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Conference Corner: Updates About National RTAP's 2015 Technical Assistance Conference

Registration: Registration is up! Register now for the conference, and reserve your hotel room on our Conference Website.

The draft agenda is available here, or on the Conference Website, above. 

Speaker proposals are still being accepted through May 31st.
 Visit our conference website for more information. 

Scholarships: National RTAP has a limited number of scholarships available to speakers only. 

General Information: October 27-30, 2015, Denver, CO
Next 101 Webinar on Rides to Wellness

Register for National RTAP's next 101 Webinar on Rides to Wellness: Creating Healthy Communities, happening on Thursday, May 28th at 3:30PM EDT. Danielle Nelson, FTA's 5310 Program Coordinator will be presenting, followed by a Q&A session with guests Judy Shanley  and Carolyn Jeskey, directors of the National Center for Mobility Management. Find out more information and register for the webinar here. 
New Spotlight Article on Travel Training Programs

National RTAP's newest Spotlight Article on Best Practices: Travel Training explores successful travel training programs across the country. Travel training is important for increasing transit usage by vulnerable populations, who often don't use fixed-route transit because of unfamiliarity with transit. Because fixed-route transit is more cost-efficient, travel training can be an excellent investment for transit agencies. Read more on our website. 
Federal Transit Administration and US DOT Updates

FTA's FastLane blog featured a post on the DOT Connectivity Roundtable.

FTA has issued an update to the Transportation for Individuals with Disabilities Reasonable Modification rule. The update corrects typographical errors in the original document.

The FTA has added some new tools on their Drug and Alcohol Policy page, including a Policy Builder to help you craft a drug and alcohol policy, sample forms and checklists, and an Excel tool to help track the random testing schedule. 

View the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)'s Environmental Justice Reference Guide.

FHWA released a report summarizing the Health in Transportation Working Group's 2014 activities, and outlining the agency's agenda for the upcoming year. 

FHWA maintains a series of videos, Federal Aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies, on various aspects of planning and project development.

$500 million announced for the next round of TIGER Discretionary Grants. The pre-application deadline was May 4th, and the final application deadline is June 5th.  
Resources and News

Articles and Reports

The Small Urban and Rural Transit Center (SURTC) at the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) released a report detailing the mobility needs of North Dakota. Other states with large land areas and small populations may find applicable points and practices within.

This National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report looks at the benefits of on-board video systems. 

Two Metro Magazine articles were recently published on current ADA paratransit eligibility practices, and paratransit best practices not being implemented by transit agencies.

A New York Times article discusses transportation's role in helping people to escape poverty.

NCHRP Web-Only Document 211: Close to Home: A Handbook for Transportation-Efficient Growth in Small Communities and Rural Areas examines how small communities can grow in a way that preserves their essence, through smart planning and multimodal transportation. 

Web Resources

National RTAP staff, along with the Eastern Transportation Knowledge Network (ETKN) have developed the Transportation Sustainability Guide, a collection of resources related to practical sustainability across a variety of transportation modes.

 

The American Public Health Association (APHA) identifies transportation issues as one of its top priorities. Read more about healthcare transportation, access a toolkit, and connect to related resources. 


Opportunities

View upcoming in-person courses from the National Transit Institute (NTI).

The Small Urban and Rural Transit Center has added to their list of in-person training sessions available on demand. 

Blogs

A blog article in Metro Magazine asserts that driverless buses are on the horizon, and may be adopted much faster than driverless cars.
May 14, 2015
Events
US Department of Transportation
Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative (ATTRI) Applications Workshop
May 18-19
Washington, DC

National Transit Institute (NTI)
TCRP Synthesis 112: Maintaining Transit Effectiveness Under Major Financial Constraints
May 19
2-3:30PM

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool 
May 28
1-2:30PM

Community Transportation Association of America EXPO
May 31-June 5
Tampa, FL
Visit National RTAP at Booth 215!

Center for Transportation Excellence
Transit Initiatives Communities Conferences
June 1-3
Grand Rapids, MI

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool 
June 3
3;30-5PM
Webinar

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Fundamentals of Transportation Data (Pt 2)
June 9
2-3:30PM

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a)
Annual Conference and Tradeshow
July 11-15
Philadelphia, PA

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Telling the Performance Story
September 8
2-3:30PM

National Transit Institute (NTI)
Transit Trainers' Workshop
October 11-13
New Orleans, LA

National RTAP
Reaching New Heights in Rural and Tribal Transit
October 27-30
Denver, CO

For a listing of all National RTAP and other national events, view our Calendar. If you'd like to submit an event, please email info@nationalrtap.org.

All event times listed as Eastern Time
Resource Spotlight
It's Bus Roadeo Season...

Are you participating in your first roadeo? Need to brush up on the different obstacles you'll face? 

For bus roadeo participants and judges, National RTAP provides a comprehensive guide to these exciting events, including a video and scoring sheets. Visit the Bus Roadeo toolkit today to take a look at this valuable resource.
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.

Contact us:
Main: 5 Wheeling Avenue, Woburn, MA 01801, 888-589-6821
Washington, D.C.: 122 C Street NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20001