2025 Transit Retreat: Recap

Last week, NABSA Membership & Engagement Director, Laura Mallonee, presented shared micromobility insights with rural transportation agencies in Des Moines, Iowa at the 4th Annual Transit Knowledge Sharing Retreat. The Transit Retreat is a 2-day educational event that supports rural, small urban, and demand-response transit and mobility providers across the country. Year-over-year the Transit Retreat has included shared micromobility content and has been a generator of excellent connections and conversation. 

Kicking off the event, NABSA joined National Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP), the Transit Workforce Center (TWC), the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC), Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) and Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility Technical Assistance Center (CCAM-TAC) for a session that highlighted each organization and shared their resources and educational materials. 

During a session focused on shared micromobility, NABSA presented alongside Jeremy Lewis with Des Moines Street Collective, Logan Spackman with ROAM Share and NABSA Board Member, and Alvaro Villagran with SUMC, about the impact of shared micromobility in small and rural communities. Discussions during the session highlighted the importance of public funding to support shared micromobility and how shared micromobility is flexible and scalable, making it a great choice for communities of any size.

Keynote speaker, Scott Marler, the Director of the Iowa Department of Transportation spoke about the value of biking and walking infrastructure, the aim for transportation to be multimodal, and the importance of making people’s lives better through transportation. In addition to shared micromobility, session content ranged from microtransit to workforce cultivation and engagement, mobility management coordination to bridging the gap between rural and urban transit, and so much more! The event also provided attendees the opportunity to tour the state of the art Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) Central Station and visit the bikeshare operations headquarters for the Des Moines Street Collective. Inspired by the NABSA Annual Conference, the Transit Retreat hosts their own version of the lightning round slideshow, providing attendees an opportunity to connect with each other and event sponsors with 1 minute introductions paired with a slide. 

Crawford Area Transportation Authority (CATA) Executive Director and retreat facilitator Tim Geibel says, “The Transit Retreat challenges attendees to build their professional network through engaging sessions, off-site group dinners that showcase the local flavor of our host city, and innovative ways to meet national partners and vendors.” NABSA was excited to participate in this event, contribute to the conversation, and make meaningful connections! 

If you are interested in reading about shared micromobility in rural and small communities, check out our recent blog post about how shared micromobility isn’t just for big cities.