RTA 2026 Leadership Briefing and Field Visit to Annapolis and Suburban Maryland
Monday July 20 – Tuesday July 21, 2026
Noon on Monday, July 20 until 2 p.m on Tuesday, July 21st
The regional business community and RTA Maryland tour honorary co-chairs Patrick Norman, NCDOT Chief Engineer and Julie White, NCDOT Deputy Secretary for Multi-modal Transportation, welcome you to the 2026 RTA Leadership Briefing and Field Visit.
RTA’s first overnight out-of-market field visit in more than four years will happen on July 20 and 21. RTA and our partners will visit the Annapolis, Central Maryland, and Suburban Maryland area. We will have an opportunity to learn about and/or visit various examples of multimodal infrastructure and priorities, including:
- BRT
- Junior freeways
- Ramp management
- Transit policy
Confirmed tour participants as of 4.17.26
- Patrick Norman, NCDOT, Chief Engineer; Honorary co-chair, RTA Maryland Tour
- Julie White, NCDOT, Deputy Secretary for Multi-modal Transportation, Honorary co-chair, RTA Maryland Tour
- Becca Gallas, NCDOT, Division 5 Engineer
- Sarah Gaskill, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, RTA chair
- Joe Milazzo, RTA executive director
- Jacob Rigg, RTA membership operations coordinator
Registration pricing:
Prior to June 1, 2026:
- Public sector $ 765
- RTA member $1195
- Non-member (not available prior to June 1)
June 1 or later, 2026:
- Public sector $ 975
- RTA member $1395
- Non-member $1995
Tour registration includes: overnight hotel stay at group hotel, welcome lunch, afternoon snacks, evening reception, breakfast, closing lunch, all travel during the Maryland tour (other than to/from airport), and all tour programming and materials — plus excellent regional leadership conversations and insights. Note that travel from North Carolina to Maryland is not included in the above pricing.
Sponsorship opportunities and pricing:
Tour sponsor:
Price: $2000*, includes one tour registration and named recognition at the event
* Organizations registering 3+ attendees will automatically be recognized as tour sponsors
Premier sponsor:
Price: $3500*, includes one tour registration, logo recognition, plus speaking opportunity during event
Registration, sponsorship details and deadlines:
- Pre-registration for the tour is required, and space is limited
- No limit on registrations per public sector agency
- Maximum 3 registrations per RTA member firm until May 25, 2026
- RTA will open registrations to non-members on June 1, 2026 if space remains
- No cancellations after June 1, 2026; however, substitutions are permitted through July 16, 2026
- RTA membership required to sponsor the tour
Current tour sponsors:
- Amgen (RTA Omnia Gold member)
- Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina (RTA Omnia Gold member)
Draft tour agenda (subject to change):
- M 11a – 12n – arrival/networking
- M 12n – 1:30p – lunch session at hotel – BRT overview
- M 1:30p – 2p – break
- M 2p – 3p – travel to US 29 BRT visit
- M 3p – 4p – US 29 BRT field visit
- M 4p – 5p – travel to eastern shore
- M 5p – 6p – US 50 field visit on eastern shore, including trail
- M 6p – 8p – reception/crab house dinner
- M 8p – free time / networking
- —
- Tu 7:30a – 9a – check-out of hotel
- Tu 9a – 10a – working breakfast at hotel or near field site — briefing on US 50 ramp mgt
- Tu 10a – 10:30a – travel to US 50 field visit
- Tu 10:30a -11:30a – field visit on US 50 of ramp management and additional ramp area
- Tu 11:30a – 12n – return to hotel
- Tu 12n – 1:30p – final speaker or wrap-up lunch chat
- Tu 1:30p – program ends
- Jamie Henson, Montgomery County, Md. BRT Director
RTA
Regional Leadership Team
RTA Gold Members
Amgen
Dewberry
Duke Energy
First Citizens Bank
FUJIFILM Biotechnologies
Google
Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce
HDR
HH Architecture
IBM Corporation
Kane Realty
Kimley-Horn
Martin Marietta
McAdams
Pinnacle Financial Partners
Raleigh Chamber
Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority
Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina
The Spectrum Companies
Smith Anderson
Sunrock Industries LLC
United Therapeutics
VHB
Wake County Economic Development (EDGE6)
Wetherill Engineering, Inc
WSP
RTA Silver Members
Bolton & Menk
Capitol Broadcasting Co., Inc.
Chatham Park / Preston Development
Coastal Federal Credit Union
CSL Seqirus
DRMP
Duke University
Eagle Eye Consulting
Enbridge Gas
Fidelity Investments
First National Bank
Forge Nano
Fox Rothschild LLP
GFT
GoRaleigh / City of Raleigh
GoTriangle
Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau
Helix Ventures
KCI
KDC
Lenovo
North Carolina State University
Novo Nordisk
RTI International
SAS Institute Inc.
STV Inc.
TA Loving
The Umstead Hotel & Spa
TowneBank
Truist
UBS
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
Central Pines Regional Council
Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO
City of Durham
GoRaleigh / City of Raleigh
GoTriangle
Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority
Town of Cary
Town of Knightdale
Town of Morrisville
Town of Holly Springs
RTA Member Chambers
Angier Chamber of Commerce
Apex Chamber of Commerce
Benson Area Chamber of Commerce
Cary Chamber of Commerce*
The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro*
Chatham Chamber of Commerce
Clayton Chamber of Commerce
Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce*
Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce
Franklinton Chamber of Commerce
Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce
Garner Chamber of Commerce
Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce
Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce
Knightdale Chamber of Commerce
Moore County Chamber of Commerce
Morrisville Chamber of Commerce
Greater Raleigh Chamber*
Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce
Rolesville Area Chamber of Commerce
Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce
Sanford Area Growth Alliance
Triangle East Chamber of Commerce
Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce
Wayne County Chamber of Commerce
Wendell Chamber of Commerce
Wilson Chamber of Commerce
Zebulon Chamber of Commerce
* founding member chamber
RTA Bronze members
Acuity Design Group (ADG)
AT&T
AECOM
Alfred Benesch & Company
Atkins
Clancy & Theys Construction Company
Gregory Poole Equipment Company
Highwoods Properties
McKim & Creed
Pennoni
PNC
Strada Architecture
Summit Design and Engineering Services, PLLC
WakeMed Health & Hospitals
