News

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

RTA annual meeting – registration deadline

I look forward to seeing many of you on Thursday at our RTA 20th annual meeting. The registration deadline is Monday at 4 pm for catering and planning reasons. Please RSVP online here; call 919.664.7011 or email Iman Fullard with any questions about registration.

You can also still sponsor the event — you can even do so online; the cost is $999 and provides multiple reserved seats. You can also send me a note by Monday afternoon if you would like to sponsor the 20th annual meeting.

RTA’s top priority is… still RDU funding

After construction of Southern Wake 540 commenced in fall 2019, the regional business community announced that RTA’s top organizational priority would pivot to funding for RDU Airport.

Just under two years later, that is still the case. Advancing sustainable funding for RDU Airport is our highest organizational priority, and it will remain so until we get significant movement or resolution at the local, airport, or federal level, or a combination. 

As we noted in this week’s blog, our RTA RDU AID task force has been the centerpiece of our advocacy on this issue, including the release of recommendations at both our 18th annual meeting in January of last year and at our annual transportation breakfast event this summer, as well as a presentation to the RDU Airport Authority strategic planning committee earlier this month.

We will continue to partner with RDU leadership in the coming months as the the Authority board and staff carefully considers these and other revenue options.

Of course, RTA will certainly focus on other vital items for our region, including accelerating a metropolitan rapid transit system that includes a commuter rail spine, a bus rapid transit network, and a host of complementary elements.

We will speak to the importance of these and other priorities at our 20th annual meeting next week. I hope to see you there on November 4th in Cary.

Let’s get moving,

Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA Executive Director

Click here for prior RTA Member Briefings and RTA Blogs.