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.
Newsletter Highlights
National RTAP 2022 Photo Contest: The Bus Stops Here
Final Sessions for National RTAP Marketing and GTFS Workshops
Four Virtual National RTAP Sessions Added to the Transit Knowledge Sharing Retreat
Tribal Transit Spotlight - Hopi Senom Transit
Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund Notice of Funding Opportunity
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Enter our National RTAP 2022 Photo Contest: The Bus Stops Here
Our National RTAP 2022 Photo Contest – The Bus Stops Here – is all about where your bus stops. We’re looking for photos that showcase your beautiful bus stop, shelter, station, or hub, as well as photos that show all the great places your bus stops at to bring riders to shopping, school, work, or leisure. Enter up to 3 photos by August 20, 2022.
For inspiration, we're showing a photo from our 2021 photo contest of Snoqualmie Valley Transportation by Amy Biggs. Photos can include the bus, bus stop, drivers, and/or riders.
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Final National RTAP Workshop Sessions on GTFS and Marketing |
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The sixth workshop on Improving the Transit Passenger Experience will take place on June 28, 2022, 2:00-3:30 PM ET. The session will discuss elements of the transit passenger experience and what we can do to enhance each aspect in order to retain and build ridership. |
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National RTAP Tribal Transit Training Conference in Flagstaff this Month
Join us in Flagstaff, Arizona on June 27-28, 2022 for in-depth training and hands-on workshops. Sessions will include: Capital Development and Construction, Project Management Training, PASS Training for Drivers, Rural and Tribal Transit Service Design Workshop, Federal Transit Administration Updates and Grant Management Workshop, and a GTFS Builder Workshop.
Rural Transit Day is Next Month!
Our fourth Rural Transit Day Twitter Chat will be held on July 15, 2022 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET (July 16 falls on a Saturday). RSVP for our #RuralTransitDay Twitter Chat, moderated by Stephanie Lewis, Florida RTAP, Marcela Moreno, National Center for Applied Transit Technology (N-CATT), Moira Moon, Colorado DOT, and National RTAP staff.
Access our Rural Transit Day Toolbox to help you spread the word about Rural Transit Day and the benefits of rural transit through social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Now you can tell exactly how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds there are until Rural Transit Day starts with our new animated Countdown graphic at the bottom of the webpage.
National RTAP Participation in Upcoming Conferences and Meetings
We're presenting and exhibiting at the following conferences and meetings:
Learn about TACL in August
Recording Session for GTFS: Three Steps to Online Trip Planning Published
We've published the webinar recording and presentation slides for the second session in our workshop on GTFS: Three Steps to Online Trip Planning, which was held on May 26, 2022. Register for the final session, which will take place today, June 9, 2022, from 1:00-2:00 PM ET. The instructor will be available at this session for extra help.
Research Citing National RTAP
The following research articles cited National RTAP:
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Transit Knowledge Sharing Retreat Next Week - Virtual Sessions Added
Northwest Pennsylvania Mobility Alliance, in partnership with National RTAP, NCMM, N-CATT, SUMC, NABSA, PERC, and PennTRAIN, will hold a Transit Knowledge Sharing Retreat in Erie, PA on June 15-16 2022. A waiting list is available for the in-person conference and you can register for four virtual National RTAP sessions on topics such as Procurement Hot Topics and Capital Projects.
National RTAP Solicitation for New Review Board Members
National RTAP is soliciting nominations through June 30, 2022 for new Review Board members to join the Board in 2022 and 2023. There will be vacancies to fill for two state transit officials in fall 2022 and two in spring 2023. For rural or tribal transit providers there will be three vacancies in 2023. Read more.
