New programs that will focus on current Passenger Rail service and the development of future Passenger Rail service. New amtrak grants that would Keep Services in good working condition. The Rail Service Improvement program, which would provide competitive grants to drive development of high performing Passenger Rail networks. This program also includes funding for ptc implementation for commuter railroads and support for states and localities to mitt grait the adverse impacts of rail operations in their communities through grade crossing improvements and rail line relocation efforts. Simply put, grow america is our blueprint for beginning to close rails infrastructure gap and to setting the table for theing next generation of safety. These are forwardthinking largescale improvements that come with some extremely important byproducts. The creation of goodpaying jobs and the strengthening of our national economy. And bridging our nations infrastructure gap gets more important with every passing day of inaction. Its no secret that our aging infrastructure and the gaps that exist in our Transportation System must be dealt with and soon. Congress is aware of these needs, but only congress can act on them by passing grow america. I believe congress will ultimately take action but its up to 5u8 all of you to make sure that Congress Gets it right. We must build on the proposal built for the house to see a comprehensive rail authorization bill enacted that would address rail safety benefit our freight partners and other modes of transportation, continue to support the successes of our inner city Passenger Rail networks and provide the resources for predictable dedicated funding to both address our backlog and make the improvements required to meet the passenger and freight mobility needs of our growing population. We will all benefit from a comprehensive bill. Rehabilitating our aging infrastructure cannot wait any longer. Thank you. And i look forward to working with all of you and taking your questions. [ applause ] well, thank you, miss fineberg, for your remarks. Certainly both of you gave us very inspirational and insightful speeches. But certainly clearly communicated that its up to all of us to make the future successful. So were going to take some questions from the floor. But before we do that id like to start out just talking about funding and financing. Obviously, demands increasing and funding and financing is becoming more and more challenging. So one strategy to address potential longterm financing involves publicprivate partnerships. And im just curious what you see as some of the Great Success stories and what advice you might have for those seeking publicprivate partnerships. Sure. Im happy to go. Am i yeah. Youre on. So i think youre exactly right. Publicprivate partnerships are were seeing increasing numbers of them all the time. I think what secretary fox and the president have both said which i think is really important is that it is part of the answer but it is not the answer. So i do not want to take public and private partnerships as the reason why congress does not have to pass a big comprehensive bill. But thats fine for them to supplement a bill. Its certainly one path forward. But i hesitate to put too many egds in that basket. We still need a big bill. I think the other thing to think about, too, is certainly we want to broaden our sense about what effective private sector participation is in the transit industry. So for example, a lot has been turned to transitoriented development, but capturing the value of that development for transit i think say very important and very rich area to build a Good Relationship with the private sector because not only in the more common way where you may get contributions toward the construction of the project, what about capturing that ongoing value for Ongoing Operations and maintenance . Weve been working closely with a number of our agencies. Theres a lot of Creative Work thats going on in the industry right now. We want to bundle that up and see if theres a more aggressive way that we can encourage that type of partnerships in bringing the private sector forward. The federal Railroad Administration has been work on a number of improvements to the Railroad Administration and improvement financing program. We needed a lot of improvements. Were happy to see them advancing. Can you share with us some of the improvements you that see . Yes. So we are very focused on this. First i give secretary fox a lot of credit. He has said that one of his priorities is that by the time he walks out the door on january whatever, 20th, 2017, that he would like that account to be at zero. Which means we have about 35 billion to loan out. Which if anybody knows how loan programs work is going to be difficult 37 but its a very good challenge to have. So were doing a couple things. One, we are trying to think more creatively about potentiality applicants. I think we may have been a little narrow in our view of the right applicants for this program previously. Whether its the mayor of new haven who wants to come in and talk about what Union Station in new haven needs or whether its rahm emanuel wanting to talk about chicago Union Station or even the potential for some ability to stabilize crude before it gets placed into transport in the bocken, i think we would be open to all of that. So were much more creative in think about who the right applicants would be. And were also just trying to move faster. This administration has to walk a fine line between trying very hard to assist those who are going to make Infrastructure Improvements and build new Infrastructure Projects but also obviously being incredibly careful with taxpayer dollars and make sure all of that moneys going to get paid back at some point. So while the loan terms are excellent its important that money