Greater Dayton (Ohio) RTA recently hosted a high-level delegation of transportation officials from Turkmenistan. Arranged through Wright State University’s International Visitors Leadership Program and the U.S. Department of State, Dayton was chosen mainly because of its unique transit system, according to Program Advisor Joy Ndiangui.

“Coming to RTA was the highlight of their visit to Dayton,” Ndiangui said. “Dayton was among a group of other community organizations in the U.S. to put in applications to host visitors under the program. The state department evaluated the resources we presented in Dayton and found them a good fit with the visitors’ interests.”

The Turkmenistan delegates had very specific goals for their visit with RTA officials. Ndiangui said RTA suited the delegations’ interests because of its electric trolleybus system, Five Star Clean Fleets Certification and a recent state auditor’s award commending RTA for multiple years of clean financial audits.

The visitors were given a special overview about RTA by executive staffers as well as tours of the headquarters, the bus garage, and the maintenance facilities. They also rode on RTA’s hybrid and electric trolleybuses.

“It was a great pleasure and honor to host the delegation’s visit to the Dayton region. We were all impressed by their desire to learn about our business first-hand,” said RTA Executive Director Mark Donaghy.   

The delegation included four Turkmenistan high-ranking transportation officials as well as two translators.

The agency, which operates diesel, hybrid diesel, and electric trolley buses serves 3,300 stops on 29 routes throughout Montgomery and parts of Greene County. Customers ride RTA on more than nine million passenger trips each year.