to improve the quality and delivery of transit services to the american public. including assisting in a streamline process for the new and small starts program and secure new funding opportunities for state and government transit assets. she took the lead in working with fta staff to ensure the allocation of 8.8 billions for 1072 grants. she also represented fellowships in the partnerships for sustainable communities, epa colleagues and hud. please help me welcome acting administrator mcmillan. [ applause ] thank you. and it is great to be with again. as you know, secretary foxx planned on being here today, and the only reason he didn't is because he's having surgery on

his knee. i'm sure if he was here, he'd be the first to point out that iron that like our infrastructure, all of us are getting older and in need of repair from time to time. there was one very important message, however, he wanted to be with you today to share. and that is to thank each of you for coming to washington and to visit with your members of congress. he's been to the hill many times himself over the past year. and he's worked hard to share with lawmakers the stark facts and a sense of urgency. he's explained how we're investing much less than we should be in transportation. and he's warned that because of that disinvestment, we've fallen behind on repairs. something we have to address even as we plan for the new capacity we must have for growing demand. but these same arguments carry

so much more weight when they come from you. you are able to speak in concrete terms about communities that are struggling to stay on the move. large ones and small ones. urban and rural. red and blue. that context matters. when states like arkansas and tennessee and delaware speak up and say they're postponing billions of dollars worth of projects it demonstrates in bold terms what the uncertainty of short-term measures is costing us. and it's up to each of us out there to convince our elected leaders that america's future growth and prosperity depend on the decisions that they will be making in the weeks ahead. working shoulder to shoulder with local business leaders, you are in the best position to tell your own story, and to make it clear how important public transportation is in your

community. so, now, i want you to imagine that you have the opportunity to write a postcard to yourself and send it back 30 years in the past. what would it say? maybe on the front side, you would send a picture of your family as an encouragement to your past self. i really can be successful. maybe you send a warning of the troubles we face as a nation. or maybe you would advise your 1985 self to invest in microsoft, look out for a company called google. and don't count apple out just yet, there's this thing called an iphone. well, we've already received our postcard from 30 years in our future. and on the front, it shows broad highways, full of cars at a standstill. and trucks full of goods going nowhere.

it shows a nation with 25% more people and an inability to connect them to jobs, education and health care. it shows bridges that have fallen with tragic results. and on the back, it simply says invest in transportation. so, why are we getting such a pessimistic postcard from our future selves? and will we follow the advice that it holds? now, you have to understand that the future america is a much more crowded place. when our nation could grow by as much as 25% over the next 30 years, adding more than 70 million people. pick any highway, bus, railcar at rush hour, in almost any city in america today, and you tell me if you can squeeze in 25% more people. americans are already spending

five days a week in traffic. in new york city, a record number of riders on an ageing subway system has already resulted in a greater number of overcrowding delays. in fact, in december, there were more than twice as many delays as just the year before. and this is not only a problem for our big cities. some of the fastest growing areas in the u.s. are places like frisco, texas, south jordan, utah. gaithersburg, maryland. and mt. pleasant, south carolina. in the town of san marcos, texas, they saw an 8% growth rate from 2012 to 2013, making it the fastest growing nation in the city with more than 50,000 people. and we are not talking about a

tech hub or a wealthy oil town. in fact, the median household income is $26,000 in san marcos. that is far below the average for the state of texas. while the population in cities like these are growing, nationwide, the number of people 65 and older, will more than double over the next 50 years. and when the aarp asked older americans what amenity they most wanted close to home, the number one answer was a bus stop. not a pharmacy. it was more important than a grocery store. it's how important their mobility and independence are to those seniors. what that postcard from the future is trying to tell us is that we will not be able to accommodate that kind of demand. driven by change in growth, unless we invest in transportation today. and specifically, public transport. of course, more people also means more people trying to get to work. and because this is america, it

