October 8, 2014--National RTAP announced today that three state department of transportation (DOT) representatives and one rural transit operator have been appointed as new members of the National RTAP Review Board.   

The Department of Transportation representatives are:  

• Ms. Michele Nystrom, Rural Transit Group Leader in the Division of Intermodal Programs at the Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta, GA
• Mr. Dean Nakagawa, Planning Program Administrator in the Statewide Transportation Planning Office at the Hawaii Department of Transportation, Honolulu, HI
• Mr. Bruce Lindholm, Program Manager at the South Dakota Department of Transportation, Pierre, SD

The transit operator representative is: 

• Ms. Charla Sloan, Transit Director at Ki Bois Area Transit System, Stigler, OK

The National RTAP Review Board provides in-depth expertise and local perspectives to ensure that National RTAP products and services are of the highest quality, easily accessible, and useable by local transit operators and state RTAP managers. The four new members will join nine sitting members, both state DOT representatives and transit operators, from West Virginia, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Mississippi, Illinois, Delaware, Alaska, Washington and Tennessee.

National RTAP is a program of the Federal Transit Administration administered by the Neponset Valley Transportation Management Association and serves as the national arm for the Rural Transit Assistance Program. The mission of National RTAP is to improve mobility in all rural, small urban and tribal communities across the country through technical assistance. Since its inception in 1987 National RTAP has developed and distributed training materials, provided technical assistance, generated reports, published best practices, conducted research and offered Peer Assistance with the goal of improved mobility for the millions of Americans living in communities with populations under 50,000.