Member Briefing: July 17, 2020
- July 20, 2020
- Posted by: Joe Milazzo II
- Category: Member briefing
Here is a brief weekly update from the RTA business coalition — the voice of the regional business community on transportation.
FAST study – your thoughts on preliminary findings
The regional business community supports the rapid implementation of enhanced regional transit that provides effective, all-day mobility options across the Triangle. Together with our fellow funding partners GoTriangle and NCDOT, we have activated a Freeway And Street-based Transit (FAST) study, and we released preliminary findings from that study this week. You can download the entire presentation deck here ; we welcome and encourage feedback throughout the 45-day comment period, open through August 31. The FAST concept has already received strong press coverage (see sidebar), and it will also be a primary topic at our virtual Breakfast event on August 4 (see below).
RTA Breakfast is virtual – but the deadline to sign-up remains real
The content for our virtual Transportation Breakfast on Aug. 4 should be excellent, including consultant updates on both the FAST study as well as our zero fare pilot study. Several business leaders including RTA chair Maeve Gardner with GSK, RTA transit chair Jay Irby with First Citizens Bank, and RTP CEO Scott Levitan will be on an executive panel. Please sign-up here by July 31 to participate in the event. I also want to thank RTA members VHB, Stantec, and Catalyst Design for their excellent work on the FAST study; the same goes for RTA member HDR on the zero fare pilot study.
RDU, comfort, and returning to the skies
Our partners at RDU are working hard to make the “new normal” flying experience both safe and comfortable. They have released an excellent “Fly Confident” video and webpage that will help each of us when we return to the skies. Flight usage continues to rise; hopefully that will continue to be the case over the next several months and beyond. Life involves calculated risk, and connecting people and places is what RDU and its partner carriers do every day. Maintained and restored air service also creates economic opportunity for our region, and jobs create livelihoods and save lives.
Thank you for strengthening the voice of the regional business community as a member of the RTA!
Let’s get moving,
Joe
Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA Executive Director
