Regional Transportation Alliance Leader Honored

Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, was recently honored by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce with the Chair's Award for Public Private Partnership.

Full citation of the award presentation is below. 

Photo by Carter Hubbard

Now 14 years as the executive director of their organization, this individual convenes elected officials, senior government staff, technical experts, and the business leaders to solve problems. He is delightfully impatient and jokes that the mission of his organization is not “Let’s get ready to” nor “Let’s think about doing something,” nor “Why don’t we study this, but not do it.”  Instead, the impactful motto of his organization is “Let’s Get Moving.”   Please join me in recognizing the CEO of one of this region’s most relevant and effective business leadership organization, The Regional Transportation Alliance’s Joe Milazzo, the recipient of the 2017 Chair’s Award for Public Private Partnership. 

When you are on the road—whether in your car, on the bus, on the sidewalk, or even the shoulder—you should think of and thank Joe Milazzo. RTA is a chamber of commerce-based regional business leadership and advocacy group focused on advancing transportation policy, priority, and funding solutions in our entire region. Under Joe’s leadership, RTA has successfully advocated for the construction, enhancement, and advancement of more than 250 miles of freeway and improvements at seven existing or proposed interchanges. He also spearheaded the Multimodal 54 initiative, which ensures that Chapel Hill and Carrboro are not cut off from the rest of the Triangle region. Joe launched the Air Service Advancement Project (ASAP) private sector marketing initiative as well, culminating in a Paris flight in 2016, making RDU the only non-hub U.S. airport with two nonstop transatlantic flights. Additionally, Joe coordinated the creation of our state’s first “Bus on Shoulder System” or “BOSS” to reduce transit travel times between Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh, now including 60 shoulder miles as one of the largest BOSS systems in the United States. 

Congratulations, Joe—what a BOSS you are! We’re grateful for your leadership in the region and in our Chamber.

(Thanks to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber for the citation. See a full list of winners and more here.)

Photo credit: @Brett_Bushnell (Twitter)

Learn more about RTA

A program of the Greater Raleigh Chamber, the Regional Transportation Alliance is a membership group of nearly 100 companies across the Triangle and 23 member chambers of commerce in central North Carolina. It is the regional business voice for transportation initiatives and policies including strategic funding, transit, freeways, streets, air service, and rail.
 
Learn more at www.letsgetmoving.org. Follow RTA on Twitter at @RTATriangle.