We're 72 hours away from IBTTA's 2022 Road Usage Charging (RUC) & Finance Conference (May 15-17 in Denver, CO). This is shaping up to be the biggest finance conference in the event's history, with more than 350 attendees from more than 130 organizations currently registered to join us in Denver.
The conference's popularity can be chalked up to a number of different factors, starting off with the location. Denver is a vibrant city with enough options for dining, recreation and entertainment to suit anyone’s tastes. As a whole, Denver is home to scenic parks and cityscapes, numerous attractions like Coors Field, the Denver Zoo and the Denver Botanic Gardens, and any number of other excellent spots to visit. For the RUC & Finance Conference specifically, however, the hotel where the event is happening is right in the middle of Denver’s bustling downtown—it’s a short walk away from Larimer Square, historic Union Station and—we’re not making this up—the Denver Selfie Museum. Whatever you’re into, whether it’s shopping or selfies or anything else, the surrounding city will have lots of options to occupy your unscheduled time between each day’s program.
Beyond just the conference destination, the RUC & Finance Conference’s record-setting attendee figures are a testament to how much the transportation world is focused on road usage charging as a solution to the financing gap left by the gas tax. It's also an endorsement of the program, which splits the difference between a world-class industry event and an academic conference. On the industry side, the program features presentations and panels from leaders in the field on hot topics like RUC basics, how tolling and RUC can coexist, the role of technology in implementing RUC programs, jurisdictional differences and communications strategies for organizations implementing RUC. On the academic side, there will be a showcase spotlighting case studies of RUC programs in Utah, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, California, Hawaii and the Northeast Corridor.
There will also be numerous opportunities for networking, connecting and collaborating—whether it's between sessions, at coffee breaks and lunches or at bigger events, like the opening reception or the Monday night event at Denver's Rhein Haus beer hall, sponsored by Deloitte and Emovis.
It's fitting that there'll be plenty of chances for attendees to collaborate and learn from one another, as collaboration was a critical part of the conference planning process. For the first time in the event's history, its program was built by IBTTA with six other leading transportation organizations: the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), ITS America, the Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA), the Eastern Transportation Coalition and the Transportation Research Board.
The transportation world is watching the tolling industry when it comes to road usage charging. It's not too much to say that this year's IBTTA RUC & Finance Conference could mark a turning point on the topic–the ingredients for a big leap forward will certainly all be present in Denver, as the program and the registration count make clear.
Are you ready to RUC and roll?