also means more people starting and growing businesses, and they will need to connect to workers. a very recent example, when the big blizzard in january shut down boston's public transportation, massachusetts general hospital had a real problem. according to the hospital, nearly half of their employees take public transit. so, in the midst of this very dangerous storm, they were literally working overtime to make sure they could get enough staff on every shift. to serve their patients. and that's a situation that is not as unique as it sounds. in atlanta, a university study looked at more than 50 industry sectors that make up the region's economy. and it found that 14 of the 18 fastest growing sectors are among those, whose workers rely heavily on local transit

services to get to and from work. so, although atlanta doesn't suffer from any nor'easters any long-term disruption in the city's system would seriously throttle that region's ability to grow. nationwide, 4 of the 5 projected fastest growing jobs, pay wages less than $27,000 a year. we're talking about retail salespersons. home health aides. personal care aides. general office clerks, many of whom rely on public transport. and the reason our future selves are such debbie downers is that at the rate we're going today, we are not going to be able to keep up. in fact, decades of disinvestment are going to make

our job even harder. if there's one thing that people in this town can agree on is is that our national infrastructure is in a woeful state of disrepair. the american society of civil engineers gave the nation a "c"-plus, our roads a d-minus. in transit systems nationwide as you well know we have an $87 billion backlog in repairs that's estimated to grow by over $2 billion a year. your elected leaders are aware of this fact. and if they somehow missed it before, secretary foxx has recently traveled through many of their communities on a big blue bus, to call attention to it.

his message was very clear and it's very simple. we need to do something now. and we need to do something big. to these urgent reasons to invest, let's add another. the health and well-being of our communities and their people. later this week, fta is hosting a conversation called "rides to wellness" that aims to improve cooperation and coordination among transit, health care and social service providers. we will be joined by representatives from health and human services and the u.s. department of agriculture as part of our ongoing efforts to work together more effectively on behalf of the people we serve. with more americans covered by health insurance, it is important that they're able to access preventive care and regular checkups at the doctor's instead of at the emergency room. for instance, there are 15 free screenings provided by law. and this is fantastic.

but it can be really hard to convince someone to go to the doctor before something is broken or bleeding or hurting them. and that is especially true when they lack reliable transportation to get there. 80% of medicaid's health care costs are attributable to chronic diseases that could be better managed with more frequent care. but you have to get there. improving access to health care and doing it in a more coordinated way is going to be a growing challenge, particularly in rural areas that lack transportation options. so as you speak to elected leaders about the urgent need to invest in transit, remind them that you not only connect people to jobs and education, but you also connect them to vital services like health care. so with so many compelling reasons to invest in our

nation's transportation infrastructure, the only question seems to remain how can we possibly afford to fix this all. but i submit to you today is that the real question we should be asking is how can we possibly afford not to. and as secretary foxx likes to ask, if figuring out how to provide for the future is going to be so difficult, shouldn't we make it worth it by going for something big, instead of something half measure? this administration's answer is the grow america act. and you've heard a lot about it in the year since it was introduced. we will be building and expanding on our proposal this year, and the president's proposed budget for fiscal year '16 is a good indication of where we're headed. as the secretary has mentioned, it includes six years of funding for transportation, totaling

$478 billion. fta's share for fiscal year '16 is $18.4 billion and 16% funding. and over the sixth year it would grow for a total of $115 billion over the proposed authorization period. the fy-16 budget for fta includes a record $3.2 billion for our capital and investment grant program better known as "new starts and small starts." it would also increase the bus program dramatically providing for funding reintroducing the new rapid bus transit system

which would provide $500 billion for new services. these are in response what we've heard from you in terms of what your customers want. and because the transit industry is changing along with the rest of the nation, we want to make major investments in workforce development to build the skills and train the personnel that we are going to need for the future. if much of this sounds familiar, and it should, it's because by the time the latest short-term measure expires in may, the grow america proposal will be one year old. and yet, here we are, having the same conversations and staring down the same decisions. it's clear that not all of us have picked up that postcard from the future and turned it over to see what it says. that's why it's up to you to deliver the message. i know what secretary foxx would have asked of you today, to tell the truth, the unadulterated,

