New Mexico Local Technical Assistance Program
The New Mexico LTAP History
Around 1985, the New Mexico Rural Technical Assistance Program (NMRTAP) began to help local and tribal transportation agencies learn about maintaining and improving their roads. This was done by providing modern training and sharing innovative and low cost solutions with our clients. Then the transportation needs of the clients began to change and the role of the RTAP Centers needed to reflect the changes occurring at the local and national levels.
This transformation occurred in 1991. The New Mexico Local Technical Assistance Program (NMLTAP) began providing its services to the entire state of New Mexico. This was due to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and its provisions. This Act authorized all LTAP Centers, including NMLTAP, to expand their services to include urbanized areas with populations between 50,000 and 1 million.
This new comprehensive Act is satisfying the duties similar performed by RTAP. And it is broadening NMLTAP’s services to address such unique urban problems like traffic signals, congestion management, and traffic management systems through quality training and the transferring of technology.
New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) fund NMLTAP jointly. Northern New Mexico College, Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell, and NMDOT Training Center are an integral part of the education team transferring current technology and providing appropriate training to local governments to increase the cost effectiveness of their road maintenance and repairs.
Federal requirements necessitate that NMLTAP maintain a current mailing list, prepare and distribute a quarterly newsletter, distribute technology transfer materials, and provide local and tribal road officials with requested technical assistance, trainings, and workshops. There are nearly 1,000 technical publications and over 75 videotapes available through the center's Multi-Media Library. Publications and tapes cover topics such as seal coats, potholes, work zone traffic control, motor grader operations, and roadway drainage. Most everything in the Loan, Resource, and Multi-Media Libraries are usually obtained free of charge. The videotape listing is being revised to delete tapes of poor audio/visual quality and new tapes are going to be added to the collection. The new additions will be listed in the "Approach" each quarter. Hopes are NMLTAP will have loaned over 250 videos by the end of this fiscal year.
NMLTAP is collaboration between FHWA, NMDOT, and the local and tribal entities of New Mexico. FHWA and NMDOT provide the funding, NMLTAP provides the expertise and information, and the local and tribal entities provide new ideas, requests, and feedback.
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