be able to come back. So i think its taken a long time for us to get over some of those bars. So were also working to be really more efficient about how we help people get through the loan process and get those loans out the door. So as youre looking at evaluating projects to see a program or railroad investment program, how has the current climate affected how you look at and evaluate projects and what advice do you have to people to make their projects competitive and attractive for federal investment . Well i think certainly for new starts and small starts, weve put you know, we actually have, you know, statutory criteria we have to examine. So by its own design, theres a number of different factors that we evaluate. I think, though given the incredible competitiveness of the program those agencies that are able to leverage the federal dollar well, you know, will be able to play in that pool. And theres another aspect to that thats very important as well. Once you get the project built, you have to run it. And thats not a small a small issue. I think one of the things weve seen, and in my conversation just today with a number of different agencies, addressing the point as i did in my remarks with secretary foxx has said over and over, you know, we have to expand for the growth that we see in the country. We have to be nimble about the types of investments we can pursue. Its not just about heavy rail or light rail but it is brt and these other modes. But at the same time you have to be in a stable enough environment that once that project is done and that full Funding Grant agreement is concluded youre able to operate and maintain that system. And we invest in the system over time. So its really i think, to be competitive you need to, i think, demonstrate that you have a handle on that holistic view. And you that can convince us as the federal government, as a partner, that youre able to be in there for the long haul. Great advice and insight. Would you like to add anything . I would just say that we are invested in trying to make these programs work. And so, being in touch with us on the front end, talking through a project, talking through a loan application, talking through the financial audit, all of that, we want to be able to loan this money out. And so we are not going to suggest you that figure it all out on your own and then turn in a big package to us and well mark it up and say no thank you and send it back. You get in touch with us on the front end, and we can work with you and make sure the application is in great shape so we can move things along faster. Great. Thank you for that. So safety, obviously, is at the forefront of all of our minds every day. Im sure you have advice and insights to share with the audience as different safety programs are starting to come online in advance of new safety regulations. What would you advise people to think about and get prepared for . Well, with federal transit, and its interesting because, you know, sarah and the fra have had a federal safety portfolio a long time. And as all of you no a great challenge for the federal Transportation Association is that nat gave us significant regulatory authority. So weve been working very closely, afta has been a great partner in getting the message out. As were starting anew really with this new authority, a couple of things are critical. First of all, throughout the d. O. T. D. O. T. , safety is a priority. There cant be enough attention to this. But then transit, our challenge is also that approaching safety is our number one priority. Priority. There cant be enough attention to this. But for our transit, our challenge is also recognizing approaching safety, one size wont fit all in terms of a regulatory framework. That simply just wont happen. And so, weve been spending a lot of time, you know, explaining and building on whats going to be the centerpiece of our work which is a Safety Management system approach, an sms approach. Used extensively in the aviation industry. Faa has deployed it for some time. Being xlords by a number of our sister agencies. And the thought is you approach this not as a checklist of all the things you have to get right but as a Risk Management approach where you look at the unique circumstances of your operating environment, of your capital environment, of your worker Safety Environment and you build a program around your Risk Management portfolio. So, you know, thats not a concept thats very easy to put on paper and to have. By any stretch. And were working very hard to get all of the various elements through the rule making process, to respond to the gnat 21 requirements. And it continued to be a top priority for the fta. So my advice is, i touched on in my remarks a little bit, we are when faced with old problems trying to bring new thinking and a fresh perspective to old problems, so grade crossings is a good example of a very old problem, where weve made a ton of progress, and i think you know, theres some inclination to just say oh its mostly driver error, what are you going to do about someone trying to beat a train, what are you going to do if someones ultimately a little dison theoriented at a grade crossing . So i think were trying to bring new thinking to that problem. And comprehensive thinking. The crude by rail issue is a brand new problem. Its a problem were having because were becoming an energyindependent country which is wonderful. I dont think everyone is thinking about the challenges that come along with energy independence. Those are problems that weve been tackling a long time, particularly in terms of the quantity of a volatile product thats moving throughout the country. So were trying to think very comprehensively. How do you incentivize industry to make the product safer before it gets put into transport . How do you incentivize 9 railroads . How do