The 10th Annual Rail Users’ Network Conference is taking place Friday, March 27, 2015 from 8:00pm to 5pm at the Southern California Association of Governments 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 Hassan Ikhrata, the Executive Director of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Featured speakers include Denny Zane, the Executive Director of MoveLA, Arthur Leahy, CEO of L.A. METRO, and Mark Murphy, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Amtrak’s 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 LA 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. 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. Mark Murphy, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Amtrak’s 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 services.

Christopher Coes, the Managing 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,” will be held during the morning session and will highlight rail expansion and the emerging regional and inter-regional rail network. Dana Gabbard, RUN Board Member and the Executive Secretary, Southern California Transit Advocates, will moderate. Panelists include:  Elza Echevarria, Community Relations Manager, Riverside County Transportation Commission; Raffi Hamparian, Director, Federal Affairs, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Michelle Boehm, Southern California Regional Director, California High Speed Rail Authority and a spokesperson (invited) for the L.A. streetcar project.

During the lunch break, Andrew Albert,  RUN’s Vice-Chair,  will present the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award to an outstanding rail advocate who lives in the Los Angeles area.  In addition, James RePass, Sr., Chairman, National Corridors Initiative, will give a brief talk on Public / Private / Rail Partnerships.

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, County Wide Planning and Development, L.A. Metro; Roger Moliere, former Executive Officer for Real Property at L.A. Metro now currently serving as Senior Advisor 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 Environmental 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, currently President of the Women’s Transportation Seminar; Jaime de la Vega, former Dep. 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. Panelist include: Jim Souby, President, Colorado Rail Passenger Association, J.W. Madison, President, Rails, Inc and RUN Board Member and Sal Pace, Pueblo County Commissioner and former member of the Colorado House of Representatives.

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. In addition to 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 and 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 evening, March 26, in the Edison Room at MoveLA headquarters located at 634 South Spring Street #818, Los Angeles.

The early registration fee is $75 until Friday, March 6. Thereafter, registration is $85 and $90 at the door. Registration includes a continental breakfast, lunch,  afternoon refreshment break, the preconference 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 at railusers.net. The registration form can also be downloaded and mailed in. Registrants choosing this option should send the form along with their check to RUN, 55 River Road, Steep Falls, ME.  04085.

More information about the conference, registration, and the weekend’s program can be found here.