, 2019.

FTA now offers downloadable transit asset management (TAM) posters for transit agency use.

FTA is seeking comments on revisions to the Project Management Oversight rule listed in the Federal Register. The revisions would shift the definition of a major capital project to one based on both the amount of Federal financial assistance and the total project cost. It would limit project management oversight to quarterly reviews, absent a finding by FTA that a recipient requires more frequent oversight. Comments must be received by October 25, 2019.

U.S. DOT and NHTSA published a final rule in the Federal Register on Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards; Electric-Powered Vehicles: Electrolyte Spillage and Electrical Shock Protection. It

makes clear the allowance of high voltage connectors that require the use of a tool to separate from their mating component. This rule was

effective August 23, 2019 with a compliance date of August 24, 2020.

Petitions for reconsideration of this final rule must be received by October 7, 2019.

The FTA National Transit Database (NTD) web page has been reformatted to make searching for regulatory documents easier. The page now includes titles, links, and summaries, and whether the request for comments is open or closed.

The August 2019 FTA Transit Safety and Oversight Spotlight newsletter has been published. The issue includes information on FTA eLearning courses, such as Bus Nomenclature, guidance on developing an employee safety reporting program for agency safety plans, and a data spotlight on fires.

Webinars and Training

TRB is hosting a webinar on the Implications of Technologies for Visually Impaired Pedestrians on

September 17, 2019 from 2:00-3:30 PM ET. The webinar will provide an overview of the demographics and characteristics of persons with visual disabilities and discuss the implications of technologies developed to aid this population.

National Transit Institute is holding a number of upcoming trainings, including:

Procurement for Small and Medium Transit Systems, September 18-19
Transit-Oriented Development, September 19-20
Advancing Mobility Management, September 25-26

For a list of all NTI training sessions, visit their course web page.

Opportunities

APTA is currently seeking comments on the Procurement Guidelines Related to Battery Electric Buses in the Standard Bus Procurement Guidelines through September 9.

Mass Transit is conducting a transit industry salary survey. Participants will receive a report of findings.

Publications

NCHRPs Practices for Online Public Involvement explores the effectiveness of online public participation strategies used by State DOTS. The synthesis discusses the appropriate mix of techniques in a public participation program, communication protocols, staffing and skill requirements, and how best to integrate emerging online engagement tools with traditional face-to-face methods.

FHWA'S Addressing Changing Demographics in Environmental Justice Analysis, State of Practice describes how agencies adapt environmental justice analysis techniques to understand transportation impacts in communities undergoing rapid demographic change. The report provides five case studies that document best practices.

NCMM's Mobility Management: State of the States Report focuses on coordination at various geographic levels, funding (including RTAP funding), impact performance measurement, and onboarding and training of mobility management professionals.

The latest blog post in the National Transportation Knowledge Network (NTKN) LibGuide Petting Zoo focuses on Accessibility and Section 508 Compliance.

The U.S. General Services Administration and U.S. Department of Energy have released the 2018 Federal Fleet Report. The annual Federal Fleet Report publishes motor vehicle fleet inventory, cost, and use data from these annual submissions to the using the Federal Automotive Statistical Tool (FAST). Data includes vehicles owned by U.S. DOT.

New National RTAP Electric Vehicle Hot Topic Guide

We created a new Sexual Harassment Topic Guide in our Find Anything Toolkit in response to questions we've received on the topic during the past year.

Resources include:

International Transport Forum's Women’s Safety and Security: A Public Transport Priority
Mobility Lab's How Can Transit Agencies Make their Facilities Safe from Sexual Harassment?
U.S. DOT Policy Statement on the Prevention of Harassment

Welcome New State RTAP Managers

National RTAP extends a warm welcome to our community to several new State RTAP managers - Robert Westbrook, Florida and Johanna Cockburn, Nevada. If you would like to get in touch with them or any State RTAP Manager, visit our Directory of State RTAP Managers.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

U.S. DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office

Transportation Management Centers Streaming Video Sharing and Distribution

September 5, 1:00-2:30 PM

Webinar

Easter Seals Project Action Consulting

10 Steps to Starting a Travel Training Program

September 5, 2:00-3:15 PM

Webinar

URSTA

Fall 2019 Conference & Roadeo

Provo, UT, September 6-7

Conference

National Safety Council

NSC 2019 Congress and Expo

San Diego, CA, September 6-12

Conference

The Western Planner

2019 Western Planner & APA New Mexico Conference

Santa Fe, NM, September 8-11

Conference

CUTR

Shared (Smart) Mobility, MaaS and Public Transport - A New Future!

