About the Conference

The National Working Summit on Transportation in Rural America was held Sept. 7-9, 2016 in Denver, CO. It was hosted by the National Center for Rural Road Safety (Safety Center) and sponsored by AASHTO and the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) at Rutgers.

As you are well aware, transportation moves rural America. Rural communities need safe, viable road and multi-modal systems to move people from place to place; and to move goods and services to markets, often across long distances.

This summit brought together key leaders and grassroots stakeholders to articulate important safety and transportation issues that impact economic prosperity and quality-of-life in rural areas, and to identify collaborative opportunities to develop and advocate for initiatives that advance the deployment of a safe, efficient, seamless, and financially sustainable rural transportation network.

3 days, 10 discussion topics, 1 white paper = Defining the Future for Safe Rural Transportation in America

2016 National Working Summit on TranspoMoving Rural America Agendartation in Rural America Attendees

• Moving Rural America Postcard (PDF)
• Moving Rural America Brochure (PDF)
• Moving Rural America Agenda (PDF)

Summit Presentations

Some of our presenters and facilitators used powerpoint/notes. We have provided links below to the ones in which we received written permission to post them. We do hope to receive permission for a few more and will post them as they become available.

Wednesday, 9/7

• Agency Perspectives in Rural Transportation: What Role does Safety Play?
  • Welcome Remarks – Steve Albert, National Center for Rural Road Safety/Western Transportation Institute
    • Welcome Audio File (MP3) 
    • Closing for Opening Session Audio Files (MP3)
  • Federal Perspective (PDF, MP3) – Mike Griffith, FHWA
  • Center for Disease Control (PDF, MP3) – David Sleet, CDC/ONDIEH/NCIPC
  • State Perspective (MP3) – Shailen Bhatt, Colorado DOT and Chair, AASHTO Subcommittee on Transportation System Management & Operations
  • County Perspective (MP3) – Cindy Bobbit, Grant County, Oklahoma, Central Regional Representative, NACo Executive Committee
• Overview of Rural Challenges: Setting the Stage (Moderator – Gina Espinosa-Salcedo, NHTSA)
  • Alternative Transportation – David Kack, Western Transportation Institute and Linda DuPriest, LDP Strategies
  • Freght – Darrin Roth, Director of Highway Operations, American Trucking Association
  • Technology/Connected Vehicle – Blaine Leonard, Utah Department of Transportation
  • Federal Lands – Steve Suder, US FWS
  • Tribal – Kirk Vinish, Lummi Nation
  • First Responders – Daniel Dytchkowskyj, Vice Chair, Transportation Safety Advancement Group

Thursday, 9/8

• Keynote Speaker – Mark Glaser, Author, “58 Feet – The Second that Changed Our Lives”
• Concurrent Silo Sessions
  • Commerce and Freight in the Rural Environment (Facilitators – Oana Deselnicu and Tim Kirby, Colorado Department of Transportation)
  • Design, Construction, Operations & Management (Facilitator – Brian Roberts, Executive Director, National Association of County Engineers)
  • Enabling Rural Emergency Responders (Facilitators – Daniel Dytchkowskyj, Vice Chair, Transportation Safety Advancement Group)
  • Exploring Common Obstacles to Increasing Agency Safety Culture and Best Practices to Overcome Them (Facilitators – William Schell, phD and Nicolas Ward, PhD, Montana State University)
  • The Effects and impacts of Safety on Tourism (Facilitator – Linda MacIntyre, National Park Service DSC)
• Overview of Silo Session Outcomes (Moderator – Steve Albert, National Center for Rural Road Safety/Western Transportation Institute)
• Concurrent Cross Group Sessions
  • Economic Development (Facilitator – Michael Parks, Brazos Valley Council of Governments)
  • Liability (Facilitators – Linda DuPriest, LDP Strategies and David Kack, Western Transportation Institute)
  • Policy and Coordination (Facilitators – Doug Shinkle, Amanda Essex and Anne Tiegen, National Conference of State Legislatures)
  • Toward Zero Deaths (Facilitators – Marie Walsh, Louisiana LTAP and Robert Hull, Cambridge Systematics)
  • Transportation Work Force Development (Facilitators – Steve Albert, Western Transportation Institute)

Friday, 9/9

• Overview of Cross Group Outcomes (Moderator – Jaime Sullivan, National Center for Rural Road Safety)
• Next Steps Panel Discussion (Moderator – Hillary Isebrands, FHWA Resource Center)
• Closing Keynote – Jill Ryan, Eagle County Commissioner, Colorado

Post-summit Information

• Post-summit Webinar – The Safety Center’s November 2016 webinar provided a recap of the summit and highlighted the outcomes of the white paper.
• TRB/White Paper – “On the Road to Zero, We Cannot Ignore Rural”

Summit in the News

• Safety Center Press Release (PDF)
• NACE Sept. 2016 Newsletter