CTAA Announces the 2022 Community Transportation Manager of The Year
SWTA Chair Dinero’ Washington of SporTran Transit in Shreveport was recognized today as the 2022 Community Transportation Manager of the year at CTAA EXPO in Louisville, Ky.!
CTAA Board Member Kristen Joyner - our previous Executive Director and current Executive Trainer - presented Dinero’ with the well-earned honor. Kristen, along with our Vice-Chair Kendra McGeady of Pelivan Transit, have also presented at several very-full workshop sessions during the conference, along with several other SWTA Nation members.
Summer U Sponsorship Opportunities
There are only a handful of sponsorship opportunities are still available for Summer U.
Sponsorship gives you the opportunity to remain connected and top-of-mind to the wide range of transit systems across the eight states of the SWTA Nation. Contact SWTA Executive Director Rich Sampson at rsampson@swta.org or 225.270.0855 to secure your spot today or for additional details.
New on-demand transportation service powered by Via launches in Lockhart
A new on-demand transit service, powered by Via, launched in Lockhart, Texas, on May 2. The Capital Area Rural Transportation System’s (CARTS) new service, CARTS Now, follows successful on-demand programs in Bastrop and Taylor. CARTS is expanding to Lockhart to provide on-demand curb-to-curb rides that allow riders to travel anywhere quickly and reliably within the city limits. Read more
Climb Ride Program Report Links Public Transit to Positive Child Welfare Case Outcomes
In 2019, EMBARK launched Climb Ride - a pilot program to remove transportation as a barrier to Oklahoma County parents working toward reunification with their children through the Department of Human Services Child Welfare. Lack of transportation prevents many families from completing the DHS reunification programs. During the pilot, the program helped reunite 22 families, saving the state up to $30,000 per case in foster care services and support, resulting in quicker family reunifications. Climb Ride provides participants access to a comprehensive suite of transportation options to complete their court-ordered services. Read More
SAVE THE DATE: Summer U registration opens Monday, May 16th!
Session topics now available for Community Mobility, Marketing & Transit Law seminars at our Summer University event page.
CURRENT SWTA JOB POSTINGS
CURRENT RFP & RFQ's
Federal News, Legislation & Policy Updates
Although there's not much activity in Congress currently related to public transit legislation and policy, there's plenty of developments coming out of U.S. DOT and the Federal Transit Administration as new investment levels provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law/Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (BIL/IIJA) are applied to transit funding programs.
The full apportionment tables for Fiscal Year 2022 were released by FTA last month. Be sure keep tabs on your allocations and let us know if you have any questions on the models in place to distribute funds. Also, 11 systems across the SWTA Nation were selected as part of the FTA's 2022 Bus & Bus Facilities Program grants totaling more than $47 million. Nationwide, 70 projects and more than $409 million was awarded through the program this year.
Special grants are also in order for San Antonio's VIA Metropolitan Transit, which found its North-South Bus Rapid Transit Corridor recommended for funding through the Capital Investment Program (CIG), while another 11 BRT or rail corridors are in various stages in FTA's CIG project pipeline. Meanwhile, FTA recognized Houston Metro as the first agency to submit its climate action plan in February of this year, and Austin's Capital Metro was honored with the Champions of Change Award for systems that developed plans that include achievable, ambitious strategies for reaching their GHG emission reduction goals. (Full details available here)
VIA's proposed North-South BRT Corridor
Finally, FTA announced a new initiative to to develop standards for exportable power systems from electric and fuel cell-powered buses, which can supply electricity to community buildings, emergency shelters and hospitals during power disruptions. With the prevalence of natural disasters and emergency situations across the SWTA Nation, we'll be monitoring this effort from FTA carefully.
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at rsampson@swta.org or 225.270.0855 on any challenges your organization might be facility with legislation or policy at any level, or if you have questions on any of these programs or initiatives from the U.S. DOT and FTA.
