June 30, 2022

New Orleans RTA reaches four-year agreement with ATU Local 1560

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) announced the ratification of a four-year labor agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1560. During today’s RTA Board of Commissioners Meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted to ratify the resolution that granted the RTA’s Chief Executive Officer, Alex Z. Wiggins, the authority to sign the new labor agreement which includes a pay and benefits package that keeps RTA operators among the highest paid in the southwest and southeast regions.

Nadia Nesich Wins "Best of Show" at 2022 DART Student Art Contest

Nadia Nesich, a 7th grade student at Pegasus School of Liberal Arts & Sciences in Dallas, is this year's Best of Show winner in Dallas Area Rapid Transit's (DART) annual Student Art Contest.

Nadia's artwork, based on this year's theme "DART's New Bus Network: Simpler. Better. Faster. Easier!", asked young artists where they would like to go. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade were given the opportunity to show everyone how far DART's new bus network can take them. Read More

Oklahoma City region’s first BRT project breaks ground

A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the first bus rapid transit (BRT) project in the Oklahoma City region. The RAPID Northwest (NW) project will serve 32 stops and is expected to open in the fall of 2023.

"Modern cities demand world-class transit systems to move people, connect neighborhoods and drive vitality," said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt. "Today's groundbreaking represents an unwavering commitment to our city's continued growth, livelihood and accessibility. I commend the dedicated individuals who have worked to foster strategic partnerships on many levels so that we, as a city, continue to enhance and increase public transit options for all of OKC." Read More

GoZone sees ridership increase, potential fare changes

The Denton County Transportation Authority board reviewed GoZone ridership and potential fare rates during its regular June 23 meeting.

The GoZone service has seen a 15% increase in ridership from April-May, said Javier Trilla, DCTA assistant vice president of innovation and information technology. The increase includes overall requests and acceptance rates. For June, it is anticipated that 64,000 riders will use the GoZone service, Trilla said.

CURRENT SWTA NATION JOB OPENINGS

CURRENT RFP & RFQ's

This week, the Federal Transit Administration announced 50 transit agencies in 24 states will share $25 million to restore and improve service that has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those selected by FTA were nine SWTA Nation systems: Yavapai Apache Nation, City of Phoenix (Valley Metro), The Woodlands Township, VIA Metropolitan Transit, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Texas cities of McAllen, El Paso, Lubbock & Brownsville.

FTA also selected 40 projects in 32 states to address communities facing persistent poverty. From the SWTA Nation, those systems were the City of Pine Bluff Transit and White River Health System, Inc. in Arkansas, the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, Pueblo in Colorado, the Capital Area Transit System in Louisiana's capital of Baton Rouge, and in Texas, the Greater Southeast Management District and North Central Texas Council of Governments. Congrats to all these agencies and governments!

Grant Opportunity:

NCMM’s Community Mobility Design Challenge 2022 grants

The National Center for Mobility Management

(NCMM) recognizes the vital role transportation plays in all activities that support the empowerment of individuals across the board. Yet often community transportation systems lack the resources and/or strategies to provide the level of mobility to residents that they would like to.

With funding from the Federal Transit Administration, these grants will support communities in seeking innovative ways to address the personal well-being of community members that face transportation barriers to recreation and physical activities, healthy food, personal safety, economic opportunity, or community and peer support opportunities. Full details & application here.

July 24-27 – SWTA's Summer University Conference (Rogers, Ark.)
August 17-19 – CTAA's Small Urban Network (SUN) Conference (Manchester, N.H.)
September 27-30 – CASTA's Fall Conference (Snowmass Village, Colo.)

South West Transit Association | www.swta.org