Overview

Plan now to attend the National Regional Transportation Conference, June 17 - 19, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio!

This event provides peer-to-peer learning for regional transportation planners, state DOT representatives, and their local and private sector partners working in multiple transportation modes.

The conference provides training and networking opportunities on a variety of rural and small metropolitan transportation topics. With hands-on workshops, best practice panels, and facilitated networking sessions that feature peer trainers and expert speakers, the conference will offer training for organizations and individuals just beginning to work in transportation, as well as those with more experience.

This year, the National Regional Transportation Conference is co-located with the National CEDS Forum (June 18 - 20).  Some sessions will be held together.  Attendees who work on both transportation and economic development can register for both events, as space permits.

 

Registration

Registration for this event started on April 04, 2019 and is currently Open.

Fee Schedule:

• Early Bird Registration Rate (before May 17 ): $325
• Regular Registration Rate (after May 17 ): $375

Optional mobile workshop registration will cost $35 - $45 per workshop, to cover workshop costs such as transportation to off-site locations and a meal, if necessary due to workshop scheduling.

Event registration is open, using a new registration system.  If you have attended a prior NADO conference, try using your email address and the password you used in our old registration system.  If you do not remember your password, you can reset it.  If you are a new user, you can create an account.  Contact Ian Schramm at ischramm @ nado.org for registration assistance.

 

 

Register Online

Agenda & Presentations

The draft timeline for the National Regional Transportation Conference follows (subject to change; agenda will be updated with session descriptions and speaker names in the coming weeks).

Some sessions will be held jointly with the National CEDS Forum (June 18 - 20).

Monday, June 17

9:00 a.m. - Noon: Off-site Mobile Workshop: Freight and Economic Development (Additional $35 fee to cover transportation; pre-registration required)
Visit Rickenbacker Intermodal Facility and International Airport to learn how trucking, rail, and air freight serve shippers near and far from central Ohio and facilitate global trade.  Attendees will learn how this important freight facility has had a role in economic vitality, including the development of 75 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space.  Foreign Trade Zone 138 is headquartered at the airport and serves a 25-county region, reducing business costs and retaining jobs in metro and rural counties alike.  Additional fee will cover off-site transportation.

9:00 a.m. - Noon: On-site Workshop: RTPO Models Around the U.S.

9:00 - 10:15 a.m.: Regional Mobility and Intelligent Transportation Systems

10:30 - 11:45 a.m.: Mobility Approaches and Needs

Noon - 1:30 p.m.: Plenary Luncheon

1:45 - 2:45 p.m.: Concurrent breakout sessions

• Regional Intelligent Transportation Systems Noteworthy Practices
• Transportation Safety

3:00 - 4:00 p.m.: Concurrent sessions

• Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning
• Productivity Applications for Planning

4:15 p.m.: National RPO Council of Peers Meeting

5:15 p.m.: Networking reception, featuring Excellence in Regional Transportation Awards Roundtables

 

Tuesday, June 18

8:30 - 9:45 a.m.: Conversation Cafe facilitated networking session

10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Off-site Mobile Workshops

• Back from the Brink: A Visit to Wilmington, OH (Additional $45 fee to cover transportation and lunch; joint session with National CEDS Forum)
  In November 2008, Clinton County lost its largest employer when  the shipping company DHL ended operations there, leading to the loss of thousands of jobs almost overnight.  On this tour, learn how Wilmington and Clinton County have come back stronger from this economic shock by supporting local businesses, nurturing a regional food system, investing in renewable energy, and creating opportunities for young people to participate in local affairs.  Additional fee will cover off-site transportation and lunch.
• Advanced Transportation Technology Workshop (Additional $45 fee to cover transportation and lunch)
  Transportation technology is changing quickly, and small communities and rural regions have much at stake.  Visit Marysville, Ohio to learn how the small city is implementing connected infrastructure, including implementing the projects, agency roles, project benefits, and anticipated future results including transportation outcomes and economic development potential to the region.   Attendees will also visit the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, OH for a tour of facilities and Impact Lab and hear a presentation from staff from the center’s Applied Research Group.  Additional fee will cover off-site transportation and lunch.

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.: Concurrent sessions

• Addressing Regional Resilience Needs
• Improving Transportation Safety

11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.: Concurrent sessions

• Freight Planning
• Data and Analysis to Support Transportation Planning

12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: Lunch on Your Own

1:30 - 4:30 p.m.: On-site Workshops

• Community Engagement for Complete Communities (joint with National CEDS Forum)
  In our everyday lives, we interact with people who look, act, and think like us.  In the course of our jobs as planners, we interact with the public—that entire collection of human variability that exists in communities. To engage effectively, we are required to get outside our comfort zone and reach out to the entire collection of residents that make a complete community.  This workshop will present in an interactive format how a planner can develop a community engagement strategy based upon the five I's of public involvement--Identify, Invite, Inform, Involve, and Improve.  Workshop participants will be briefed on the concepts of environmental justice, recent public involvement tools and strategies, and then interact in groups to develop a public participation plan for a community scenario.  No additional fee required to participate, but pre-registration is recommended.
• Understanding and Addressing Substance Use Disorder (joint with National CEDS Forum)
  Learn about issues relating to substance use disorder (including opioid abuse), its connection to regional economic dynamics, and work with peers to identify steps to address addiction in your region through your organization's existing program areas.

 

Wednesday, June 19

9:00 - 10:15 a.m.: Concurrent sessions (joint with National CEDS Forum)

• Using Economic Information in Regional Planning
• Understanding Development Finance in Transportation and Economic Development

10:30 – 11:30 a.m.: Closing plenary session: Transportation and Economic Development Noteworthy Practices (Joint with National CEDS Forum)

11:30 a.m.: Conference adjourns

Travel & Venue

Sponsors & Exhibitors

Each year, this conference is attended by 125 - 150 individuals, most of whom are regional planning practitioners working on transportation, economic development, and other planning in rural and small metropolitan regions around the United States.  State agency staff and other planning partners also attend.  Sponsorship is designed to allow for optimal interaction with these audiences of attendees, as well as NADO's greater membership of regional planning and development organizations and their partners.

Click here (PDF) to check out our sponsor rates and complete a sponsorship interest form.  Contact NADO Associate Director Carrie Kissel for more information, at ckissel @ nado.org.  Other custom sponsor levels are also available.

To view PDFs, use a PDF viewer such as Adobe Reader.