ARTBA to host national workshop for transportation advocates

Washington, D.C. — The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is hosting a July 16 event in the nation’s capital for transportation advocates to gather “best practices” and learn “playbook secrets” that were critical to the recent success of high-profile road, bridge and public transit funding victories in several key states.

The “National Workshop for State & Local Transportation Advocates,” held at the Washington Court Hotel, is being organized for state and local “better roads and transportation” groups, labor unions, transportation infrastructure design and construction state associations, and the state and major metro area Chambers of Commerce who, collectively, typically fund and lead these initiatives.

The program will provide detailed, behind-the-scenes insight from policymakers, public opinion researchers, public relations professionals, campaign strategists, stakeholders and other experts who helped achieve major funding increases in Virginia and Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Speakers will outline how they overcame political challenges, built coalitions, and created effective advertising and messaging strategies. Participants will also discuss the latest developments in transportation funding — including P3s — from across the country and take away plenty of information to help with their own advocacy efforts.

The workshop is a signature initiative of the ARTBA “Transportation Investment Advocacy Center” (TIAC), a “one-stop shop” for advocates launched earlier this spring. The cornerstone of the center is its dynamic website, www.transportationinvestment.org. It features 39 detailed case studies of recent transportation funding campaigns — both successful and unsuccessful — mounted in 28 states. It also includes the television, radio and print ads, polling data, and media and coalition strategies used in the campaigns; a regularly updated blog; and an overview of funding and financing mechanisms utilized to support state and local transportation programs.

Registration for the workshop is $250. To see the full program schedule, visit: www.transportationinvestment.org.