Outreach to State Departments of Transportation

2010 MTAP/SCOPT Annual Winter Meeting Savannah, GA

December 8, 2010

RTAP Purpose and Organization

• FTA program to provide training and technical assistance to rural and small urban and Tribal transit operators

• Funded by 2% of Section 5311 formula program for non-urbanized areas – National RTAP 15% of RTAP funds– Rest to states by formula

• FTA contracts with non-profit vendor• RTAP manager in each state

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National RTAP Organization

• Neponset Valley Transportation Management Association (non-profit) under contract to FTA since 2008; contract expires 2013

• Five full-time and two part-time staff– 6 in Waltham, Massachusetts– 1 in South Carolina

• Product development guided by Review Board– 7 representatives of State Departments of Transportation– 7 representatives of rural / Tribal transit operators

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National RTAP Products and Services

• Website: www.nationalrtap.org • Resource Center

– Materials– Technical Assistance

• Bi-weekly eNews• Training modules• Technical briefs and other documents• Webinars• National RTAP Web Applications

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Outreach to State DOTs

• Direct mailing of new products

• eNews

• Conference participation

• 2010 State RTAP Program Inventory Survey

• Products of special interest

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Bi-weekly eNews

• Bi-weekly eNews sent to all state RTAP Managers

• Includes National RTAP and Partner news and information

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2010 Conference Participation

• 2010 TRB Annual Meeting• 2010 AASHTO Meeting• 2010 Partners for Smart Growth• 2010 Pennsylvania State Transit Conference• 2010 Spring CalTrans Conference• 2010 APTA Bus and Paratransit Conference• 2010 APTA Annual Meeting

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2010 Conference Participation

• 2010 Oregon Tribal Symposium• 2010 APTA/AASHTO/FTA State Public

Transportation Partnerships Conference• 2010 Colorado Association of Transit Agencies

Fall Conference• 2010 CTAA EXPO and Nations in Transit

Conference • National Title VI Training & Technical Assistance

Regional Forum 2010

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2010 Conference Participation

• 2010 TRB Rural Public and Inner City Bus Conference

• 2010 National Tribal Transit Conference• 2010 Tribal Transit Conference• 2010 MTAP/SCOPT Winter Meeting

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2011 State Transit Conferences

• Arizona Transit Conference– April

• Dakota Transit Association– April

• Nebraska Transit Association– June

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State RTAP Program Inventory Report

• Surveyed all State RTAP Managers • Goal: To examine State RTAP program services,

products and training requirements to determine gaps that could be filled by National RTAP

• 42 Responses to Date, 84% Response• Early 2011 release of final report

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Future Webinars/Communications

• Kick-off for State RTAP Managers quarterly conference calls on topic discussions– Introductory webinar January 2011

• Initial webinar for state RTAP Managers on National RTAP Products and Services– First quarter 2011

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State DOT Best Practices: Training

• Referred to National RTAP by NCHRP 20-65 Panel (AASHTO)

• Compilation of best practices of State DOTs: comprehensive training programs

• Idea to be developed and discussed with National RTAP Review Board at May meeting

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ProcurementPRO

• First in a series of National RTAP “web apps” to be released

• Web-based tool to guide rural and Tribal grantees and state DOTs through FTA procurement procedures

• Basic project information entered by user• System generates required documentation• February 2011 release

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Web Apps• Easy way for rural and Tribal transit providers to

incorporate technology into their operations

• First step toward building an online community of users and data shared by all

• Free of charge

• Help available – Videos

– Text

– E-mail

– Phone

• Hosted on National RTAP’s website

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Contact Information

National RTAP709 Main StreetWaltham, MA 02451Toll free: 888-589-6821

Patti Monahan, pmonahan@nationalrtap.org

Pam Russell DiGiovanni, prussell@nationalrtap.org

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