News

Here is a brief weekly update from the RTA business coalition – the voice of the regional business community on transportation.

Join the RTA tour – early deadline is today
Together with our chamber partners from Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, we are pleased with the response to our June 2019 tour. More than 40 elected, business, and community officials have registered for the tour, and we would love to have you or a colleague join us on this vital initiative to jumpstart the next steps for transit, particularly in the western Triangle, and to enhance and accelerate regional connectivity. This week’s blog post offers a preview of what we will see and hear during our visit. The cost to attend is $595, but will go up a bit starting tomorrow. You can learn more about registration and sponsorship opportunities here, or sign-up directly here.

Durham Chamber hosts a mid-year transportation update
The RTA State of Mobility is a great opportunity to get up to speed at the beginning of the year (our next one will be 1/17/20) – but thanks to our partners at the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce you don’t have to wait until January. As part of their series at RTP, they are hosting a regional transportation update next Friday morning, May 31, at RTP HQ. I will be presenting, along with chamber CEOs Geoff Durham from Durham and Aaron Nelson from Chapel Hill and Carrboro. We will be speaking about current happenings on transportation in the region, and give a preview of our joint June tour to Virginia. You can register here for the RTP event; use this code SeriesVIP to get a free admission as an RTA member.
 
Successful RTA business briefing with RDU
More than 80 RTA members and partners participated in a behind-the-scenes, deep dive on the future of RDU Airport this week. The event included remarks from our airport CEO Michael Landguth and the CEO of the Nashville, TN airport, as well as federal and state legislative discussions. We were even able to walk along the primary runway! RDU funding will be an increasing priority of RTA going forward. Some of the primary takeaways I heard from our attendees:  RDU punches above its weight in terms of flights and destinations, and is growing far above projections from even a few years ago; RDU’s vision 2040 initiative is a solid airport infrastructure game plan but we need to accelerate its implementation; federal funding frameworks are currently unfavorable to airports such as RDU and cannot can’t solve our problem. 

Thank you for your membership in the region’s business voice on transportation!Let’s get moving, 

Joe

Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA Executive Director