IPTA Fall Conference

Last week many of you joined Terri Finn and Jaime Blatti at the Illinois Public Transportation Association’s (IPTA) 2011 Fall Conference at the Eagle Ridge Resort in Galena, Illinois. We spent several days being immersed in transportation initiatives whether in regards to efficiency, funding, sustainability, and policy just to name a few key subjects. It was great to see everyone there having conversations, making plans to improve their services through collaboration and coordination, learning new ways to expand service in rural regions such as sub state 9, 10, and 11, and talking about how to improve service for our current and future clients.

Four break out sessions included “Going Green” with presentations by Dave Moore and Amy Snyder from Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District and Darwin Burkhart from Illinois Emergency Management Agency; “Funding Transit Needs of an Aging Population” presented by Mary Leary from Easter Seals; “Socializing about Social Media” presented by Joe Arco from Comtech Corporation, Tavares Williams and Dennis Avelar from PACE, and Amy Snyder from Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District. The last session was “FTA Grant process Overview” presented by Dominick Gatto and David Werner from the Federal Transit Agency.

If you would like any further information on these presenters or their presentations please contact Jaime Blatti at jblatti@scirpdc.com.

We would also like to point out the importance of our legislators that joined us in support of transportation, that continue to fight for Illinois public transportation. These persons include Janet Kavinoky, US Chamber of Commerce; Christine Johnson, State Senator and Robert Rita, State Representative.