you put any expectations in place such as a zero tolerance policy for anything that happens on a crude route . Comprehensive thinking for new problems and new thinking for old problems. And that takes all of us at the table to do that in partnership. And actually sarah brings up a point id like to reiterate, too. You know, weve tried very hard under this administration and secretary foxx has made it a key point in the beyond traffic framework that was put out there. We have to stop thinking about ourselves in just our little modal boxes and as a Transportation System. And safety is one area where that really does come to bear. Secretary foxx has done an enormous amount of work emphasizing bicycle and Pedestrian Safety. In transit mode thats very critical for us because a lot of people get to our system walking or biking or will leave our system walking and biking. Similarly, in sarahs world we can take about a grade crossing. This is the interface between our particular mode of transit and highway modes krarz or pedestrians in the case of trespassing and the challenges associated there. So you know, this whole notion again of an sms construct is very helpful in getting around this not only the safety your mode but the safety of the system and how it interfaces with other modes as well. So its exciting time to be thinking about safety in these different dimensions. This particularly with the new technologies and the ability to do better analytics to really address the most pressing needs. So im sure we have some questions in our audience. Id like to offer the opportunity for members of the audience to ask their questions. Please let us know who you are and where youre from. Peter varga from grand rapids, michigan. Thank you, therese, thank you for the thought about the postcards. I really like that idea. And trying to imagine how that works. You mentioned something really good i thought about the whole thing about taking photographs and sending them. And tweeting them on instagram and the whole thing and using that social media. What hashtag should we use . Should we use hashtag stuck in traffic that we used in that conversation . Or which one . So that everybody starts being in the same conversation on that. Wow. Thats a creative question. Maybe we should have a contest. Get all your good ideas. Growamerica. Stuck in traffic is a good one, too. Theres so many elements. Dosomething. Right. Id like to bring up something that you know, peter stressed so much in your tenure as chair of afta. How about its about people . I think a large part about this, if its not an abstract concept, this is about moving the American Public and the things that they need to do. And i think in all of our conversations, it is so easy to lose that piece of it. So an improvement to reflect something that is a critical part i think of all of our conversations. I do like that idea of having a contest. We should take that back to d. O. T. And have a contest. It reminds me of an internal contest, naming grow america. At that point, people have been up all night for months and weeks, were exhausted. At some point on our way out the door, well have to bring out the list of suggests named. It was a race to the bottom but it was nice. Send it back to me and ill make sure everybody gets it. Terrific. Thank you. Yeah, hi, im jeff wharton with impulse out of north carolina. My question pertains more towards the workforce and the jobs part to acting administrator mcmillan. We know just last week an initiative, a Pilot Project came out on geographic hiring preferences. And the question i am is if we can get some definition on the local hire as it pertains to Rolling Stock procurement. As manufacturers we employ a variety of subsuppliers all throughout the u. S. And were just having a little difficulty understanding what the intent is when the geographic hiring pertaining to Rolling Stock procurement. And is it the intent that were going to be looking at moving factories to in order to accommodate the local preference . The local Hire Initiative has a couple of elements to it. One is, as you mentioned is the Pilot Program. Its very important. It is a Pilot Program for communities and entities that want to explore well, and particularly for fhwa and fta because we have statutory requirements now for, you know, competitive procurement, is to say, to lift what has been interpreted as a prohibition on geographic hiring. This is for folks who want to explore what this is about. This is not mandated that you have to do it. But we want to more systematically explore whether geographic practice does in fact impose constraints on the Competitive Bidding environment. This is a way of getting experience on the ground with entities that want to pursue these and see how it applies. Given that it is a broad pilot test, we wanted to look not only at construction but also as procurement. So we dont go in with a specific the whole point about a Pilot Program is youre to bring your ideas to us. For communities to bring ideas to the department of transportation as to how they would want to implement a geographic hiring preference, and under what circumstances. And importantly, in the pilot, you are supposed to be able to demonstrate, you know, what your what your objectives are, how those were met. How the preferences actually did impact bidding environment that you saw. So were going to be gathering data based on these pilots that will be very important. So were not coming in with a preconceived notion about it. Were actually setting up the pilot to get ideas from local communities. Thank you. Sir . Youre both absolutely correct. The mantra is safety, reliability, i want to add two more, serviceability and maintainability. Question, for those of Us Small Companies who are in the business of r d, for example in the Railroad Route crossing issue, is there a