SUMMIT SESSIONS ANNOUNCED

CONVENE, CONNECT & COLLABORATE IN BOSTON
AT THE 2024 COMMUTER RAIL SUMMIT

This fall the 2024 Commuter Rail Summit is your opportunity to connect with industry colleagues in an intimate setting to explore new ideas and collaborate over today’s most pressing commuter rail issues. Don’t delay - register today! Early bird rates for CRC members end before Labor Day.

Featured sessions at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel October 14 – 16, 2024 include:

• The Future of Commuter Rail

• Commuter Rail: Smarter, Safer, More Secure

• Managing the Operational Impacts of PTC and Considerations for PTC 2.0

• Accessibility and Delivering on the Promise of the ADA

• Ridership Recovery

• Climate Resiliency

• Driving On Time Performance

• Revolutionizing Fare Policy

• Operations Cost Containment

• Transforming Service Models: Transitioning to Regional Rail

Confirmed speakers include:

• Rich Andreski, Trinity Metro

• Michelle Bouchard, Caltrain

• Dave Dech, SFRTA

• Shawn Donaghy, NCTD

• Phil Eng, MBTA

• Rob Free, LIRR

• Dee Leggett, DART

• Mike Noland, South Shore Line

• Rob Padgette, Capitol Corridor

• Janice Thomas, Metra

• Zach Thomas, UTA

To register, visit this LINK.

NEW SAFETY RECS RESPONDING TO EAST PALESTINE

(Politico, July 18) The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued two new safety recommendations related to the technologies railroads use to detect overheating wheels, like what happened in the East Palestine, OH derailment. One recommendation asks railroads to ensure that wayside detectors, which determine if wheels are overheating, are staffed and monitored during all hours of railroad operations, including backup personnel when someone takes a break. These employees should all be trained in railcar health and wayside detector capabilities and be able to review alerts and communicate with train crews effectively for unsafe conditions. A second recommendation calls for the maximization of hot bearing detector data and from other types of wayside detectors.

On July 2, Chief Counsel Allison Fultz assembled a team of Federal Railroad Administration specialists for a call with CRC members about the agency’s recently released rules on the Certification of Dispatchers and the Certification of Signal Employees.

Following the call, the Commuter Rail Coalition submitted written questions to the FRA on behalf of its members. The agency has pledged to respond to those question, in writing, by Labor Day.

Reflecting the quantity and complexity of questions that members have expressed in implementing the two new rules, CRC last week filed with FRA a petition for reconsideration, asserting that that the CRC member contractors and “agencies cannot reasonably comply with the Final Rules in the FRA’s contemplated timeframe.”

“CRC represents over twenty major commuter transit agencies that are subject to the Final Rules, along with industry suppliers who collectively employ thousands of workers. The Final Rules are unreasonable because compliance with the Final Rules is impracticable and not in the public interest due to the quick implementation schedule for commuter railroads, the failure of the Final Rules to account for signal employees and dispatchers who are employed by contractors but who perform work for other railroads, and the broad applicability of the Signal Employee Final Rule.

“CRC…request FRA to revisit the Final Rules to address the impracticalities, inconsistencies, and ambiguities contained in them. Until these concerns are resolved, Agencies cannot begin to work on developing and executing certification programs, because of uncertainty about exactly what the Final Rules require them to do.”

CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE INDUSTRY

US DOT is hosting a two-part webinar series to help communities use data to effectively tell their stories in planning, development, and applying for DOT grants. Part 1 of the webinar series takes place Monday, July 22, 2024, at 3:00 PM ET.

The webinar will focus on how to identify and describe a project and its goals, identify users of the infrastructure or system, and determine the project’s impact area. Participants will receive step-by-step information and presenters will use examples to illustrate each of the concepts in the planning, project development, and/or grant application process. The webinar will conclude with a brief Q&A session. The webinar will be recorded and posted on the DOT Navigator.

Part 2 of the webinar series will be held on Thursday, August 15, 2024, at 3:00 PM ET, and will introduce participants to DOT’s Equitable Transportation Community (ETC) Explorer tool and provide detailed information on how to use the tool to map a project area, identify how a community is experiencing disadvantage, and evaluate project benefits to a community. This information will build on the content presented during Part 1 of the webinar series. Participants are encouraged to register for both or review the Part 1 materials before attending Part 2. Part 2 of the webinar series will also be recorded and posted to the DOT Navigator. Register for the webinar series here.

On July 31, in observance of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, US DOT is co-hosting a webinar with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on best practices for building effective public awareness and outreach efforts for the transportation industry.

Expert panelists will share best practices for ensuring public awareness and outreach efforts are trauma-informed, person-centered, culturally responsive, and data driven. They will also share examples from various federally funded multimodal public awareness campaigns on human trafficking and discuss lessons learned. To register, click HERE.

FTA’s Enhancing Mobility Innovation program has $1.94 million in competitive grant funding available. The program supports research projects that will improve customer convenience, such as creating easier ways to pay for transit and enhancing transit schedules based on rider demand. Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), FTA will allocate funding to support rider-centered research projects in two categories:

• Innovations that focus on new service delivery models, creative financing, novel partnerships, and integrated payment solutions; and

• Software solutions that improve ways to provide demand-response public transportation service.

Eligible applicants include transit agencies; state or local departments of transportation; Indian tribes; private and nonprofit organizations; colleges and universities; and state and local governments, including metropolitan planning organizations. This is the second round of funding for enhancing mobility innovation. In August 2022, FTA selected nine projects in six states to support mobility and innovation. View the list of past projects.

Instructions for applying and eligibility information can be found on FTA’s website and on GRANTS.GOV (solicitation number FTA-2024-010-TRI-EMI). Complete proposals must be submitted electronically through the GRANTS.GOV “APPLY” function by August 30, 2024.

And the FRA has issued a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) making available available over $1.1 billion in Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program funds. As the only competitive discretionary grant program dedicated to improving railroad crossings’ safety and efficiency, the RCE Program invests in projects that construct grade separations, upgrade safety devices at crossings, or close at-grade crossings where roads and train tracks intersect. Addressing collisions and blockages at grade crossings has been a top priority for FRA and the funding aims to improve safety and access to communities separated by rail crossings.

Project applications will be evaluated based on factors such as whether they improve safety, increase community connectivity, enhance access to emergency services, improve the mobility of goods, strengthen supply chains, and reduce noise. At least 20% of RCE Program funding (around $230 million this round) will be set aside for projects located in rural communities or on Tribal lands, and around $38 million will be available to fund planning projects.

For more details on the NOFO, click here. Applications for funding are due 75 days after the publication date. More information about the RCE Program and the NOFO can be found on FRA’s website here.

• What US transit agencies worry most about right now (SmartCitiesDIVE)

• DART to begin Silver Line testing July 22 (MassTransit)

• AAR, ASLRRA Submit Comments on Cyber Incident Reporting NPRM (Railway Age)

• Latest MTI perspective reveals public transportation agencies struggle engaging stakeholders (MassTransit)

• FTA offers $1.9M in grants for tech that improves riders’ public transportation experience (SmartCitiesDIVE)

• Mass Transit That Can Move a Megalopolis (Bloomberg)

• Chicago-Area Public Transit Leaders Call for Funding Boost, Push Back on Merger Proposal (WTTW News)

• NTSB Issues Final East Palestine Report (Railway Age)

• Uber pays US car owners to switch to other transport modes for five weeks (Reuters)