September 10, 7:00-8:00 PM

Webinar

National Transit Institute

Ridership Forecasting with STOPS for Transit Project Planning

St. Paul, MN, September 10-12

Training

TRB

International Conference on Women’s Issues in Transportation

Irvine, CA, September 10-13

Conference

TRB

Lessons Learned in Transportation Scenario Planning

September 11, 2:00-3:30 PM

Webinar

America Walks

Active and Engaged: Community Outreach Strategies for Health

September 11, 2:00-3:00 PM

Webinar

America Walks

Moving Forward: Innovation in Active Transportation

September 12, 12:00-1:00 PM

Webinar

Global Ground Transportation Institute

Making the Transition from AOBRD to ELD: Are You Ready?

September 12, 2:00 PM

Webinar

Latinos in Transit

2019 Inaugural Leadership Summit

Newport Beach, CA, September 14

Summit

National RTAP

4th Biennial Technical Assistance Conference: Charting New Trails for Rural & Tribal Transit

Portland, OR, September 15-18

Conference

APTA

APTAtech - Transportation Technology Conference

Columbus, OH, September 15-18

Conference

TRB

Performance and Data in Transportation Decision Making

Atlanta, GA, September 15-18

Conference

Center for Tribal Transportation

National Transportation in Indian Country Conference

Big Sky, MT, September 16-19

Conference

TRB

Implications of Technologies for Visually Impaired Pedestrians

September 17, 2:00-3:30 PM

Webinar

NCMM

Public Health and Transportation Webinar Series Part One: Collaborating Together for Community Health

September 17, 2:00 PM

Webinar

National Transit Institute

Introduction to Transit Asset Management- (Tier I Agencies)

Washington, DC, September 17-19

Training

National Transit Institute

Procurement for Small and Medium Transit Systems

Portland, OR, September 18-19

Training

National Transit Institute

Transit-Oriented Development

St. Louis, MO, September 19-20

Training

National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC)

Transportation and Communities Summit

Portland, OR, September 19-20

Summit

International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET)

ICOET 2019

Sacramento, CA, September 22-26

Conference

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)

CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition

Biloxi, MS, September 22-26

Conference

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Tribal Broadband Summit

Washington, DC, September 23 - 24

Summit

Metro/LTC

BusCon

Indianapolis, IN, September 23-25

Conference

TRB

Managing Effective Transportation Safety Systems: Research Update

September 24, 2:00-3:30 PM

Webinar

National Transit Institute

Public Involvement in Transportation Decisionmaking

Chicago, IL, September 24-26

Training

Volpe Center

Redefining Mobility

September 25, 12:00-12:45 PM

Webinar

U.S. Census Bureau

2020 Census Tribal Consultation Meeting

September 25, 4:00 PM

Webinar

National Transit Institute

Advancing Mobility Management

St. Cloud, MN, September 25-26

Training

FHWA

Virtual Public Involvement - Extending Our Reach #3 - Story Maps, Online in the Field, and Virtual Meetings Techniques

September 26, 2:00 PM

Webinar

Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE)

International Zero Emission Bus Conference

San Francisco, CA, September 26-27

Conference

FMCSA

Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) Public Meeting

Washington, DC, September 30-October 1

Public Meeting

Connecticut Association for Community Transportation

2019 CACT Statewide Transportation EXPO

Newington, CT, October 7

Conference

National Transit Institute

Management of Transit Construction Projects

Arlington Heights, IL, October 9-11

Training

For a list ing of all National RTAP and other national events, view our Calendar . To submit an event, email info@nationalrtap.org .

All event times listed in Eastern Time. Subtract 1 hour for Central Time, 2 for Mountain Time, 3 for Pacific Time, and 4 for Alaska Time.

Look for Us at these Upcoming Conferences

URSTA, Provo, UT, September 6-7
Tribal and Indigenous Planning Interest Group Meeting, Santa Fe, NM, September 8-11
National Transportation in Indian Country Conference, Big Sky, MT, September 16-19
National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference, Portland, OR, September 15-18
BusCon, Indianapolis, IN, September 23-25
CACT Statewide Transportation EXPO, Newington, CT, October 7
Arizona Rural Transportation Summit, Tuscon, AZ, October 16-18
Oklahoma State Driving Championships & Training Conference, Tulsa, OK, October 22-25
Massachusetts 2019 Moving Together Conference, Boston, MA, October 24
Oregon Public Transportation Conference, Seaside, OR, October 29-30
Georgia Transit Association Conference, Jekyll Island, GA, December 5-7

National RTAP | 888-589-6821 | info@nationalrtap.org | nationalrtap.org

Visit our Website