RTA Brunch event – 10 takeaways
It was wonderful to join nearly 300 regional colleagues from business, transportation, and government for our annual RTA Transportation Brunch gathering last week.
One of the highlights was our keynote address from Andrew Miller, Ph.D., who offered his perspectives on transportation innovation and on our polycentric market. His presentation was an excellent followup to the remarks from several members of our RTA Steering Committee, including RTA chair Sarah Gaskill with FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, Travis Crayton with the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, and past chair Harold Hicks with RTI International. See below for a few quick takeaways from the event. Please read this week’s blog to view all 10 summary takeaways, along with media coverage and event photos.
RTA 2026 Brunch – a few quick takeaways
- Our market is foundationally polycentric, which requires a commitment to effective, reliable cross-regional connections for continued economic success.
- Driving will increase, and congestion will increase, because automation will make driving more attractive, for more trips, and for more people.
- The exchange station makes sense and is essential. If we think about links and nodes, an exchange is the nodal counterpart of a dedicated lane for a transit link.
- Our region needs to deliver – quickly – on our regional mobility infrastructure investments. The longer projects take, the more uncertain and risky their completion becomes.
Please mark your calendar – RTA 25th Annual Meeting is next.
We had a great Brunch last week, with an opportunity to connect with a host of around 300 regional leaders in business, transportation, and government. While each major RTA event is different, they are increasingly having one thing in common: they are selling out.
We have now opened registration for our 25th annual meeting, which will be held on Friday, January 29, 2027. If you are an RTA member, you have one or more tickets included with your membership. However, you do need to register, so please do so when the opportunity permits.
Please connect with my colleagues Jacob Rigg or Alea Morales today, with any registration questions about our 25th annual meeting.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support of regional business leadership on transportation.
Let’s get moving,
Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA executive director