way for us to get our thoughts over to f. R. A. So we can try to develop some of those ideas and make something that will make those accidents completely avoidable . So yes, thats so first of all, you can email me at sarah. Feinberg dot. Gov. We want ideas on this. But also we have a whole policy and Development Arm on f. R. A. That is constantly helping to think about these things. They do human factor research. They do massive amounts of research in pueblo. They run trains into each other and see what happens. But they also work on these Human Factors and new technologies that are coming that might help us down the road. So thats all easy to find on our website, but you can also just email me. Thank you. This is also, just very quickly, i think sarah and i will grab as many opportunities we can to also plug, you know, the work thats being put forward in the beyond traffic document. A huge part of that 30year view is in the whole arena of new technologies and innovation. Secretary foxx has been very blunt in his assessment the Transportation Industry is, particularly in the public sector, is always chasing innovation. And he wants to have us start thinking about how we can get in front of it and Harness Technology to the use of what we want to do, rather than constantly sort of being behind the curve. And so a large part of rethinking, if you will, that that document puts forward, certainly for the Transportation Industry is this how do we get ahead. And make sure that we are not just doing research for the next technology that might be available in the next couple of years. And the next 25. You know, next 30 years. And how do we weave that into our planning and development. So, not only the immediate things we might be able to put in place which are critically important, we also want to have your thoughts about how do we take that more forward view. Hi, my name is ben johnson im from Northern California im from tridelta transit in antioch. My question is twofold. Number one is if we do not get funding, thats the first thing, is we dont get this process going through the legislature, where are we going to go with the project anyway . Because if weve got 15 that we dont have funding for and then 16 is coming and an election is coming and youre going to have all new cabinet members coming in, et cetera, thats going to create a monster of a problem for a lot of people. So i think thats my concern. We talk about you just made a good point about the curve, getting ahead of the curve. Well, if you go into china. Ive been to china and seen their process. Ive been to korea and seen their process. And i can say that looking at those processes, theyre ahead of the curve. They planned it. Especially in japan. I noticed in japan they were really ahead of the curve because they had all the highspeed rail and so did china. But china had a few problems but my concern i guess if were answering the question is if we have shovelready programs already ready, how do we get them up to the top of the list . Because sometimes i see that they dont get to the top of the list. And so, what can we do as an agency being apta or our local agencies to be up there on top to get the funding to be able to do them . We have a project that the governor in california just approved, the highspeed rail project. Well, it still needs the funding to get it finished. And if it doesnt have the funding, you know, its going to sit out there in the middle of nowhere and just set there and we cant get it done. Its an important project because it will show in the United States what highspeed rail will do and we just need to move forward and get those up. And maybe you can give me some ideas of how i can bring it back to the people in california to figure out how we can do that. Right. Well, a couple points. One, i think the good news is we have a couple things going for us. One is that even though it feels like bad news, that the surface transportation that the Highway Trust Fund is going to run out in may. It also means that something has to be done, right . Sure. Were not were not at least we have not yet gottone a world where the congress is actually so dysfunctional theyre not going to at least extend it, right . So what we need is a big bill. But something will be done before may. And i have been in the very uncomfortable spot of looking at my watch thinking okay, weve got five days, seven days. How much money, are we going to make it . But something will have to be done. So thats a vehicle, first of all, for Something Big to be done. Meanwhile, its important to, exactly as you said, be really efficient with your projects, get them started. I dont think any member of congress, republican, democrat, tea party, liberal whatever. No member of Congress Wants to be in a position where youve started a project youve obligated funds, and then we cant continue with the project. Doesnt matter whos in the white house. Doesnt matter whos in charge of the congress. You dont want to have to take obligated funds and try to deal with them afterwards. And you dont want to have a stranded asset. Right . And so i think thats going for us. But you need to make as much progress as you possibly can. So that when this administration leaves theres an effort to continue those projects in the next administration. And you know, the other good news i think we have going for us is that infrastructure and transportation has always historically been topics, issues that bring parties together. And so its one of the few things even in this very partisan political moment that were in thats likely to get worse as we head into a president ial election cycle. Its one of the few things that usually brings people together. And so its less likely to be effective than everything else. And i just have one other question in regards to rail. And that has to be with the process of getting