Los Angeles on March 27th 2015
Join us at “Making the Transition from Roads to Rail Conference” in what was once considered the car capital of the world.
This exciting meeting is taking place Friday, March 27, 2015 from 8:00 to 5 p.m. at the Southern California Association of Government Offices, 818 West 7th Street, 12th Floor in Los Angeles.
This national conference, which is being sponsored by the Rail Users’ Network, will examine how Los Angeles is making the transition from roads to rail. The day will begin with opening remarks from Richard Rudolph, Chairman, Rail Users’ Network, and Hasan Ikhrata, Executive Director, SCAG. Featured speakers include Denny Zane, Executive Director of MoveLa, Don Sepulveda, Executive Officer, Regional Rail, Los Angeles County Metro, Arthur Leahy, CEO of L.A. Metro, and Mark Murphy, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Amtrak Long Distance Services.
Denny Zane will talk about his organization’s efforts to build a powerful business-labor-environmental coalition that has worked with former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and L.A. Metro to get Measure R, a half-cent sales tax for transportation on the ballot in 2008 and ensured its passage. Thanks to Measure R, Los Angeles has embarked on this country’s most ambitious transit expansion – a virtual doubling of the size of L.A. County’s transit system from 120 miles and 103 stations to 236 miles and 200 stations.
Don Sepulveda will speak about the regional rail system in and around Los Angeles. Mark Murphy, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Amtrak Long Distance Services, will provide an update on the Southwest Chief, as well as other challenges and new initiatives that Amtrak is taking regarding long distance service. Arthur Leahy will talk about L.A. Metro’s current efforts underway to further expand service, as well as what should be done in the future.Arthur Leahy will talk about L.A. Metro’s current efforts underway to further expand service, as well as what should be done in the future.
Christopher Coes, Director of LOCUS, who is also a staff member of Smart Growth America will give the keynote address. LOCUS serves as a vital voice for real estate developers and investors who are calling for a new federal transportation formula that would redirect a substantial portion of funds from building roads and bridges to developing “walkability, bike lanes, and mass transit.” Mr. Coes’s talk will focus on how federal, state, and local policies can be re-aligned to support walkable urbanism which is affordable.
Participants attending the conference will also hear from rail activists and planners who are working at the ground level to extend the reach of rail transit, promote transit-oriented development at the local level, as well as the multi-state efforts to save the Southwest Chief and promote best practices for rail advocacy.
Our first panel of the day “Big Rail, Little Rail”, which will be held during the morning session, will highlight rail expansion and the emerging regional and inter-regional rail network. Dana Gabbard, RUN Board Member and Executive Secretary, Southern California Transit Advocates, will moderate. Panelists include Eliza Echevarria, Community Relations Manager, Riverside County Transportation Commission; Raffi Hamparian, Director, Federal Affairs, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority ; Michelle Boehm from the California High Speed Rail Authority; and Jessica Wethington McLean, Executive Director of Bringing Back Broadway.
Participants will have the opportunity during lunch to share information and experiences regarding their efforts and those of their organizations, to promote passenger rail and rail trainsit in their local areas.
In the afternoon, participants will learn how Transit Oriented Development has impacted the local economy. Rail Users’ Network Chair Richard Rudolph, Ph.D. will moderate. Panelists include Diego Cardoso, Executive Officer, Countywide Planning and Development, L.A. Metro; Roger Moliere, former Executive Officer for Real Property at L.A. Metro now currently serving as Senior Adviser at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP; Dan Rosenfeld, a private real estate investor who alternates between private and public-sector service, and Huasha Liu, Director, Land Use and Evnironmental Planning, Southern California Association of Governments.
The third panel of the day will focus on Best Practices for More Effective Advocacy. Andrew Albert, RUN’s Vice Chair and Chair of the NYC Transit Riders Council, will moderate. Panelists include Lynda Bybee, former Deputy Executive Officer, Community Outreach, Los Angeles METRO, past President of the Women’s Transportation Seminar; Jaime de la Vega, former Deputy Mayor for Transportation under Mayor Villaraigosa, former General Manager, Los Angeles Dept. of Transportation and former Board Member, Metrolink, and Darrell Clarke, who helped get the Expo Line started, and extended as far as Santa Monica.
The final panel of the day will focus on the “Multi-State Effort to Save the Southwest Chief: A Case Study in Advocacy.” David Peter Alan, Esq., RUN Board Member and President of the Lackawanna Coalition, will moderate. Panelists include Jim Souby, President, Colorado Rail Passenger Association, and J.W. Madison, President, Rails Inc., and RUN Board Member.
Participants attending the conference will also have an opportunity to be part of an optional inspection tour of public transportation in the Los Angeles area on Saturday, March 28. Besides a behind-the-scenes tour of Union Station and Metro’s Rail operations center, conference attendees will have an opportunity to experience riding subways, commuter & light rail in Southern California.
Conference attendees will also have time to network and enjoy refreshments offered at the pre-conference welcoming reception, which will be held Thursday, March 26, from 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. in the Edison Room at MoveLA headquarters, 634 South Spring Street – #818, in Los Angeles.
The registration fee is $85, and $90 at the door – which includes a continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon refreshment break, the pre-conference reception, the optional inspection tour on Saturday (excluding rail/transit fares) and all conference materials/handouts.
Who should attend: civic, business & non-profit leaders, real estate developers, planners, environmentalists, rail advocates, rail & rail transit riders, and other residents of California and elsewhere who are interested in learning more about rail’s impact on local and regional economies.
Please join us at what promises to be a very exciting & worthwhile event. To register, fill out the conference form on our website: railusers.net. Pay on-line using your credit card or paypal account. The registration form can also be downloaded and filled out. Registrants choosing this option should send the form, along with their check, to RUN, 55 River Road, Steep Falls, ME 04085