National RTAP eNews - August 22, 2019

eNews - August 22, 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.

Use our New Widget to Add the our Resource Library to Your Website

National RTAP announces our new Resource Library Widget, so any organization can enable their website users to search our Resource Share database of National RTAP and carefully selected partner rural and Tribal transit training modules, technical briefs, toolkits, videos, and more.

All you have to do is copy the code and add it to any page on your website. We regularly add to the library, and your widget will be automatically updated with our new resources. If you need help adding the widget to your site, contact support@nationalrtap.org.

Transit Manager's Toolkit Glossary

The Transit Manager's Toolkit Glossary was updated in August 2019. The glossary now contains over 80 definitions of terms and phrases defined in the Transit Manager's Toolkit. New entries include governing board, nondiscrimination, transit development plan, and many others. We have also added transit position definitions from our Job Description and Salary Range Database, such as maintenance supervisor and office manager.

Featured Resource

Resources and Events

National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference Plenaries and Keynotes

There's still plenty of time to register for the National RTAP Technical Assistance Conference in Portland, OR on September 15-18, Charting New Trails for Rural and Tribal Transit.

We have an exciting line-up of plenary and keynote presentations:

New Face of Connection and De-escalation
Panel on Human Trafficking and the Opioid Crisis - How Transit Can Help
Update from FTA Regional Administrators
Economic Development Plenary Workshop

U.S. DOT and FTA Updates

On August 9, U.S. DOT and U.S. Department of Commerce announced over $109 million in grants to 34 states and two tribal nations as part of the 911 Grant Program, which will help 911 call centers upgrade to Next Generation 911 capabilities, such as text message, image and video processing, advanced mapping and other improvements.

FTA's Environmental Impact and Related Procedures regulations were revised and the final rule updating 23 CFR parts 771 and 774 was published. Bus shelters have always been reviewed for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance, and are considered a categorical exclusion activity under NEPA. However, bus shelter construction often must comply with other regulations, such as Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management or Section 106 under the National Historic Preservation Act, and may require additional reviews to ensure NEPA compliance completion prior to FTA project approval. For further assistance on FTA’s environmental review process, contact your State DOT and/or regional FTA environmental specialist.

Webinars and Training

The Center for Transportation and the Environment's (CTE) Zero Emission Bus Conference will take place in San Francisco, CA on September 26-27. Attendees will learn about topics including preparing for electrification at scale, battery-electric and fuel cell buses, and connected and automated zero-emission bus (ZEB) adoption.

Opportunities

The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) is working on a rural travel training webinar. We're looking for rural travel training programs to highlight in the webinar. If your program is rural and you wouldn't mind sharing some data (service area, number of trainees, types of services offered, etc) for the webinar, contact Kristi McLaughlin.

TCRP is soliciting ideas on candidate topics for the FY 2019 Legal Studies Program that reports on legal issues associated with transit and intermodal law. Ideas for study topics will be accepted until October 1, 2019.

The Corporation for National and Community Service offers funding to increase the impact of national service in specific geographic service areas through their Senior Corps RSVP Program. Focus areas include disaster services and veterans and military families. August 30 is the deadline for notice of intent and the application deadline is September 25.

Publications

Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Community Recovery Management Toolkit contains guidance, case studies, tools, and training to assist local communities in managing long-term recovery post-disaster. The toolkit includes information on effective coordination of recovery resources to State, Tribal, Territorial, and Local incidents, and funding and technical assistance to support post-disaster local planning and management.

MnDOT summarized recent developments in the field of transportation equity, reviewed equity-focused programs, and engaged stakeholder groups. The Advancing Transportation Equity study presents a working definition of transportation equity and recommends action steps to consider in advancing transportation equity.

NCHRP's Measuring the Effectiveness of Public Involvement in Transportation Planning and Project Development provides a toolkit designed to collect feedback from the public on several indicators of effectiveness and to compare that feedback with the agency’s own perceptions.

New National RTAP Electric Vehicle Hot Topic Guide

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

Resources include:

Electric Vehicle Transportation Center's Policies that Impact the Acceleration of Electric Vehicle Adoption
TCRP's Battery Electric Buses: State of the Practice
U.S. PIRG's Paying for Electric Buses

Legislation

On August 12, FMCSA announced a final rule revising regulations governing the lease and interchange of commercial buses. The rule revises the definition of a lease, reinstates previous vehicle marking requirements, and updates emergency and notification requirements.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

TRB

Practices and Marketing to Increase Rural Transit Ridership and Investment

August 27, 2:00-3:30 PM

Webinar

TRB

The Research in Progress Database: Entering Projects and Searching Records

August 28, 2:00-3:00 PM

Webinar

Q'Straint

Wheelchair Securement Training

September 5, 12:00-1:15 PM

Webinar

Safe Routes Partnership

Building Our Future: Engaging and Empowering Youth in Vision Zero

September 5, 1:00-2:00 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

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

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

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

Metro/LTC

BusCon

Indianapolis, IN, September 23-25

Conference

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

Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE)

International Zero Emission Bus Conference

San Francisco, CA, September 26-27

Conference

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 10-11
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

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