National RTAP Creates Hot Topic Guide on Bus Stops
National RTAP began its annual update of the Hot Topic Guides in our Find Anything Toolkit. Topics are based on the most frequent research requests by our users and recommendations for topics from our Review Board. Our first 2022 Hot Topic Guide is on Bus Stops. Resources include:
Join our July State RTAP Manager Peer Roundtable
State RTAP Managers can register for our State RTAP Manager Peer Roundtable on July 14, 2022 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET to discuss issues of interest to State RTAP Managers. Topics will include ELDT training, bus driver recruitment, TAM updates, Census changes, scholarship programs, and more. We will be adding breakout rooms so RTAP Managers can join the discussion(s) that interest them.
Books in Transit Discussion Group Meeting: Set my Heart to Five
The Books in Transit Discussion Group has selected Set my Heart to Five by Simon Stephenson for our next book to read. We're excited to announce that the author will be joining our discussion. The book takes place in a future where robots live and work alongside humans and driverless cars and buses fill the roads. The discussion will take place on August 17, 2022, 2:00-3:00 PM ET. Register.
Kansas RTAP Newsletter Publishes National RTAP Article about Rural Transit Initiatives to Expand Access to Food
The Spring 2022 Kansas RTAP Transit Reporter includes an article by National RTAP Resource Center Manager Cara Marcus discussing how transit provides access to grocery stores, food banks, farmer’s markets, and other sources of nutritious meals. The article (pages 12-13) includes case examples about how many agencies stepped up to the table during the pandemic to provide their communities with healthy food.
New National RTAP Forms
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FTA issued a Request for Information seeking input on the next phase of research, collaboration and engagement, technology development, and demonstration of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Automated Driving Systems in public transportation use cases. FTA also issued a Request for Information seeking input on updating FTA’s Strategic Transit Automation Research Plan on transit bus automation. Comments for both are due by August 1, 2022.
FTA recently updated their guidance on Flexible Funding for Transit and Highway Improvements, which enables making certain Federal-Aid Highway Program funding available for public transportation projects and flexed (or transferred) and administered by FTA for public transportation projects. |
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National Center for Applied Transportation Technology's (N-CATT) Virtual Public Engagement Guidebook highlights industry practices, approaches, and tools available. Templates are available for virtual meetings. Rural case studies include Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT), Yolobus, and Unitrans.
Colorado Association of Transit Agencies (CASTA) provides a Basic Operating Project (BOP) Template so small rural transit agencies with limited staff and funding resources can compile information in a quick and efficient manner that assists them in advocating for improved transit in their community. |
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Tribal Transit Spotlight - Hopi Senom Transit |
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Donovan Gomez has served as Transit Administrator for Hopi Senom Transit, headquartered in Kykotsmovi, Arizona, for eight years. He has led the transit agency, which was established in 1986, to not just survive but thrive through many challenges. The agency provides five fixed routes, with two of their routes making over 180-mile trips twice daily to take tribal members and the general public to town for essential services that are not available on the Hopi Reservation. The buses service a 2,533 square mile reservation and some climb up to 480 feet several times a day to serve the Villages on top of the famed Hopi mesas. |
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MyNCMM is a new National Center for Mobility Managers social network for mobility managers to connect, learn, and share ideas. MyNCMM members can create and join groups based on topic and geography to ask questions and share promising practices. To join, head to NCMM's homepage and click Register in the upper right-hand corner.
The Administration for Community's (ACL) Administration on Disabilities is seeking peer reviewers (in particular, reviewers with disabilities) for grant competitions. To be considered, apply using the Reviewer Recruitment Module in Grants Solutions.
FHWA published a Notice of Funding Opportunity on the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF). Grants are available to federally recognized Indian tribes through a competitive, discretionary program. Awarded annually, projects are chosen whose outcomes will address the prevention and reduction of death or serious injuries in transportation-related incidents. The application deadline is September 15, 2022. |
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FMCSA extended the comment period for the Proposed Rule on Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operations: Speed Limiting Devices to July 18, 2022.
NHTSA granted 13 petitions from various manufacturers of motorcoaches on vehicles produced from June 1, 2022 until June 1, 2024 for a temporary exemption from a shoulder belt requirement of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard on Occupant crash protection for side-facing seats. |
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All event times listed in Eastern Time. Subtract 1 hour for Central Time, 2 for Mountain Time, 3 for Pacific Time, 4 for Alaska, and 6 for Hawaii.
