6th National RTAP Conference in Austin, TX

The National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP)  invites you to participate in the 6th National RTAP Conference, Wrangling Access and Mobility in Rural and Tribal Transit, to be held December 7-10, 2025, in Austin, TX at the Hyatt Regency Austin.  The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is the conference co-sponsor.

Lillian Karabaic will deliver the keynote presentation at our conference. She is the host of Oregon Public Broadcasting's Weekend Edition and also hosted Stop Requested, a series about traveling around Oregon on Public Transit.

Please consider submitting a presentation proposal to be included in one of 30 breakout conference sessions.  Conference workshops and panels will occur in five routes (see below). We welcome presentations of interest to our audience of rural and tribal transit managers, rural and regional planners, intercity bus operators, State DOT, FTA, researchers, and others with an interest in rural or tribal transportation. Presentation proposals should address how transportation services impact lives and create measurable benefits in communities. 

Summaries will be reviewed by the conference planning committee; you will be contacted once a decision is made about your proposed presentation or if more information is needed. We expect to send acceptance notifications by mid-May 2025.

Five Topical Conference Tracks, plus preconference/conference workshops

• Administration and Compliance
• Coordination and Planning
• Operations and Technology
• Training and Guidance
• Innovations and Research
• Workshops
• Grant Writing
• Financial Management
• Planning
• Others
  

Relevant Perspectives

• Rural public transit
• Intercity bus
• Tribal transit
• Mobility management
• Infrastructure
• Marketing
• Compliance
• Coordination
• Technology
• Veterans
• Etc.
  

What is a Session Summary?

A Session Summary is a brief paragraph describing what you propose to present. We suggest you highlight the practical lessons you would share with our audience. Please be sufficiently specific. Please also avoid any product or professional services focused presentations.  We’d love to hear how your services are implemented but will not accept commercials.

Call for Student Poster Submissions 

Students are invited to submit a poster for the 6th National RTAP Conference to be shown on December 7, 2025 in Austin, TX. Posters for consideration must be sent by October 1, 2025 to info@nationalrtap.org and students must be able to present their posters in-person.