The Cape Fear Rural Transportation Planning Organization (RPO) Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) elected officers for the year. Brunswick County Commissioner Frank Williams was unanimously re-elected chair of the committee.
 
The Cape Fear Area RPO covers Brunswick, Columbus and Pender Counties and serves as the intergovernmental organization for local elected officials, the N.C. Department of Transportation and residents of the region to address rural transportation issues, according to a news release.
 
The committee is the RPO’s advisory board and is made of elected officials from Brunswick, Columbus and Pender counties.
 
“Serving as RTAC Chair for the past three years has underscored the importance of having a strong voice for rural transportation in southeastern North Carolina,” Williams said in the release. “As areas in our state west of I-95 become increasingly urbanized, it is important for those of us who live in eastern North Carolina to make our voices heard.”
 
Created by the state in 2000, Rural Transportation Planning Organizations are intended to coordinate transportation planning needs for rural areas not covered by Metropolitan Planning Organizations. There are 20 such RPOs in the state, including the one for southeastern North Carolina.