DOT looks to hit accelerator on NC 540 construction
WRAL-TV, February 14, 2017

Joe Milazzo, the executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, which advocates for major transportation projects in the area, says completing N.C. 540 is the group's biggest priority. He says he likes the new timeline.

"Yesterday would be great, but as soon as they can get the project moving would be wonderful," he said.

Milazzo says a finished N.C. 540 will provide an important connection to I-40 and the future Interstate 42, which will generally follow the U.S. Highway 70 corridor and connect Garner, Clayton, Smithfield, Goldsboro, Kinston, New Bern and Havelock with the Port of Morehead City.

"It's important for commerce, for travel alternatives. It's important for transit and also to relieve the local streets," he said.

Chamber Hosted 2017 Annual Meeting, Honoring Public Servants and Chamber Volunteers
(Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce news release, February 7, 2017)

Chapel Hill, NC – On Feb. 2, 2017, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual Meeting presented by Europa Center and SunTrust Bank.  The Chamber honored four individuals with awards in addition to hosting UNC President Margaret Spellings as keynote speaker. 

2016 Chamber Board Chair Anthony Pugliese presented three awards during his remarks. The 2016 Chair’s Award for Public Private Partnership was awarded to Joe Milazzo, executive director at the Regional Transportation Alliance.

“Officials: What we know about the self-driving vehicle testing program coming to the Triangle Expressway”
(Triangle Business Journal, January 23, 2017)

Milazzo’s group is campaigning for the acceleration of that 540 project timeline. He calls construction of the southern extension of that highway “priority one” for his group.

Inside the state's massive $2.2B 'Complete 540' project 
(Triangle Business Journal, January 20, 2017) 

Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, has outlined the Complete 540 project as his group’s “priority one,” a designation previously held by efforts such as the East End Connector and the Wake Transit Referendum.

Operation China: Details inside RDU’s push for another international flight
 (Triangle Business Journal – January 13, 2017) 

“[Being] the only non-hub market in America with two daily nonstop trans-Atlantic flights speaks volumes about how we support new international offerings,” Milazzo said.

Triangle Expressway toll fees set to increase in January
(Triangle Business Journal – December 22, 2016)

Milazzo calls the Triangle Expressway the “largest infrastructure project in state history,” and among North Carolina’s biggest transportation success stories.

NC companies hope technology will smooth workers’ commutes
(WNCN – CBS North Carolina TV – December 15, 2016)

At Thursday’s annual meeting of the Regional Transportation Alliance, your commute was the main topic. “If transportation fails as we grow, then our community’s not going to be as successful as we need it to be,” said Joe Milazzo II, Executive Director of the Regional Transportation Alliance business coalition.

Raleigh’s advice to Nashville: Vet your transit plan first, then take it to voters
(Nashville, TN Business Journal, December 9, 2016, page 11)
(Nashville, TN Business Journal online headline, December 7, 2016)  

On Nov. 8, Raleigh, N.C. voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase that will help fund a regional $2.3 billion transit plan. Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Raleigh-based Regional Transportation Alliance business coalition, said the city's road to sustainable transit funding took time, though that time paid off in the end.

How Orange, Durham counties plan to tackle light rail funding gap
(Triangle Business Journal – December 2, 2016)

Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, stressed the importance of the project Friday in an email.

"Our growing region requires a high-capacity, robust regional transit connection between Durham and Chapel Hill," he wrote.

Officials: Traffic relief for NC 54 ‘can’t come fast enough’
(WRAL TV – November 21, 2016)

“This corridor needs to be successful for the market to be successful,” said Joe Milazzo, [executive director] of the Regional Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit business coalition working with city planners to address traffic issues.

Guest opinion:  It's not hard to make the case for public transit
(Triangle Business Journal, October 21, 2016) 

The regional business community is supportive of the approved Wake Transit plan because it provides a rapid, purposeful and flexible response to the challenge and opportunity of growth.

- by Joe Milazzo II, executive director, Regional Transportation Alliance business leadership group

Officials look at future of transportation in the Triangle
(WNCN – CBS North Carolina TV - October 19, 2016) 

“Transportation is essential for our community’s future as we grow, and making sure we bring together the best minds and the best innovations is not just a good idea, it’s essential for our success,” said Joe Milazzo, RTA’s executive director.

Delta’s RDU-Paris flight set for upgrade
(Triangle Business Journal – Sept. 28, 2016)

Delta Air Lines is doubling down on its direct flight to Paris out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport, upgrading the plane used in the route to a Boeing 767. Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, says the upgrade is validation that the Triangle’s rally to secure the flight is paying off.

Wake County officials talk Bus Rapid Transit with Virginia transportation execs
(Triangle Business Journal – July 8, 2016)

Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance in the Triangle, was one of about 50 local business leaders and officials who recently met with Leach in northern Virginia to talk transit.

How a $1.4B DOT plan in Virginia could boost high-speed rail in N.C.
(Triangle Business Journal – July 7, 2016)

Joe Milazzo, director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, called [proposed Richmond-Washington DC rail improvements] “an extraordinarily important project for the southern mid-Atlantic regions of Virginia – and North Carolina as well.”

Wake Transit leaders visit northern Virginia for ideas, inspiration
(WRAL TV – July 1, 2016) 

A group from the Regional Transportation Alliance traveled this week to northern Virginia to see how Arlington handles moving hundreds of thousands of people around each day. “When a market is growing, your transportation system has to grow right along with it,” Regional Transportation Alliance Executive Director Joe Milazzo said.

Future interstate named I-87
(Rocky Mount Telegram – June 19, 2016) 

Joe Milazzo, executive director for Regional Transportation Alliance, said the I-87 authorization conveys to companies that the state has a plan to improve connections between two major metro areas with bipartisan support at all levels of government.

Execs look to focus marketing RDU-Paris flight to Parisians
(Triangle Business Journal – June 9, 2016) 

A month after Delta’s inaugural Raleigh-Durham International Airport service to Paris left the tarmac, community leaders are planning a marketing pivot to attract Parisian interest in the Triangle…Leading those community-funded marketing efforts has been the Air Service Advancement Project, an initiative organized by the Regional Transportation Alliance and led by its executive director, Joe Milazzo.

New $1 billion, 213-mile interstate planned to connect Norfolk and Raleigh
(The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA – June 9, 2016) 

The road, to be called Interstate 87…has the support of elected officials, business leaders and agencies in Virginia and North Carolina, including both highway departments, chambers of commerce and all four senators. “This is one of those things whose time has long since come,” said Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, a business coalition in Raleigh.

North Carolina gets designations for 2 more interstates
(WRAL TV – May 26, 2016) 

“It makes it easier in terms of economic development. When people are looking for a place to locate or expand a business, they ask, ‘Does it have interstate access?'” said Joe Milazzo II, Regional Transportation Alliance executive.