News

RTA Members,

In this week’s weekly member briefing, we focus on our annual meeting, our electrification initiative, and a reminder about expanded train service in North Carolina.

Reserve your included tickets now — We are only two months to the 2025 RTA Annual Meeting

As an RTA member, you have one or more tickets included with your membership for our annual meeting. The event attracts hundreds of business, elected, and transportation officials, and we will kick off the new year with energy and focus, including remarks from NC Chamber CEO Gary Salamido and a recognition of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.

I encourage you to RSVP for the January 24th, 2025 luncheon event now, and potentially bring a colleague or client. Please contact RTA membership operations coordinator Jacob Rigg to register for the event or with any questions about event logistics, and reach out to me anytime.

Thank you to the members of the RTA Regional Leadership Team for their steadfast support of the organization and for making this year’s annual meeting possible. Thank you also to Amgen and the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina for serving as premier sponsors of the event, and to First Citizens Bank, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, IBM Corporation, Kane Realty, and The Sunrock Group for serving as event sponsors. Please let Jacob know if you are interested in having your company sponsor this year’s event.

Member recognition for supporting electrification

As we noted in last week’s briefing, if your company has taken one or more specific actions to support electrification in transportation, your firm can be recognized at the RTA annual meeting.  Just email RTA Membership Operations Coordinator Jacob Rigg to request recognition. See below for updated details; thank you to everyone who has already reached out on this topic.

A quick reminder about a fast train to Charlotte

As we noted in a prior blog, NCDOT Rail Division trains now have more frequency among our three intercity train stations in the core Triangle area (i.e., Durham, Cary, Raleigh), and improved travel time further west. Selected trains operate in metropolitan express mode, which delivers a trip between Durham and Charlotte of under 2.5 hours, and between Raleigh and Charlotte of under 3 hours. You can view our regional train schedules between Durham and Raleigh via:  letsgetmoving.org/TrainSchedule; click this link for Amtrak timetables to Charlotte.

Thank you for your support and membership.

Let’s get moving,
Joe

Electrification in Transportation

RTA member recognition initiative

RTA members,

* Please email RTA Membership Operations Coordinator Jacob Rigg if your firm is currently supporting electrification in transportation, in any one (or more) of the following ways, and would like to be recognized at our RTA Annual Meeting on January 24, 2025:

• Reserved parking for electric vehicles
• Charging stations for electric vehicles
• Electrifying portions of fleet
• Adding solar panels and other renewable energy sources to improve grid resilience
• Subsidized purchase of electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles, or hybrid vehicles
• Subsidized purchases of electric vehicle charging equipment at home
• Subsidized purchases of electric bicycles (e-bikes)
• Support for grid and load management efforts
• Design of transportation electrification systems or chargers
• Support / endorse access user fee based approach for sustainable funding for transportation to replace state gas tax and provide a level playing field for Electric Vehicles (EVs)
• (you may also suggest other elements)

Thank you for your support of business leadership for regional mobility.

Key points

• To be recognized, email Jacob with the specific way(s) your company is supporting electrification in transportation
• You may suggest other methods besides those listed above; please note that our focus is on electrification in transportation
• Any RTA member firm can participate in this initiative and be recognized

Initiative released:  November 15, 2024
Last revision:  November 22, 2024