our major process right now is moving the rail through the cities. And i happen to be one of the cities that were moving it in. Were looking to have a facility in our city. But the problem is our communities are because of all the problems theyve had and the crashes you mentioned before that are up, is how do we appease the people of the community, or what would be an idea for you to give to us to appease those people and get them on another level to where we could actually do this . I know theres issues with rails not being level. And theres a lot of issues out there for maintenance. And thats an issue with financing. And so, how do we get the financing to or how do we get the rails people to listen to what we have to say . I think thats probably one of the worst things ive seen dealing with the rail. You try to get them to come to your city to talk about what theyre planning and how theyre doing it. I notice Union Pacific just recently has been giving a big boom of how good they are on the tv. And im hoping that we can figure out a way to get that together because, you know, when people march, and it doesnt do any good to march and stand in front of the trains, we talk about incidents, thats how they get created. So i just its important to me, as a public official, besides being on a board, to figure out how to help my city and the Transportation Industry at the same time. Right. Right. How can communities and railroads get along better, right . Yeah. Its an ageold question. Everybody should be Good Neighbors to each other. But look, i mean, i think its important to remind communities that those kinds of resources will tend to make their lives better. Easier, more efficient. Help them take care of their families. Its really important to remind the folks coming in that the community is supposed to be their partner, not just you know, someplace they blow by at 70 miles an hour and wake up everybody in the middle of the night with a horn. So i dont know, i feel like im giving political advice. But i guess to the extent im giving political advice to both sides id say be good to each other, be Good Neighbors, and if it gets really bad call us and well try to bring everybody together. But its easier said than done. Yes. Thank you very much. Always challenging. Hi. Im lisa walltraink with sound transit in seattle. And we had a few projects that had fta, fhwa and fra oversight on the same project, and some of the compliance issues got a little complex, and i for one got a little confused. Are there any efforts going on to kind of simplify or coordinate compliance issues across the modes . Yes. And we use the term harmonization. Theres actually been a number of areas where coordination of programs and or oversight among the modes im very familiar with the circumstances youre working on. And frankly, each any particular project will have its own circumstances and in this case we had fhwa and fra up through washington to figure out a way to deal with that. Circumstance. Theres been a lot of discussion, for example, between fta and fra in terms of better coordinating our nepa reviews and requirements for projects where there would be a freight element and a project element and the project serves both and we need to be able to ensure that were not making people do things twice. So again, certainly on a casebycase basis weve tried to anticipate that. And as sarah had said, you know Early Intervention is much more helpful than getting down, you know toward the end. So that also involved working in partnership with the project sponsor to make sure that we coordinate up front as well as we can. But beyond that you know theres been i think a lot of folks generally on streamlining. That was a major focus in 21. It continues to be a focus under the grow proposal, grow america proposal. So without going into a lot of specifics, i dont have in front of me here, it does continue to be an important element and a theme that both secretary foxx and deputy secretary Victor Mendes delivered to us on a frequent basis to do as much as we can with the authorities that exist and also pursue things going forward. Should they need statutory change. Whats interesting about the initiatives is its a common theme that it is up to all of us to make that happen. Its not for a federal agency to have to sort out. Yes, there needs to be a statutory framework and a consciousness and awareness of partnership. But at the end of the day the project sponsor the community all do need to come together. Very consistent with your messages and your remarks. Yes. Thank you. Im jackie du pont walker, board member l. A. County. In case anyone doesnt know, thats california. I really want to thank you both for the updates today. In l. A. County we have a High Percentage of unemployment and underemployment that impacts areas, particularly with some of our projects actually under construction, the light rail. Im very excited about the Innovative Public Transportation Workforce Development program that has come out. And so miss mcmillan could you share under the ladders of opportunity grant a timeline for awarding those . Because it would be extremely important for the neighborhoods and communities in which were doing the work to see more immediate benefit if we can actually create those apprenticeship opportunities. We have the strong support of our sxunz a lot of partnerships and its been frustrating to try to provide those opportunities quickly. And so if we knew this was coming we could be prepared. Lots of Staff Members are prepared. Theyre going to go back ready assuming were going to be one of those grant awardees. As 67 as id like to i cant give you a definitive timeline. In large part because what we have been seeing and this is the dilemma we have with any Discretionary Program we have so many more first of all we have an increasingly and unabating