Chuck Baker, President, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association
Commentary

2023: A Milestone Anniversary Year

ASLRRA PERSPECTIVE, RAILWAY AGE FEBRUARY 2023 ISSUE: This year is the 110th anniversary of the founding of the American Short Line Association, our oldest predecessor.

Railway Age named Vermont Railway (left) 2022 Short Line of the Year; and South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (right) 2022 Regional of the Year.

‘Short Line/Regional of the Year’ Nominations Due Today, Feb. 1

Railway Age is accepting entries for its annual Short Line/Regional Railroad of the Year competition. The deadline is today, Wednesday, February 1, at 5 p.m. ET.

ASLRRA: Navigating the Grant Process

New U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) tools, including RAISE webinars, are now available to help organizations navigate the grant process for railroad projects, according to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).

Pictured (left to right): Lucy Grasso, OmniTRAX; Alexis Kudlak, ASLRRA; and Fabrizio Brasca and Rebecca Nerad, FourKites.

People News: OmniTRAX, ASLRRA, FourKites

OmniTRAX appoints a Vice President of Business Strategy. Also, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) welcomes a new Senior Accountant, and FourKites bolsters its management team with a Chief Strategy Officer and a Vice President of Global Customer Success.

Caren Kraska, President of ASLRRA-member Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, testified on the economic and environmental advantages of rail, during a 2021 hearing of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Nominations Sought for ASLRRA’s New Environmental Award

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) is inviting members to apply for its new Environmental Award that will recognize “innovative and successful environmental initiatives in the small-railroad industry.” Nominations are due March 4.

Biden Administration Releases U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization

The Biden Administration has released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, “a landmark interagency framework of strategies and actions to remove all emissions from the transportations sector by 2050,” the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Jan. 10.

H.R. 9581 ‘Marker’ for 118th Congress

Republican Representative Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), with GOP cosponsors Mike Bost and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Michael Guest and Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) and Troy Nehls (R-Tex.), on Dec. 15 introduced H.R.

Associations Petition TSA for Extension of Surface Cyber Risk Management Comment Period

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and six other groups have petitioned the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for an extension to the public comment period on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking concerning surface cyber risk management.

ASLRRA President Chuck Baker
Commentary

Come January, Some Congressional Changes: Once Again, Our Work is Cut Out for Us

ASLRRA PERSPECTIVE, RAILWAY AGE DECEMBER 2022 ISSUE: Apart from the Georgia Senate runoff and a few uncalled races, the midterm election is finally over.

Pictured left to right: Jason Jewell, Managing Director, Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency; Brian Riley, Chief Operating Officer of Rail, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS); and Jacqueline Peduzzi, Vice President and Business Unit Leader, STV.

People News: LOSSAN, San Diego MTS, STV, ASLRRA, WSP USA

Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency appoints Jason Jewell as Managing Director. Also, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) promotes Brian Riley to Chief Operating Officer of Rail; and engineering firm STV names Jacqueline Peduzzi Vice President and Business Unit Leader. Paul Howard “Howard” Croft Jr., former President of the American Short Line Railroad Association (now ASLRRA), has died. James “Jim” L. Lammie, former President, CEO and Non-Executive Chairman of Parsons Brinckerhoff (now WSP), died Nov. 9.

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