NADO members and their local communities and board members are invited to attend a free webinar presentation by Transportation for America.  Rather than being a technical overview of MAP-21, which other sources have covered, this webinar will be an opportunity to engage stakeholders and decisionmakers on funding a variety of modes public transportation, vanpool, biking, walking, and road/bridge maintenance and repair projects that support in support of strong communities.  Please share the following announcement to invite your RDO and RTPO board members and others in your region to this presentation.

Investing in a variety of transportation options—like public transportation, vanpooling, bicycling, walking,  and safe roads and bridges—are crucial for stronger, more resilient communities in our nation’s rural areas. It’s important to know how our new federal transportation bill (MAP-21) has changed the way communities can access transportation dollars and what these funds can be used for.

Panelists for this discussion include:

• Commissioner Kathy Rinaldi, Teton County, Idaho
• Charles W. Fluharty, President and CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI)
• Chris Zeilinger, Director of Policy Development, Community Transportation Association of America Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
• Georgia Gann, Deputy Director of Government Affairs, Transportation for America
• John Robert Smith, President and CEO, Reconnecting America and Former Mayor of Meridian, MS (moderator)

Webinar logistics:

• Title: How to use the 2012 federal transportation bill to strengthen rural economies
• Date: Wednesday, February 27, 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific
• Click here to register

During the “Rural Successes and Opportunities in Creating Sustainable Communities and Regions” breakout session held December 3, Troy Maggied and Karen Rogulja of the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SWWRPC) discussed recent accomplishments of the Grow Southwest Wisconsin initiative, including data collection, building partnerships, and public involvement efforts.

To view the Powerpoint presentation, click here.  To learn more about the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, click here.

View Seager’s presentation:

Who should attend: Government officials, planners, developers, investors, nonprofits, and others interested in transit-oriented development.

• Read about the city of Moline’s efforts to transform an old warehouse into the Moline Multimodal Station and the city of Cincinnati’s Streetcar Project in the 2012 Partnership for Sustainable Communities accomplishments report.
• View a video about sustainability efforts in Moline at http://www.sustainablecommunities.gov/studies.html#FC9.
• Learn more about the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

Webinar Details

Thursday, November 15, 2012, 1:00 to 2:15 Eastern

• To join this webinar, click on https://epa.connectsolutions.com/epasmartgrowth. Log in as a guest. No pre-registration is required.
• Audio will be available through a conference service. Call 1-888-850-4523. Participant passcode: 719661. This conference has a maximum audio capacity of 299 callers. Please share phone lines if possible.
• Please test your computer prior to attending the meeting at http://admin.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm
  • The Connection Test checks your computer to make sure all system requirements are met. If you pass the first three steps of the test, then you are ready to participate in a meeting.
  • If you do not pass the test, perform the suggested actions and run the test again.

In July, FTA released final guidance in the form of a Circular on incorporating environmental justice (EJ) principles into plans, projects, and activities that receive funding from FTA. This final guidance provides recommendations Metropolitan Planning Organizations, public transportation providers, State Departments of Transportation, and other recipients of FTA funds on how to fully engage EJ populations in the public transportation decision-making process; how to determine whether EJ populations would be subjected to disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects as a result of a transportation plan, project, or activity; and how to avoid, minimize, or mitigate these effects. FTA’s Webinar on the Circular will explore the details of these recommendations and provide specific guidance for how FTA grant recipients should incorporate EJ review into their transportation planning and NEPA efforts.

• Introductory Remarks
  • Therese McMillan, FTA Deputy Administrator

• Speakers:
  • Lucy Garliauskas, Associate Administrator, Office of Planning and Environment
  • Cecelia Comito, Regional Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel
  • Maya Sarna, Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Planning and Environment

In May 2012, USDOT issued an updated Departmental Order, Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, for the first time since 1997.  This order was developed in response to the 1994 Presidential Order on environmental justice (EJ) and lays out how the department will address EJ in all its programs, policies, and activities.  In addition, FHWA released its own EJ order in June 2012, and FTA released a detailed EJ circular in July 2012 (separate from a Title VI circular in August).

