About Us

The Connecticut Department of Transportation uses federal funds (section 5311) to operate the Statewide Rural Transit Assistance Program. The CTRTAP Program is designed to offer training, technical assistance and support to the state’s non-urbanized areas. The goal of providing this assistance is to improve mobility and access to transportation services for those residents of the state living in areas where the population is under 50,000. 

The statewide program is supported by National RTAP. The national program recognizes the need for transit systems in communities with populations under 50,000 and understands that these types of systems require special skills and knowledge in order to provide quality service in these unique areas. National RTAP develops and distributes training materials, provides technical assistance, generates reports, publishes best practices, conducts research and offers Peer Assistance to rural transit providers.

The CTRTAP program is designed to help rural providers in Connecticut make the best use of the national resources and to enhance the national program with training and information geared specifically to the rural transit districts in Connecticut.

The Connecticut Statewide RTAP Program supports the state’s rural transit providers by providing a number of services including:       

• Helping to ensure compliance with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5311(b)(3) regulations
• Processing annual scholarship requests from rural providers to attend training programs
• Facilitating the improvement of public transportation in Connecticut
• Developing marketing programs to promote the use of public transportation
• Providing annual training programs to consortium participants on areas of interest