unvarnished unambiguous truth. tell congress about the many good projects that are stalled, the ones that will create jobs and ease congestion and bring us into the 21st century in a bold way. a postcard today can take many forms. though i still like getting the old-fashioned kind on a paper with a stamp. it can be a knock on a door. it can be an e-mail. it can be a tweet. for the younger generation, maybe it's a post to instagram with a picture of stalled traffic. or an overcrowded rail platform. or a picture of someone they love boarding a paratransit is van to go to dialysis. the bottom line is that the message has to be seen. it has to be heard and it has to be acted on.

let's go out and do it. thanks so much. [ applause ] >> thank you, administrator mcmillan. now, i want to turn the program over to our session moderator, dan amendez, senior vice president director of america's transit at ae com. dan, please. [ applause ] well, good afternoon, everybody. welcome. and thank you very much acting administrator mcmillan for communicates the message from secretary foxx and the update from fta. please do send secretary foxx all our well-wishers from avenue that and a speedy recovery.

i'm diana mendes as phil mentioned. i'm delighted fob your moderator where we'll having having a lively discussion with the federal. transit administration and the railway association. i'm now joining administrator mcmillan. we're also hearing from sarah feinberg who joined the administration january 9th, 2015. in this capacity, she managed a $20 billion rail investment portfolio and helps develop and enforce rail safety regulations and oversees research and technology development programs. prior to coming to the fra, miss feinberg served as chief staff to the secretary of transportation. providing strategic advice and counsel regarding operational and legislative initiatives across all modes of

transportation. now, updating us about the major goals and initiatives of the federal railroad administration, we'll turn to miss feinberg. please join me in welcoming her. [ applause ] good afternoon. it is such a pleasure to be here today with my colleague and friend therese mcmillan. you know in my old world as the chief of staff of secretary foxx, i always appreciated the commitment that this organization shares with the administration's goal of making our national transportation network safer, more interconnected more reliable and more efficient. to the president, michael, your board, your members and staff, thank you for your partnership and support over the years. i am so honored to be with you today as there are no greater friends to the department of transportation.

now, i'm a pretty frank person, so let me get right to my main points and then we'll get to the moderated conversation. today, i want to spend our time talking, first, about safety and the importance of bringing a fresh perspective and new thinking to some old problems. and then about rail and surface reauthorization and the incredibly important opportunities we see there. but first, safety. as all of you know, and much to the credit of the people sitting in this room, over the last decade total train accidents are down. derailments are down. highway grade crossing incidents have declined. the rail industry in many ways is safer than it has ever been in history. that is all good news. and all of you deserve great credit for these improvements. but most recently, some of those numbers look to be ticking up on us again. over the last year, the number of incidents at grade crossings increased by 9%.

and the number of fatalities, at grade crossings increased by 16%. and while this less figure is less of an issue for the commuter rails to worry about, reported on fra data showing the number of fiery and violent rupture accidents also on the rise. so my point is this. those most recent statistics alone serve as a stark reminder that our work is not done. we still have a long way to go to get to zero accidents, zero injuries and zero fatalities. you know, just two weeks into my new job at the fra, a grade crossing accident occurred in new york killing six people and injuring 15. three weeks later, another passenger rail grade crossing accident occurred in california and a metrolink crew member died and 27 other passengers were injured. stark and painful reminders that we have a ways to go to make grade crossing safer.

