Russ Parish

Mr. Russ Parish works out of the RLS Arkansas Office and manages State RTAP projects for New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. He is also a member of the RLS Drug and Alcohol Compliance Monitoring team. An accomplished and nationally sought trainer and speaker, he has developed and conducted dozens of courses for small urban and rural transportation providers over the last 20 years.

Prior to joining RLS, Mr. Parish was the Safety and Training Director for the Arkansas Transit Association where he developed, adapted, coordinated, and taught courses for Arkansas’ transportation providers, including small urban and rural transit systems and agencies serving older adults and individuals with disabilities. In this role, he also organized and supervised statewide drug and alcohol testing consortia (FTA, FMCSA, non-regulated); designed policy templates used by member agencies, and all other tasks related to the successful implementation of a compliant FTA Drug and Alcohol Program. In addition, he provided technical assistance to FTA subrecipients, transit systems, state DOTs, and human service agencies in the areas of ADA, Drug and Alcohol, and other safety-related topics.

In addition, Mr. Parish is a senior instructor with the National Transit Institute, leading courses throughout the country on safety and security, including Advanced Mobility Device Securement, Infectious Disease Awareness and Prevention, and Building Diversity Skills for Transit Employees and Managers. He is also a CTAA PASS Master Trainer, Course Marshall for the National CTAA Roadeo, and a certified trainer for over a dozen safety and transit-related training courses.

Mr. Parish holds a Master of Arts from Claremont Graduate University and a Bachelor of Arts from Hendrix College.