Staff
New Staff
 SURTC hired Carol Wright as associate director responsible for training and outreach.
Wright received her B.S. in Speech/English/Education at North Dakota State University in 1975, and went on to complete her M.S. in Human Development and Education/Gerontology in 1994, also at NDSU.
For nearly 12 years, Wright had been the executive director of James River Transit and Wells/Sheridan Transit in Jamestown, ND. She was responsible for all aspects of public transportation including urban transit, rural transit, specialized transit, Dial-A-Ride and contracted services in the three-county area surrounding Jamestown.
She is currently a board member of the Community Transportation Association of America and past president of the Dakota Transit Association.
She was certified in 2005 by the Community Transportation Association of America as a Community Transit Manager. In addition, she was also certified as a Passenger Service and Safety (PASS) Trainer in 2005.
 Xinyu (Jason) Cao recently joined SURTC as an associate research fellow.
In 1998, Cao received his B.S. in civil engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He earned his M.S. in civil engineering from the same university in 2001. In 2005, he received his M.S. in statistics from the University of California-Davis. Also at the University of California-Davis, he recently completed his Ph.D. in civil engineering with an emphasis on transportation planning. In addition, he completed a University of California Transportation Center Dissertation Fellowship.
At SURTC, Cao will research transit-oriented development and solutions in small urban and rural transit. In the past he has done research on land use and transportation planning, alternative fuel vehicles and information communication technology.
Some of Cao's current research projects include mobility for the disadvantaged in North Dakota, the time-space structure of Chinese urban residents and a pavement noise study.
Carol Wright, SURTC's associate director of training and outreach, is serving on a steering committee to develop a Human Services Coordinated Transportation Plan.
The NDDOT assembled the committee which also includes representatives from the NDDOT, the ND Department of Human Services – Aging Services Division, the ND Department of Commerce, Community Action, the Bismarck Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the City of Fargo Metropolitan Area Transportation, Bis-Man Transit, the Fargo Senior Commission Transportation, and the Grand Forks MPO. The committee is chaired by Wade Kline of the Fargo Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments.
"With my background in rural transportation and in my capacity with SURTC, I'll be representing rural transit providers on the committee," Wright noted. She served as director of James River Transit in Jamestown before joining SURTC.
In August 2005, Congress passed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) reauthorizing the surface transportation act. As part of this reauthorization, grantees under the New Freedom Initiative, Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and the Elderly and Disabled Transportation Program (Section 5310) must meet certain requirements in order to receive funding for FY 2007 and beyond. One of those requirements is that projects must be part of a "locally developed, coordinated public transit-human services transportation plan." This plan must be developed through a process that includes representatives of public, private, and non-profit transportation services, human services providers and the general public.
The North Dakota committee had its first meeting in Bismarck in September and a telephone conference mid-November. The committee is responsible for addressing application criteria and the process by which projects will be funded.
The NDDOT will conduct a statewide competitive selection process for the JARC, New Freedom and Section 5310 funds. This will be accomplished in coordination with the state's Metropolitan Planning Organizations in the urban areas and with the Regional Development/Planning Councils (RDCs) and Community Action Agencies in rural areas. The goal is for the NDDOT to use a panel of planning partners to assist in reviewing and ranking projects to be funded.
Proposed partners may include representatives from the NDDOT Transit and Local Government Divisions, the ND Department of Commerce, the three metropolitan planning organizations, the ND Department of Human Services, and the non-profit/non-government sector. This committee will make recommendations for awarding grant funds, and the final decision ultimately will rest with the administration of the North Dakota Department of Transportation.
 Jill Hough, Director of the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center, was recently appointed to the Transit Cooperative Research Program Project Panel (J-11) on American Public Transportation Association-Related Research by the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board executive committee.
Hough will bring an academic perspective to the panel and provide technical guidance and counsel for transit-related research projects and input on potential projects and research methods. The panel provides direction for public transportation at the national level.
Hough has more than 15 years experience in transportation research. She currently serves on the TCRP Oversight and Project Selection (TOPS) Committee, on the TCRP Panel on Rural/Small Urban Transit Agency Salary Structures, Policies and Procedures (F-12), and on the TCRP Synthesis of Transit Practices Program, participating in a Synthesis of Paratransit Managers' Skills, Qualifications and Needs (SF-12). She is also a board member of the National Transit Institute.
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