interest in our Discretionary Programs no matter what its for. We are always oversubscribed. Just throw some examples out. I think the Tiger Program has been oversubscribed six or seven times every single year. When we had our ladders of opportunity bus program we had 14 times more requests than we had money available. And similarly with our forkforce, you know, were a product of to some degree our own success by pressing workforce needs. Every year we put out a new workforce grant we get more and more applications. But your point is very well taken that these efforts oare only useful to the degree you can get them out as soon as you can. We will be putting great attention to evaluating the projects, and like you want to see them get on the ground as soon as possible. Hi. Good afternoon. My name is wendell walkham. Im with the british consulate based in new york. My question has to do with publicprivate partnerships. And i agree with the comment that ppps are not a Silver Bullet but given the scale of investment in this country and its infrastructure it has to be a key piece of the puzzle. Least year the president announced the build America Initiative led by secretary lew and secretary foxx. And one of the main priorities was to educate, work with state and local governments with regard to p3s because in many cases theyre negotiating with the private sector and they dont have the expertise given that some of these projects with runs in a lifetime. Its very important that the at federal level were able to provide a center of excellence where we can work with state and local governments to get them educated, to get them to understand where p3s might be helpful, where it might be useful. So i wonder if there is an update on how that work is coming and any visions or ambitions you have for working with state and local governments. So youre exactly right. The president and secretary lew, secretary foxx announced that last year. It is in the process of being implemented and stood up. I think ultimately its going to live at the department of transportation. There are the goal would be to sort of act as almost a Concierge Service to potential projects, both with streamlining and assisting, getting them moving quickly and helping people understand the process and the dealmaking and providing some expertise for towns entities. And its actually moving along quite well and starting to staff up. I dont think weve got a ton to say about it. No particular announcements today. But it was not one of those announcements that happened and went off into the ether and then we all forgot about it. Its under way and getting worked on all the time. So. John wentmore with pedestrians. Org. You talk about the issue of Pedestrian Safety getting the passengers to the bus stop. The Transit Agency owns the bus, might own the sign posts at the bus stop. Then youre dealing with it might be a county road, might be a state road. How do these pedestrian initiatives work across all these Safety Initiatives and levels of government . It works probably as differently in every community as exists. One of the things that is a as i mentioned as a Major Initiative being overseen by the secretarys office of policy is the bike safety initiative. And also the secretary launched the Mayors Challenge for bike and Pedestrian Safety. And theres a number of and im going to speak to this in broad terms because i dont have all the details. You can find them on the website. Theres a number of bike safety bike and Pedestrian Safety challenges that are going on across the country and the idea is to select a community. And in fact to your point, you know, do a deeper dive into a particular safety challenge, whether it be a very busy intersection, where youre trying to access, say, a major transportation in our case a major transit station or it could be a corridor where theres been a high incidence of bike accidents in the past or whatnot. And begin to work with the community. Fhwa or fta would be sort of a lead agency. But coordinating with the local community to identify the nature of the problem and the array of solution thats could be brought to bear. And i know a key point of that is the coordination between the various agencies that need to be involved to bring it together. One of the reasons why again, this Safety Management system approach i think is going to be so valuable for our transit agencies in terms of safety is that youll need to ask the question for my system how important is the connection with pedestrian interface . Is this a centerpiece for my new bike network im building in my community because im actually encouraging lots of people to come to my station in bikes . Therefore, who i would work with at the Public Works Department in the jurisdiction where i am to ensure the right lighting and fixtures are in place . I think all of that is to say were recognizing its a very dynamic and very sort of tastespecific area like so much of what we need to do. Theres not a blanket, oh, heres the format that i need to fill out to make these things work. I think you just highlighted in your question the actual challenge that were facing is as much of this as might be a technological or engineering fix, coordination among the agencies that oversee all these parts is as much of that solution as any of it. In the end its about the people, right . And in the end its about the people. Bring down injuries and fatalities in any way we possibly can. Thank you. Sir . David willcot. Make Michael Baker international, massachusetts. A question for administrator feinberg. We talked a lot about funding moving forward. Last week from the house i believe it was the Passenger Rail reform investment act of 2014 emerged after once again a fight over what happens with amtrak. We have some major investment needs in the northeast corridor. But we also have many