National RTAP eNews - February 6, 2020

eNews - February 6, 2020

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.

New N ational RTAP Head Start Program Transportation Technical Brief

Head Start programs promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of low-income preschool-aged children, including children on federally recognized Indian reservations and children of migratory farm workers, through the comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, social and other services. Head Start programs are not required to provide transportation, but programs that do offer it are required to comply with federal and state regulations. A new National RTAP technical brief, Head Start Program Transportation in Rural Areas, helps rural and tribal transit programs to understand those requirements, and provides best practices for providing safe and customer-focused Head Start transportation.

FTA Announces New Funding Opportunities - National RTAP Resources Can Help Agencies with the Application Process

FTA announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Solicitation of Project Proposals for the Low or No Emission Program, providing $130 million of fiscal year 2020 funds for the purchase or lease of low or no emission vehicles as well as related equipment or facilities. Proposals must be submitted via Grants.gov by March 17, 2020.

FTA also published a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity in the Federal Register for fiscal year 2020 funds under the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program. Funds will be awarded for financing capital projects to replace, rehabilitate, purchase or lease buses and related equipment, and to rehabilitate, purchase, construct or lease bus-related facilities. FTA will host a webinar on February 11, 2020 at 2:00-3:30 PM ET. Proposals must be submitted through Grants.gov by March 30, 2020.

Here are some National RTAP resources that may be helpful to organizations applying for FTA grants:

Grant Writing 101 webinar
Grant Writing Made Easy technical brief
FTA Low-No Emissions Program: Grant Writing for Small and Rural Systems webinar
Grant Writing Tips from the Transit Manager's Toolkit
Requirements & Responsibilities of an FTA Grantee presentation at the National RTAP 2019 Technical Assistance Conference
Improving your Grant Writing for FTA Competitive Programs presentation at the National RTAP 2019 Technical Assistance Conference
Improving your Grant Writing Skills presentation at the National RTAP 2019 Technical Assistance Conference

Resources and Events

Join National RTAP's Transit Manager Peer Roundtable Today

Join us today, February 6, 2020 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET for an informal discussion of issues affecting rural transit managers. Ask questions of your peers and share your experience and lessons learned. Discussion topics include cashless fare payment systems, community involvement, employment transportation, and planning.

No need to register. RSVP to request a calendar invite or to suggest a topic. Click here at the time of the roundtable to join from your computer or mobile device or join by phone at (872) 240-3412, with access code 220-432-797.

Upcoming National RTAP Tribal Transit Workshop

National RTAP is hosting a comprehensive two-day Tribal Transit Workshop at the next Rocky Mountain Region Tribal Transportation Program Quarterly Meeting on February 11-12, 2020 at the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Billings, Montana.

The workshop will cover: writing and updating your Tribal Transit Plan, operations and maintenance, leadership and maintaining strong Tribal Council relationships, FTA program reporting requirements, developing a strong safety culture, Tribal Transit grant writing tips and tricks, and utilizing the National Transit Database reporting tool. If you are interested in attending, RSVP to C. “John” Healy (406-353-2447) or Neil Rodriguez (888-589-6821).

List of Rural Rider Transportation Options Added to Find Anything Toolkit

We've added a Rural Transportation List to the section on Assisting People with Finding Transportation in our Find Anything Toolkit. The list is in downloadable Excel format and includes public and private transit services and other transportation options, including volunteer drivers, medical transportation, demand-response transportation, etc. If agencies to be listed, please contact [email protected].

#Succession2Transit Twitter Chat Summary Available

National RTAP hosted a Transit Succession Planning Twitter Chat - #Succession2Transit - on January 28 moderated by Dr. Mike Mowery of Strategic Government Resources. The discussion included discussion about helping current employees feel welcomed while onboarding new hires and determining what you really need to pass on to the next generation . Read the Twitter Chat Summary .

National RTAP Review Board Member Nominations Deadline Extended

For spring 2020, National RTAP is soliciting nominations for three 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. More information and the nomination form are available here . The deadline is has been extended to March 6, 2020.

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. Visit the 2021 Conference page and the Local Host RFP for full details. On that page, you will also find the Q&A webinar recording and slides, and a Q&A document that answers all questions submitted regarding the RFP and the 2021 conference.

U.S. DOT and FTA Updates

FTA announced the calendar year 2020 drug and alcohol random testing rates for employers subject to 49 CFR part 655. The minimum random drug testing rate will remain at 50 percent and the random alcohol rate will remain at 10 percent.

The January 2020 FTA Transit Safety and Oversight Spotlight newsletter has been published. The issue contains a Data Spotlight on Intersection Collisions by Control Device and the revised Roadmap to Drafting an Agency Safety Plan (ASP) for Bus Job Aid.

On January 28, 2020, U.S. DOT staff gave testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The Overview of the Build America Bureau and The U.S. Department of Transportation Rural Transportation Initiatives testimony focused on outreach, tailored products such as TIFIA RPI, RRIF Express, Build It Now and others, and technical assistance.

The FTA Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative funded projects for 24 agencies to help prevent human trafficking and other crimes on public transportation, including initiatives in rural areas, such as new training for West River Transit Authority (Prairie Hills Transit).

FTA published their Fiscal Year 2020 Apportionment Tables on February 3, 2020. The tables include Section 5311 and Section 5340 Rural Area Formula, Public Transportation on Indian Reservations, and others.