FTA
June 9, 2:00 PM
Busing on the Lookout (BOTL)
June 9, 6:30-8:00 PM
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
Anchorage, AK, June 12-16
U.S. DOT
June 13, 1:00-3:00 PM
Montana Transit Association
Billings, MT, June 13-15
Please visit our booth!
FORTH
June 14, 1:00-2:00 PM
FTA/FHWA
June 14, 3:00 PM
Disability Employment TA Center (DETAC) and National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
June 14, 3:00 PM
Wyoming Public Transit Association
Sheridan, WY, June 14-16
Please visit our booth!
National RTAP
June 15, 8:15 AM - 12:15 PM
National RTAP
June 15, 1:00-2:30 PM
U.S. DOT
June 15, 1:00- 3:00 PM
National RTAP
June 15, 2:45-4:15 PM
FHWA
June 15, 3:30 PM
National RTAP
June 16, 10:15-11:30 AM
National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC)
June 16, 12:00 PM
Q'Straint / Sure-Lok
June 16, 12:00-1:30 PM
Rural Grocery Initiative
Wichita, KS, June 20-21
Please visit our booth!
U.S. DOT ITS Joint Program Office
June 21, 1:00-2:00 PM
FHWA/NLTAPA
June 21, 2:00-4:00 PM
TRB
June 21, 2:30-4:00 PM
TCRP
June 21-22
UMass Transportation Center
June 21-22, 1:00-3:00 PM
Road to Zero, National Center for Rural Road Safety
June 22, 2:00-3:00 PM
International Society of Sustainability Professionals
June 22, 3:00 PM
Nebraska Association of Transportation Providers
Norfolk, NE, June 22-23
Please visit our info table!
U.S. DOT
June 23, 1:00- 3:00 PM
TRB
June 23, 1:30-3:00 PM
AASHTO
Lawrence, KS, June 23-July 1
AASHTO National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP)
Nashville, TN, June 26-30
National Safety Council (NSC)
June 27, 1:00 PM
National RTAP
Flagstaff, AZ, June 27-28
Transit Planning 4 All
June 28, 12:30 PM
ITS America
June 28, 1:00-2:30 PM
National RTAP
June 28, 2:00-3:30 PM
American Bus Association (ABA)
Baltimore, MD, June 28-29
NorthEast Passenger Transportation Association (NEPTA)
Warwick, RI, June 28-30
Please visit our booth!
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Charlotte, NC, June 28-30
Intertribal Transportation Association (ITA)
June 28-30
Eno Center for Transportation
June 29, 2:00-3:00 PM
FORTH
Portland, OR, June 29-30
Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO)
Fort Lauderdale, FL, July 9-11
USAging
Austin, TX, July 10-13
Q'Straint / Sure-Lok
Jul 12, 12:00-1:30 PM
FTA
July 13, 2:00 PM
National RTAP
July 14, 2:00-3:00 PM
Transit Planning 4 All
July 14, 2:00 PM
National RTAP
July 15, 2:00-3:00 PM
TRB
Garden Grove, CA, July 18-21
National Local and Tribal Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA)
Seattle, WA, July 18-21
FTA
July 19, 1:00-3:30 PM
Registration closes July 12, 2022
National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)
Kansas City, MO, July 19 -21
TRB
Portland, OR, July 24-27
Southwest Transit Association (SWTA)
Rogers, AR, July 24 – Jul 27
Please visit our booth!
FTA
July 27, 2:00 PM
American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
Pittsburgh, PA, August 7-10
National RTAP
August 11, 2:00-3:00 PM
National RTAP
August 17, 2:00-3:00 PM
National Transportation in Indian Country (NTICC)
Louisville, KY, August 22-26
Please visit our booth!
Washington State Transit Association
Spokane, WA, August 27-30
Please visit our booth!
TRB
Boise, ID, August 29-31
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