areas such as the midwest. We heard a gentleman earlier about the california highspeed rail, southeast highspeed rail. Tremendous amount of highspeed rail and investment thats wanted. How are we going to move forward to have these debates over whether manytrack continues to exist or not. I think first of all it was a good sign that the bill passed last week with such an overwhelming margin, by such an overwhelming margin. I cant tell you when were going to stop having the fight over whether amtrak should exist or not. It might not be in our lifetimes. Hopefully it will be. But look, i think increasingly its look, it is i think increasingly an argument that is losing steam. So even in a moment where weve got republican control of both houses and increasing tea Party Presence that is not an argument that i think most people think, you know suddenly were going to be without amtrak in two years. So i think its i think it is more and more people understand and recognize the importance of connect all these places and that rail is so integral to, that amtraks so integral to that. I think amtrak is sometimes guilty of bringing a little bit of attention on itself. Right . And ive been very frank with them, and i think others have been too. It is a Wonderful Company a wonderful entity. They provide a service that is irreplaceable irreplaceable. That said, its important in my opinion to be really transparent with the hill, talk about where the moneys going, talk about where youre going to reinvest, talk about where youre going operform the service up and down the east coast and across the country. I think theyre Getting Better with that all the time. They work really closely with us. They urge transparency. Weve gone to the hill with them and talked about how its really important to be transparent. I think well have some moments when people who might not be huge fans of amtrak in the first place see numbers they dont like or see parts of amtrak, divisions much amtrak different business entities losing money, but i think its important to have a really transparent and realistic conversation about it because ultimately amtrak provides a service that i think is incredibly important to the country. Kind of a long answer. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Im valerie mccall. Im the vice chair of afta and chair of the transit Board Members committee. But also in my day job i am the chief of government and International Affairs for the city of cleveland, ohio. So i didnt want to sit up here and not stand up and say thank you for the Pilot Program on local hiring rule making. I spend a lot of time up in d. O. T. In conversations over the last ten years about that. Sometimes when we have projects and we have local laws that have hiring requirements we cant implement them. I wanted to stand up and say thank you for that. And of course we will be submitting some comments. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks. Well coming back to the theme about it being about the people, obviously, afta has a continuing interest in working to improve coordinated Human Services transportation and it involves a whole myriad of interests and overlapping programs. We all talk about project developments streamlining but heres another area where we can have some realignment and simplification. What in your view could be done to bring more federal agencies to the table to work in a more coordinated partnership . Well, the reason were having and i have to give kudos to my staff, Henrika Buchanan smith and her team and fta, for pushing forward this rides to wellness summary were having on wednesday, is youre exactly right, diana. We have been charging up the hill of better coordinating, as i like to say it across our cylinders of excellence of making available of the available resources we have and we see a new opportunity for conversation because the Affordable Care act created access to Health Insurance for, you know hundreds of thousands of families and individuals that continues to grow. But if they cant get to the services that the insurance is providing, then obviously theres, you know, a huge gap in achieving the goal that we want to achieve. So its our hope that the Health Care Industry sees a vested interest in becoming an active part of this dialogue along with transit providers and along with the federal agencies that are you know, bringing forward, you know, much of the, you know, regulatory and implementation framework for these things. To say, you know we have to you know, get beyond our past, which actually there was a presentation i heard just recently that made the observation that when youre dealing with taxhe taxpayer dollar theres incredible attention to trying to avoid in any way waste, fraud and abuse. Thats just basically an interest in protecting taxpayer dollars. However, sometimes in carrying that out you can make the strictures so rigid that then you cant recognize an environment thats changed to serve the very people that these programs are being set up to help. So the beginning of it is maybe sitting down and having a very lucid and comprehensive discussion about that changed environment do we have . Maybe we have all the tools, but just not using them right. Were not putting them together in the right way. So, thats where we are going to start. And i think its incredibly important that the folks we are bringing together come to it with the idea that they can be invested in the solution. And that this suspect some toptown thing that the federal agencies are trying to impose. This is really about all of us recognizing that we are not serving the client base that needs our help and that we actually are here to serve we can do better. Lets talk about the ways to make that happen. Terrific. Thank you. Do we have any more questions from our audience . We have exhausted everyone. [ laughter ] i