i will add we have news of another grade crossing incident just an hour ago in north carolina. so we're hopeful that will be less dramatic on everyone there as well. so that's just reason why safety is the centerpiece of the reauthorization proposal. but in addition to our own legislative proposals, we have to take independent actions as well. just because a problem san old problem, maybe one we think will never be fully solved doesn't mean we shouldn't give it a fresh look and ask ourselves what more can we be doing. following the metro-north grade crossing incident, i immediately asked our fra staff, men and women who have literally dedicated their entire careers to keeping people safe at or near crossings to take a fresh look at how we approach safety. last week, i called upon law enforcement agencies to staff up

more patrols at grade crossings. to increase the efforts to issue citations to drivers who don't obey the rules of the road. and to immediately begin employing best practices to our in the coming weeks we will have more to announce. about incoming dangers of grade crossing dangers. and how we might be better to increase funding to assist local communities who might want to improve safety at crossings. other than the friends and families of grade crossing victims, of course no one understands the pain of these incidents quite like the train crews and operators. these incidents are truly devastating for everyone. and we shouldn't lose sight of the price that so many of your own colleagues have paid. as we have said on many safety items over the years, we look forward to working with all of you, partnering with you and to bring down the number of injuries and deaths. on to reauthorization. you know, there's a lot of talk in washington about getting a rail and surface reauthorization

done this session and we are so encouraged by that progress. few things could be more important or more valuable use of the congress' time. the fact that the house of representatives took an important first step just last week in adopting a rail reauthorization measure is say huge sign of momentum. and i congratulate chairman schuster and everyone who worked so closely with him and his staff to get that. but we need to do more. we need a comprehensive rail reauthorization package that included funding and safety assistance to commuter railroads to implement tpc. as this process moves ahead we look forward to working with both chambers of congress as they craft a measure that builds, sustains and enhances a safe and reliable rail network for both passenger and freight rail service. we are their ready partner, and we will do anything in our power to assist them in moving a package forward. after all, we have a lot at stake here.

as you just heard therese eloquently say, our grow america proposal a six-year transportation funding bill would give states the funding certainty they need to bridge the nation's infrastructure gap. as all of you know, rail is unique when compared to other modes of transportation isn't that it lacks a committed source of federal revenue. grow america will provide predictable, dedicated funding for rail, with the establishment of a rail account and a new transportation trust fund. for the rail industry, grow america means a $29 billion investment over six years to improve rail safety and invest in a national high performance rail system. the act also builds on current investments to vastly improve the system in areas ranging from ptc implementation to enhancing flexibility and financing programs that will better enable the rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure. grow america would make changes

to improve existing programs. among other topics, the act would enhance the rift program making it more accessible and flexible for borrowers. revamp amtrak's planning process to address immediate and long-term goals such as addressing the backlog of state of good repair needs. advanced safety research by focusing on risk reduction and new equipment testing. assist the railroad industry in implementing ptc as the back bone of the next generation of rail safety. grow america would also create new programs that will focus on both current passenger rail service and the development of future passenger rail service. these programs include the establishment of new amtrak grants that would provide a longer term view of maintaining passenger rail assets and services in good working condition. the rail service improvement program which will 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 state and localities to mitigate rail and grade crossing improvements in rail line and relocation efforts. simply put to close rail infrastructure gap and setting the table for the next generation of safety. these are forward-thinking, large-scale improvements that come with some extremely important by-products. the creation of good paying jobs and the strength of our national economy. and bridging our nation's infrastructure gap gets more important with every passing day of an action. it's no secret that our ageing infrastructure and gaps that exist in our transportation system must be dealt with were 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 it's up to all of you to make sure that congress gets it right. we must build on the proposal put forward bit house in order to see a comprehensive rail reauthorization 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 and 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 ageing infrastructure simply 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 feinberg for your remarks.

and certainly, both of you gave us very inspirational and insightful speeches, but certainly, clearly communicated that it's up to all of us to make the future successful. so we're going to take some questions from the floor. but before we do, i'd 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 long-term financing involves public/private partnerships. and i'm just curious, what you see as some of the great success stories and what advice you might have for those seeking public/private partnerships. >> sure. >> am i all right? >> yeah.

