Metra is bringing transportation professionals, law enforcement, and social services together for a one-day conference to build awareness and education about human trafficking.

Whether in-person or virtual, this free conference will provide critical tools, insights, and survivor stories to help build safer communities. Together, we can make a difference.

Register here.

NOMINATIONS OPEN

The Commuter Rail Coalition is accepting nominations for the association’s board of directors. Helmed by chair emeritus Jim Derwinski (Metra), the 2025 Nominations Committee is seeking eligible candidates eager to join in mapping the future of the Coalition.

To be eligible, candidates must be an agency CEO (or the commuter rail lead within a multimodal agency), or company principal, with at least one year of active participation in the CRC. Per CRC bylaws, private sector members may serve in any role other than chair or vice chair of the board; public sector members may run for any seat that is not the designated “affiliate member representative.”

Upon election, candidates should be prepared to serve the full two-year term. An individual may serve a maximum of four years in any one position on the board.

Positions that will appear on the ballot include:

• Chair

• Vice Chair

• Secretary

• Treasurer

• Affiliate Member Representative

• At-Large (5 of 6 total)

Nominations, including self-nominations, should be directed to KAG@CommuterRailCoalition.org and received by April 25. A complete nomination package includes a CV, a list of the nominee’s CRC activities, a high-resolution photo, and the seat being pursued. Questions can be directed to KAG@CommuterRailCoalition.org.

The Nominations Committee is tasked with identifying a slate of candidates representative of Coalition membership and to achieve balanced representation they may actively recruit additional candidates after the April 25 deadline.

Elections will take place Tuesday, July 1.

CRC BOARD MEETS IN UTAH

Hosted by Jay Fox and Patrick Preusser at UTA, a cross section of CRC members gathered in Salt Lake City last week for the association’s Spring board meeting. In addition to read-outs on the annual work plan and the membership value and engagement assessment survey, the board voted in support of the association’s proposed 2025 budget. Attendees also received an exhaustive update on Washington activities, heard from House Railroad subcommittee professional staff, and met the newest members of the Coalition: Cylus, 4Atmos, Alvarez & Marsal, Kimley-Horn, and Egis. Charlotte Area Transit System joins CRC as an observer.

Technical tours were also on the agenda. UTA offering tours of its commuter rail control room, commuter rail maintenance room, and bus depot district maintenance, while Stadler offered CRC guests a facility tour before Martin Ritter and his team hosted a welcome reception.

With thanks also to Justin Banks and Jack Martinson of Stadler; Courtney Forsgren of UTA; and the team at StacyWitbeck/MRS for their generous sponsorship.

WASHINGTON ROUND-UP

• Steven Bradbury has been sworn in as Deputy Secretary of Transportation.

• USDOT and other federal agencies have been ordered to reinstate probationary employees who were fired in February. In addition to new-hires, probationary employees include those recently promoted to new roles, regardless of their total years of federal service. According to DOT, 788 probationary employees were impacted by terminations triggered by the Trump administration.

• DOT’s acting inspector general expects to cut full-time positions by 10 percent before the end of 2025. Due to the public safety and enforcement nature of their roles, the majority of IG staff are excluded from mass layoffs. Nevertheless, the office plans to reduce operating costs by seven percent by instituting a hiring freeze, removing probationary employees with performance issues, and through attrition. (Politico)

• The C3RS RSAC has been canceled, per an email from the FRA. “After careful consideration, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is withdrawing Task Number 2022-03, Confidential Close Call Reporting (C3RS), from the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), and deactivating the C3RS Working Group. FRA will use the feedback gathered so far from the Working Group to consider the best way to move forward with this effort.”

• FRA has announced it will effectuate a rulemaking to extend by one year the deadline for compliance with the dispatcher certification and signal employee certification rules. Further, FRA acknowledged “receipt of multiple technical and procedural questions regarding the rules and will endeavor to continue to respond to those questions, to the extent the reopening of the review and analysis of the petitions described above allows. FRA will make its responses to questions available on FRA’s public website.”

WHAT WE’RE READING

• DOT’s Firings Raising Anxieties Beyond Flying (Politico)

• New Approaches to Procurement can Drive Innovation in Public Transit (Smart Cities Dive)

• Metra Asks For Trackage Rights to Protect Commuter Service (Rail Fan and Railroads)

• Metra to STB: Require UP to Continue Allowing Commuter Service on 3 Chicago Lines (Progressive Railroading)

• Governor Hochul Announces Metro-North to Operate First-in-the-Nation Battery- and Electric-Powered Locomotives for Penn Station Access (Governor’s Office, New York State)

• Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad Seeing Increase in On-Time Performance, Ridership Gains (Mass Transit Magazine)

• Caltrain Aims to Improve Safety and Accessibility on its Trains (Mass Transit Magazine)

• Senate Confirms Steven Bradbury as Next U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation (Mass Transit Magazine)

• Virginia Commissions Approve $155 Million Manassas Rail Line Agreement (ALX Now)

• US DOT Gives Guidance on Competitive Grants (Metro Magazine)

• Up to $51B in Transportation Grant Awards at Risk, Advocacy Group Says (Smart Cities Dive)

• The Subtext of a Trump Official’s Letter to the M.T.A. (New York Times)

• With Double Track Growing Pains Behind It, South Shore Prepares for West Lake Addition (Trains.com)

• U.S. DOT Orders Review of All Grants Related to Green Infrastructure, Bikes (Streets Blog)

• Slashing FRA Personnel Would Make Railroading Less Safe, Unions Say (Progressive Railroading)

• Watch a replay of the World Bank’s Transforming Transportation events from March 11 & 12.

• AASHTO to Duffy: Ensure Uninterrupted Federal Transportation Funding (Railway Age)