see somebody approaching the microphone. Lets give her a minute. Good afternoon. My name is wendy observerdick im a doc a subject matter expert, no the for transportation, you im a physician out of texas. So, since you gave me such a great leadin, im part of a acl and Care Organization for quality alliance. We have a regional geographic scope. Im here as a guest of dart. And my question for you is this if health care can come together and we can get very creative in how we serve the populations, both in getting them to the clinics proactively and Building Health care, decreasing expense where do we start . So my question to you is having those coverings is a wonderful idea, very interested in doing that, but how do you get it started . So for the state of texas, as an example, where would we start . You know, we were asking that same question and we recognize and hear this theme over and over but hear it because it is so true over and over again. It is not going to be the same starting place and ending place for the communities in texas as it may be for california as it may be for boston. One of the things that we have also launched is we have provided funding for some Pilot Programs and im just looking to make sure i dont push it Pilot Programs oriented around communities that they themselves are pulling together the cadre of interests that they need to asell pell in order to tackle this problem. And so, we are providing some funding actually to let the communities themselves dealt into this definition space of you know, whats our clients . Whats the problem . What are we trying to achieve . What resources do we already have versus what we might need . And we with ament to essentially fund those conversations. And so, we have how much money about 300,000 [ inaudible ]. That would be great, thank you. And, you know, just keep tabs on the fta website after the summit which again im really excited thats going to be on wednesday. Whats happened, next steps that will be coming up, pause this is an initiative under the secretarys larger ladders portfolio that we will be pursuing for the next next several months certainly. Sir your question . Good afternoon. Todd lang from the pat more npo. Im also the cochair of the aptra metropolitan planning subcommittee. I wanted to see if you had any update on the timing for the traps set Asset Management and safety regulation and then comment on the delicate dance that needs to occur after that with the states the npos and transit providers. Well, as much as i gave my colleague over here from l. A. My i really cant give you a timeline, i can say that pot transit Asset Management and the safety rulemakers are Top Priorities for fta. They are just so fundamental to on their fair, the new responsibilities given to us under mat 21 but the city just really needs it. Work very closely with them. So working hard to get it out as soon as we can. The point that you made you know, the interaction though i think is very important because weve made the case for some time that our transit agencies need to be very much engaged with the metropolitan planning process. Some of them are. Some of them not quite as much. Secretary fox has made it another important part of his objectives is to strengthen the well, is to strengthen the Regional Planning process generally, but also, to ensure that transit and all other parties are clearly on the table. So really points to getting the notice of proposed rulemaking out actually on our joint mapping rule. That actually is i know that thats undergoing comment now, the comments closed on the nprm for the joint policy rulemaking, if im remembering correctly. And so, thats moving ahead you know, like a dpazle in thegazelle in the sa. Have a. In. In the savanna that is out in terms of the mapping foundation for the types of discussions we are going to have to be having. Thanks. If political changes delay it for four years and the next administration i have no idea what youre talking about. What what happens to those federal funds . Are they Still Available . Start pack from square zero . What are the rules . So dont be so pessimistic. Unless youre probably trying to get the money so youre interested. So, we are doing our best to make sure that everything that can possibly be on playing dated is on playing dated, which is our job to do. Theres a deadline on that. We are not sort of scooting things under the across the boarder, we have a deadline for obligation so we will be obligated those funds. I cant speak to what can happen later. So any questions . Thank you. We appreciate your candor and the time youve dedicated to come here and show us how the federal government can partner with us for a better tomorrow so that our postcards will be ones of positive messages and cement. So, thank you so much. Appreciate it. And to our audience and our viewers, we please encourage you to join us for a view from the hill session at 3 45 to hear directly from congressional staffers on the industry an inside perspective of upcoming clintons. So, that is at 3 45, view from the hill. With live could have ram of the u. S. House on cspan and the senate cspan2 here on cspan3, we complement that coverage pie showing utmost relevant congressional hearings and Public Affairs events. And then on weekends cspan3 is the home to American History tv with programs that tell our nations story including six unique series. The civil wars 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events. American artifacts touring museums and Historic Sites to discover what artifacts reveal about americas past. History bookshelf, the best known American History writers. The presidency looking it he policies and legacies of our nations commanders in chief. Lectures in history with top College Professors developing into americas past. 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