>> so, i think you're exactly right. public/private partnerships, we're seeing increasing numbers of them all the time. i think what secretary foxx 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 it's fine for them to supplement a bill. it's certainly one path forward that i hesitate to put too many eggs in that basket. we still need a good bill. >> i think other thing to think about, too, is certainly, we want to broaden our sense about what effective private sector participation is in the private industry. so, for example, a lot has been turned to transit-only development. but capturing the value of that development for transit i think

is a 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 towards the construction of a project, what about capturing that ongoing value for ongoing operations and maintenance. so we've been working closely with a number of our agencies with a lot of creative work that's going on out in the industry right now. we want to bundle that up and see if there's a more aggressive way that we can encourage that type of partnerships. in bringing the private sector forward. >> so, the federal railroad administration has been working on a number of improvements to the railroad rehabilitation and improvement financing program. >> we need a lot of improvements.

>> you can share with us -- and we're happy to see them advancing. can you share with us some of the improvements that you see? >> yes. we are very focused on this. first, i give secretary foxx a lot of credit. he has said that one of his priorities is 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, it is going to be difficult. but it's a very good challenge to have. so, we're doing a couple things. one, we are trying to think more creatively about potential applicants. i think we may have been a little narrow in our view of the right applicants with this program previously. so whether it's the mayor of new haven who wants to come in and talk about what union station in knew haven needs. or whenever it's recall emanuel wanting to talk about new haven

station. or the potential for the ability for stabilizing crude. i think we would be much more open to that. we're much more creative on who the applicants would be. and also to work a little faster. this administration has to walk a fine line as to improving infrastructure projects but obviously being very careful with taxpayer dollars and making sure that all of that money is going to get paid back at some point. so all the loan terms are excellent, it's important that money comes back. i think it's taking time to get over some of those barbs but also working through being more efficient in how to get through

the process and get those loans out the door. >> great. so, as you're looking at and evaluating projects to be 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 the projects competitive and attractive to federal investment? >> well i think certainly, for new starts and small starts, we've put -- you know, we actually have, you know, statutory criteria we have to examine. so by its own design, there's a number of different factors that we evaluate. i think they'll give them the incredible competitiveness of the program. clearly, those agencies that are able to leverage the federal dollar well, will be able to play in that pool. and there's another aspect to that that's very important as well. once you get the project built, you have to run it.

and that's not a small -- a small issue. i think one of the things we've seen 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. it's not just heavy rail and light really. but it is brt, but at the same time, you have to be in a stable enough environment that once that project is done and that is concluded, you're able to operate and maintain that system. and we invest in the system over time. so it's 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 you're able to be in there for the long haul. >> would you like to add? >> 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 figure it all out on your own and then turn in a big package to us and we'll 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. >> thank you for that. so safety, obviously, is at the forefront of all of our minds every day. i'm sure you have advice and

insights to share with the audience as different safety programs are starting to come online in advance of the new safety regulations. what would you advise people to think about and get prepared for? >> well, with federal transit, and it's 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 map21 gave us significant regulatory authority. so we've been working very closely, afta has been a great partner in getting the message out. as we're starting with this new authority, a couple of thing, critical. first of all, throughout the d.o.t., safety is our number one priority. there can't be enough attention

to this. but for transit, our challenge is also recognizing approaching safety, one size won't fit all in terms of a regulatory framework. that simply just won't happen. and so, we've been spending a lot of time, you know, explaining and building on what's 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 some time. and explored by a number of our 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. you look at the risk circumstances of your operating environment, your capital environment, your worker safety environment. and you build a program around

your risk management portfolio. so, you know, that's not a concept that's very easy to put on paper and to have. by any stretch. and we're working very hard to get all of the various elements through the rule making process, to respond to the map21 requirements, and it continues to be a top priority for us today. >> so, my advice is, i touched on in my remarks, we are when faced with new thinking with very old problems, where we've made a ton of progress. and i think, you know, there's inclination to say, oh, it's mostly driver error. what are you going to do about somebody trying to beat a train? what are you going to do when someone is ultimately a little disoriented at a grade crossing? we're trying to bring new thinking to an old problem.

