RTA Transportation Breakfast 2023

This page is for the event held in July 2023.

Click here for the next RTA transportation brunch event, scheduled for August 6, 2024.

RTA Transportation Breakfast 2023
Launching BRT Across the Triangle
Friday, July 21, 2023
7:30 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Westin Raleigh-Durham Airport  (note new location for 2023)
3931 Macaw Street, Raleigh, NC

[Just off the Lumley Rd exit of I-540, in the Brier Creek area; see below for directions]

View photos from the July 2023 event

Read front page news coverage of the event in the Raleigh News&Observer

View the presentation from the event, including BRT in Raleigh and Chapel Hill and the FAST study by NCDOT.
[Raleigh BRT slides 19-30]
[Chapel Hill slides 31-35]
[NCDOT FAST Study slides 36-44]

View the list of attendees from the event

RTA held an insightful conversation with elected and business leaders around the regional launch of BRT – “bus rapid transit” as well as “Buses Resembling Trains” – and hear about a complementary study of Freeway, Arterial, Street, and Tactical (FAST) transit that will link 5 BRT corridors together and directly serve RDU Airport.

Attendees joined more than 250 community leaders who are devoted to staying on the forefront of the region’s key challenges and opportunities. The RTA Transportation Breakfast is an annual regional business community mainstay event you do not want to miss.

Elected official panelists included:

  • Mary-Ann Baldwin, mayor, City of Raleigh
  • Harold Weinbrecht, mayor, Town of Cary
  • Leonardo Williams, Durham City Council
  • Michael Parker, Chapel Hill Town Council
  • Vivian Jones, mayor of Wake Forest and chair, Capital Area MPO
  • Butch Lawter, chair, Johnston County Board of Commissioners
  • Susan Evans, vice chair, Wake County Board of Commissioners
  • Mike Dasher, vice chair, Chatham County Board of Commissioners
  • Sally Greene, Orange County Board of Commissioners

Business and transportation leader panelists included:

  • Jay Irby, First Citizens Bank, RTA chair
  • Donald Gintzig, Wake Med Health and Hospitals
  • Scott Levitan, Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina
  • Gordon Merklein, UNC Chapel Hill
  • Than Austin, NC State University
  • Bill Sandifer, RDU Airport Authority
  • Brandon Jones, NCDOT Division 5
  • Sig Hutchinson, chair, GoTriangle
  • Ellen Beckmann, Durham County

BRT and FAST Transit overview presenters:

  • David Eatman, City of Raleigh
  • Het Patel, City of Raleigh
  • Brian Litchfield, Town of Chapel Hill
  • John Vine-Hodge, NCDOT Integrated Mobility Division

You can watch a brief video containing panelist remarks about BRT in the Triangle here.

Presenting sponsor:  Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina

Event Sponsors:  Credit Suisse; Martin Marietta, Town of Cary

Directions to RTA Transportation Breakfast 2023 at Westin Raleigh-Durham Airport

  • I-540 to exit 3 / Lumley Rd.
  • From EB 540 (i.e., from I-40): Left onto Lumley at end of off-ramp, then right at next signal onto Arco Corporate Drive…
  • From WB 540 (i.e., from US 70): Straight across Lumley at end of off-ramp onto Arco Corporate Drive…
  • Once on Arco Corporate Drive, travel 3/4 mile to first stop sign at Macaw Street
  • Left onto Macaw Street, travel less than 1/4 mile
  • Westin hotel and parking is on left side

RTA
Regional Leadership Team

RTA Gold Members
AECOM
Amgen
Clark Nexsen
Duke Energy
First Citizens Bank
Google
Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce
HDR
IBM Corporation
Kane Realty
Kimley-Horn
McAdams
Pinnacle Financial Partners
Raleigh Chamber
Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority
Red Hat, Inc.
Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina
Smith Anderson
The SunRock Group
United Therapeutics
VHB
Wake County Economic Development  (EDGE6)
Wetherill Engineering, Inc
WSP

RTA Silver Members
AT&T North Carolina
Bolton & Menk
Capitol Broadcasting Co., Inc.
Chatham Park / Preston Development
Coastal Federal Credit Union
Credit Suisse
Dominion Energy
Duke University
Fidelity Investments
First National Bank
Forge Nano
Fox Rothschild LLP
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies
GoTriangle
Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau
KDC
Lenovo
Martin Marietta
MetLife
ms consultants, inc.
North Carolina State University
Novo Nordisk
Ramey Kemp & Associates, Inc.
RATIO
RTI International
SAS Institute Inc.
Stewart
STV Inc.
The Spectrum Companies
The Umstead Hotel & Spa
TowneBank
TranSystems
Truist
UNC Chapel Hill
UNC Health
Wake Technical Community College
Westin Raleigh-Durham Hotel
York Properties, Inc./McDonald-York Building Company

RTA Senior Regional Partners
Capital Area MPO
Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO
City of Durham
GoRaleigh / City of Raleigh
GoTriangle
Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority
Town of Cary
Town of Morrisville
Town of Holly Springs
Triangle J Council of Governments

RTA Bronze members
Accuro
Alfred Benesch & Company
Atkins
Avison Young
Biogen
Clancy & Theys Construction Company
Dewberry
Gregory Poole Equipment Company
HH Architecture
Highwoods Properties
McKim & Creed
PNC
Strada Architecture
Summit Design and Engineering Services, PLLC
WakeMed Health & Hospitals

Gold members

Thank you to our Omnia Gold, Sustaining Gold, and Gold members

Omnia Gold