Preview: The 2023 Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization Transportation Forum on March 17

PlanRVA and ChamberRVA are partnering for the 2023 Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization Transportation Forum on Friday, March 17 to build momentum around big transportation ideas.

From the upcoming Fall Line Trail to public transportation expansions, the region’s leaders are working alongside community members to make our roads, trails and pedestrian infrastructure safer and more accessible for everyone. The forum is an opportunity to hear from transportation experts and learn how you can engage with transportation planning in our community.

For a preview of the event and why you should register, we caught up with PlanRVA’s Director of Transportation Chet Parsons, AICP CTP for a Q&A.

What can people expect to learn at The RRTPO Transportation Forum?

Making transportation projects a reality is a very complex process.  Although there are people in the region that focus on this type of development activity, most of us are not intimately aware of how these big ideas happen. The forum will help answer the following questions:

• Why are these ideas important?
• Why is it important to think regionally?
• What can we collectively do to advance these ideas?

The Transportation Forum is organized by the Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization. What is the RRTPO?

Created in 1974, the RRTPO helps facilitate collaboration and cooperation among residents and stakeholders related to planning and funding the future of the region’s transportation network. We consider regional transportation needs that aren’t limited by political boundaries and focus on the big vision ideas that will help deliver our region the quality of life that its residents deserve.

The RRTPO’s board is the only transportation organization in the Richmond region that includes elected officials from all nine of the region’s localities. It represents the city of Richmond,

town of Ashland and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover,

Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan.

The RRTPO develops long-range plans like ConnectRVA 2045 and supports regional transportation decision-making and other programs in areas including transportation finance, public transportation, active transportation, transportation safety, climate resilience and other emerging needs.

PlanRVA provides staffing to assist the RRTPO in its administration, project evaluation and prioritization, and other identified needs.

Why is it important for people to engage in regional transportation planning?

People should be interested in transportation planning because it is something that impacts us all.

While it may be more direct to be concerned about what is happening in your neighborhood, we are all connected through school, work, faith communities, sports, social organizations, and many other groups that are all dependent on a reliable and safe regional transportation network extending past our immediate surroundings.

Through the collaborative work of identifying and implementing high priority transportation needs across the region, we are able to develop a regional system that lifts up everyone towards a more prosperous, educated, equitable future.