i think with new problems we're trying to bring comprehensive thinking. so the crude by rail issue is a brand-new problem. it's a problem we're having because we're becoming an energy efficient country which is wonderful. i don't think everyone is thinking about the challenges that come along with energy efficiency. those are problems that we've been tackling a long time, particularly in light of the volume problem throughout the country. how do you incentivize the history. how do you incentivize the railroads. how do you put certain expectations in place such as zero policy for anything that happens on a crude route. so comprehensive thinking for old problems and new problems. >> and that takes all of us at

the table to do that in partnership. >> actually, that sets up a point i'd like to reiterate, too. you know, we've tried very hard under this administration. and secretary foxx has made it a key point in, you know, the bureau of traffic framework that was put out there. we have to stop thinking of ourselves in our little boxes 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. as a transit mode, that's really critical to us, a lot of people get to our system walk and biking. or will leave our system walking or biking. sarah's thinking this is highways or cars or pedestrians in the case of trespassing and the challenges associated there.

so, you know, this whole notion of an sms construct is helpful not only with the safety of the mode but the safety of the system and how it interfaces with other modes as well. so it's exciting time to be thinking about safety in these different dimensions. >> i guess particularly with the new technologies and the ability to do better analytics to really address the most pressing needs. so, i'm sure we have some questions in our audience. i'd like to offer the opportunity for members of the audience to ask their had questions. please let us know who you are and where you're from. >> i'm peter varga from grand

rapids, michigan. thank you, therese, thank you about the postcard. i really like that idea. you mentioned something really good i thought about the whole thing about taking photographs and sending them. and leading into instagram and using that social media. which hash tag should we use, should we use hash tag talking stuck in traffic, which ones so everybody starts being in the same conversation on that? >> oh, wow, that's a good question. maybe we should have a contest. get all your good ideas. >> #growamerica. >> stuck in traffic is a good one, too. >> there's so many elements. >> #dosomething. >> right. i want to bring up something that peter stressed so much in your tenure as chair of afta, how about #it's about people. i think a large part about this, if it's 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 opportunity to reflect something that is a critical part of our conversation. >> 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, we're exhausted. at some point on our way out the door, we'll have to bring out the list of names. it was a race to the bottom, but it was really funny. >> send it to me, and i'll make sure everybody gets it. >> okay, terrific. thank you. >> yeah, hi, i'm 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. the question i have if we can get some definition on the local hire as it pertains to rolling stop procurement. as manufacturers we employ a variety of subsuppliers all throughout the u.s. and we're 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 we're going to be looking at moving factories 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. it's very important. it is a pilot program for communities and entities that

want to explore -- well, and particularly for fta because we have statutory requirements 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 preference does in fact impose constraints on the competitive bidding environment. this is a way to get experience on the ground with entities who 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 don't go in with a specific -- the whole point about a pilot program, you're 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 we're going to be gathering data based on these pilots that will be very important. so we're not coming in with a preconceived notion about it. we're actually setting up a pilot to get ideas from local communities. >> thank you. sir? >> you're both absolutely correct. the mantra is safety, liability, 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 road crossing issue, is it able for us to get our thoughts over to fra so we can develop these ideas so we can make those accidents completely avoidable. >> yes, so, first of all, you can e-mail me, sarah.feinberg@dot.gov. we want ideas on this. we have a whole policy and development on fra that is constantly helping to think about these things. they do human factor research. they do research in pueblo. they run trains into each other and see what happens but they also work on human factors and

new technologies that are coming that might help us down the road. so that's all easy to find on our website, but you can also just e-mail 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 that's being put forward in the be on traffic document. a huge part of that 30-year view is in the whole arena of new technologies and innovation. secretary foxx has been very blunt in his assessment the transportation industry, particularly, 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. and the 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 i'm from northern california i'm from tri transit in antioch. my question is basically two things number one is, if we do not get funding, that's the first thing. if we don't get this process going through the legislature, where are we going with the

projects anyway? because if we've got 15 that we don't have funding for and then '16 is coming and an election coming and new cabinet members coming in, et cetera, that's going to create a monster of a problem for a lot of people so, i think that's 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. i've been to china and seen their process. i've been to korea and seen their process, i can say looking at those processes, they're ahead of the curve, they planned it. especially in japan, they're really ahead of the curve, they had high-speed rail and so did china. but china had a few problems but my concern is if we have shovel-ready programs already ready, how do we get them up to the top of the list? because sometimes i see that they don't get to the top of the list.