Opportunities

The Zero Emission Bus Resource Alliance (ZEBRA) is offering non-member transit agencies the opportunity to attend their first ZEBRA meeting for free. The ZEBRA Infrastructure Roundtable will be held in Seattle, WA on February 19 and 20, 2020, and the tour of King County Metro's ZEB facility will be on February 18, 2020. Attendees will have the opportunity to be apart of one-on-one interviews with major zero-emission bus charger manufacturers and hydrogen fueling providers. Attendees must RSVP . Please reach out to Taylor Pitel ( [email protected] ) for more information.

Applications are being accepted for the Government Fleet/American Public Works Association Leading Fleets Award. The award recognizes operations that are performing at a high level in fleet innovation and leadership. Submissions will be accepted through February 14, 2020.

NCMM is now accepting poster presentation submissions for NCMM’s 2020 Mobility Management Poster Session. They will be displayed at the CTAA EXPO in Louisville, KY, June 1-4, 2020. Posters will discuss a community transportation challenge and how mobility management approaches have helped solve that challenge.

Applications are open for the Truckers Against Trafficking Harriet Tubman Award to recognize those whose actions helped to recover the enslaved, improve the lives of victims or prevent human trafficking from taking place. Winners will receive their award at the Indianapolis Protect 500 on May 24-26, 2020.

NCHRP is conducting a survey through February 28, 2020 of Best Practices in Rural Service Assessments to understand the variation of current assessments, share best practices in getting the most out of assessments, and generate a guidebook on conducting assessments. Rural transit agencies, State DOTs, and State and Regional Transit Associations may participate.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced grants of nearly $300 million for sustainable transportation research. Concept papers for the Vehicles funding opportunity are due February 21, 2020 and applications are due April 14, 2020. Concept papers for the Fuel Cells funding opportunity are due February 25, 2020 and applications are due April 20, 2020.

On January 30, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established a new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to fund deployment of high-speed broadband networks in unserved rural America. FCC will direct up to $20.4 billion over 10 years.

Webinars and Training

FHWA is offering 5 new free, web-based Transportation Performance Management (TPM) courses:

Data for TPM
Making the Connection between HPMS Data Items and TPM
Communicating and Reporting on TPM
Monitoring and Adjustment for TPM
Investment Decision Making and TPM

Greenway Public Transportation Launches New Website with Website Builder and National RTAP Technical Assistance

Greenway Public Transportation, a rural transit agency in North Carolina serving four counties, turned their formerly static website into an interactive and mobile-friendly one. They asked National RTAP to review their existing website, and used our technical assistance and Website Builder web application to implement the new mygreenway.org in January 2020. New features include the ability for riders to book rides and call directly from the site, a link to a form for riders to provide the agency with feedback, and a Spanish version.

Publications

The Office of National Drug Control Policy's Rural Community Action Guide: Building Stronger, Healthy, Drug-Free Rural Communities providing an overview of the key challenges rural communities face when addressing the consequences of prescription opioid misuse and the use of illicit substances. It also showcases localized efforts implemented to help mitigate the impact of substance use disorder. National RTAP wrote the chapter on Bridging the Transportation Gap for Access to Substance Use Disorder Services in Rural Communities. A Supplement to the Guide describes promising practices from states throughout the U.S.

NCHRP's Right-Sizing Transportation Investments: A Guidebook for Planning and Programming provides a guideline for identifying right-sizing opportunities where greater social and economic value can be realized by repurposing, reusing, or fundamentally resizing existing transportation system assets.

Congressional Research Service has published Broadband Deployment: Status and Federal Programs. The brief displays the broadband availability gap between urban, rural, and tribal lands in recent years and lists federal programs providing broadband funding.

TCRP's Strategic Communications to Improve Support for Transit-Priority Projects presents and analyzes communication approaches used in transit-priority projects and factors that make certain approaches more or less effective. Findings include identifying key stakeholders early in the planning process and committing to strategic communications throughout a project life-cycle.

CLOUD is a new searchable library of curated, evidence-based resources on opioids and the opioid crisis from the Center for Evidence-based Policy. A search for "transportation" yields evidence about initiatives like the Arizona Angel Initiative, where navigators arrange transportation to treatment in rural areas.

National RTAP Alternative Fuels Topic Guide Updated

The National RTAP Alternative Fuels Topic Guide was updated in January 2020. New resources include NAFA's The Changing Fuels Market: What Alternative Fuel Vehicles Mean for Fleets and National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Technology Maintenance Readiness Guide for Zero-Emission Buses.

Legislation

A proposed rule on Air Plan Approval for Interstate Transport was published by the EPA in the federal register on January 23, 2020. The Clean Air Act requires State Implementation Plans to contain adequate provisions prohibiting emissions with certain adverse air quality effects in other states. EPA proposed that each state's plan must contain adequate provisions to prohibit emissions that will significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone in other states. Comments must be received by February 24, 2020.

The Council on Environmental Quality posted a proposed rule in the Federal Register on January 10, 2020: Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act. The proposal aims to shorten NEPA review times, simplify regulations, and exempt some projects from full review. Public hearings will be held on February 11, 2020 in Denver, CO and on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. Attendees must register in advance. All comments must be received by March 10, 2020.

FMCSA published an interim final rule for Extension of Compliance Date for Entry-Level Driver Training in the Federal Register. This rule amends the final rule for Minimum Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators by extending the compliance date to February 7, 2022. Comments must be received by March 20, 2020 and Petitions for Reconsideration must be received by March 5, 2020.

Upcoming State RTAP Manager Peer Roundtable

National RTAP will be holding a peer roundtable for State RTAP Managers on February 27, 2020, from 2:00-3:00 PM. No need to register, just join GoToMeeting at the time of the roundtable. Topics will include local match, NEMT, drug and alcohol regulations, and procurement.