TITLE: PLANNED RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS – ROADS, RAIL AND AIR

Join us and our colleagues with the IRWA for a luncheon and informative presentation about planned transportation improvements in Riverside County.  The topics will include Riverside County population forecasts and anticipated growth areas, current transportation challenges and needs for expanded capacity, descriptions of planned road, rail and air transportation projects, including estimated project costs and schedules, and anticipated right-of-way acquisition requirements.  Our speaker will be Ariel Alcon Tapia, public Affairs Manager, Riverside County Transportation Commission.

SPEAKER: ARIEL ALCON TAPIA – PUBLIC AFFAIRS MANAGER

As the Public Affairs Manager for the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), Ariel Alcon Tapia is responsible for administering communications programs for the agency’s capital projects, marketing campaigns, and community outreach efforts. He assumed this pivotal role in 2023, bringing his wealth of experience and expertise to the position.

Ariel’s career in transportation communications began in Washington, D.C. in 2012, when he interned for the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NSTB) Public Affairs Department, followed by a return to southern California to intern for the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink) in their Legislative Affairs Department. After his internships, Ariel became a public outreach consultant working with the High-Speed Rail Authority, RCTC, OCTA, LA Metro, and various cities on transportation planning and capital programs.

In 2019, Ariel began working at RCTC in the Multimodal Department focusing on passenger rail and transit planning programs. Ariel was then promoted to Senior Management Analyst in the External Affairs Department and began working on agency-wide projects, including the RCTC/Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) merger, 15 Express Lanes and Express Lanes Connector projects, and the Traffic Relief Plan.

Ariel earned his bachelor’s degree in political science/international affairs from the University of California, Riverside, and a master’s degree in public science with an emphasis on American institutions from California State University, Fullerton. Ariel grew up in Riverside and now lives in Claremont with his wife and their cat.