These three EJ orders provide guidance to transportation agencies receiving federal funds on complying with the agency’s policies and regulations.  In the webinar, federal agency specialists reviewed how each of the new orders provide a significant legal framework for conducting transportation planning at the local level, within MPOs and RTPOs, and in state DOTs, as well as for consultants conducting work under contracts using federal funds.

View the slides here (PDF), or watch the recording below.

Addressing Environmental Justice in Transportation Planning Practice from NADO on Vimeo.

More resources on USDOT, FHWA, and FTA’s recent orders on environmental justice are here.
In addition, FTA will hold the webinar, “Environmental Justice: What does it mean?” on October 11, 1 – 3 p.m. ET.

To view PDF files, use Adobe Reader.

Rural and small town America face unique housing and transportation challenges.   While urban areas may be plagued with traffic congestion, rural areas more often face issues such as insufficient resources that impact the frequency and connectivity of transit access and service. Widely fluctuating gas prices and greater distances between employment, groceries and health services make good transportation choices essential.

This web training event focused on transportation and housing cost tools that can help illustrate the impact land use decisions have on household budgets and community economic vitality, and how to identify investment and planning opportunities to improve the livability of rural communities.  It will also introduce the Housing and Transportation Affordability Initiative, a joint HUD and DOT venture to develop tools and resources to help planners, consumers, and policy-makers make more informed decisions about where to invest scarce resources.

A new nationwide version of the Housing and Transportation Affordability Index, along with a Location Affordability Index tool, will be available from HUD later in 2012.  Visit http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/sustainable_housing_communities/housing_transaffinitiative for more details.

2011 Conference: To access the presentations from last year’s National Rural Transportation Peer Learning Conference, which was held in Washington, DC in August 2011, visit http://www.nado.org/rpo2011.

Otto explained the traditional roles of Vermont’s RPCs, including transportation, land use, emergency, and natural resource planning, as well as GIS mapping and analysis assistance. After Irene, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) requested help from the RPCs to restore the state’s transportation networks. This primarily involved assisting municipalities with tasks such as mapping, data collection, resource matching, communications, and technical assistance. In Vermont, counties are not responsible for maintaining roads and the towns are small—ranging from 250 to 9,000 in population in this area, with an average of 3,000—and often lack resources and capacity. The Southern Windsor County RPC was well-suited for this task because of existing relationships with local staff and other officials, as well as strong working relationships with state agencies and the network of RPCs helping each other.

Otto also identified areas where the recovery process could have been improved. First, there was no established role for RPCs to assist VTrans in this context. Some staff members lacked the appropriate knowledge and training for the assignments requested. The large size of the task often led to conflicting messages and an inundation of information, as well as changing expectations that made it difficult to keep up with the demanding process. Despite these challenges, the RPC was able to help towns restore a large proportion of their roads that were damaged.

The RPCs’ work was discussed further in the webinar Lessons Learned from Irene: Regional Planning Commission Involvement in Recovery of Vermont’s Transportation Network, which occurred in June 2012. For more information on the Southern Windsor County RPC, click here.

Return to Overview | Next >> Rita Seto, Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission (VT)

Following the severe flooding that damaged infrastructure, utilities, buildings, and communities, the Vermont Agency of Transportation asked the state’s RPCs to assist with mapping and data collection, resource matching, communications, help with FEMA Public Assistance, and technical assistance to communities.  Although these tasks were related to the transportation and hazard mitigation planning that RPCs regularly conduct, they went far beyond the typical scope of the RPCs’ training and work.  As a result, the members of VAPDA divided responsibilities, with organizations whose regions were less impacted providing support to those regions with more damage.

View the webinar recording below.

Download the speakers’ slides:

• Part I (large PDF)
• Part II (large PDF)

View the presentation slides without downloading the large files:

Contact NADO Associate Director Carrie Kissel at ckissel@nado.org or 202.624.8829 with questions or feedback.

Install Adobe Reader to view PDF files.