and, so, what can we do as being an agency to be on top to do the funding and be able to do that. we have a program now that the governor of california just approved the high-speed rail project. well, it still needs the funding to get it finished. and if it doesn't have the funding, it's going to stay out there in the middle of nowhere and just sit there and we can't get it done. it's an important project, it will show in the united states what high-speed rail will do. we just need to move forward and get those up. 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. >> we have not gotten to where congress is actually so dysfunctional they're not going to at least extend it, right? but 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, we've got five days, seven days. how much money, are we going to make it? but something has to be done. so that's a vehicle, first of all, for something big to be done. meanwhile, it's important to be exactly as you said, be really efficient with your projects get them started. i don't think any member of congress, republican, democrat, tea party, whatever, nobody wants to be in a position where you've started a project, obligated funds and then you can't continue with the project.

it doesn't matter who's in the white house or who is in charge of congress, you don't want to have it stranded either. i think that's going for us. you need to make as much progress as you possibly can, so that when this administration leaves there's an effort to continue those projects in the next administration. and, the other good news i think we have going for us infrastructure and transportation has always historically been topics, issues, that bring parties together. so it's one of the few things even in this very partisan political moment that we're in, that's likely to get worse as we head into a presidential election cycle, it's one of the few things that usually brings people together. so it's less likely to be affected than everything else. >> i just have one other question, in regards to rail, and it has to be with the process of getting the, for instance, our major process right now is moving the rail through the cities. and i happen to be one of the

cities that we're moving it in. we're looking to actually have a facility in our city. but the problem is our communities are, you know, because of all of the problems they've had. and the crashes that you mentioned before that are up, is how do we appease the people of the community to appease the people to get them on another level where we actually do this? i know there's issues with rails not being level. and there's a lot of issues out there for maintenance. and that's 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 that's probably one of the worst things i've seen dealing with the rail. you try to get them to come to your city to talk about what they're planning and how they're doing it. i notice union pacific just recently has been giving a big boom of how good they are on the

tv. and i'm hoping that we can figure out a way to get that together, because, you know, when people march, it doesn't do any good to march and stand in front of the trains, we talk about incidents, that's how they get created. so, i just -- it's 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. >> everybody should be good neighbors to each other. but, look, i mean, i think it's 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. it's really important to remind

the folks coming in that you know, the community is supposed to be their partner not just someplace they blow by at 70 miles an hour and wake everybody up in the middle of the night with a horn. i feel like i'm giving political advice. but to the extent that i'm giving political advice to both sides, be good to each other, be good neighborneighbors, and if gets really bad, call us and we'll try to get everybody together. >> it sounds good. >> always challenging. >> i'm lisa walfrank from seattle. and we've had a few projects that have had 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 harmen harmonization. there is oversight between the modes. i'm very familiar with the circumstance that you're working on. and frankly, you know each, any particular project will have its own circumstances, and in this case, we had fhwa and fta, you know, up through washington leadership working to figure out a way to deal, deal with that circumstance. there's been a lot of discussion, for example, between fta and fra in terms of better

coordinating our reviews and requirements for projects where there will be a freight element and a passenger rail element and a project that serves both and we need to be able to ensure that we're not making people do things twice. and so again, certainly on a case by case basis we've tried to anticipate that and, as sarah had say you know, early early intervention is much more helpful than getting down, you know, toward the end. so that also involves 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 there's been i think a lot of folks generally on streamlining, that was a major focus in map21 and under the grow america proposal. and without a lot of specifics, i don't have it in front of me

here, it does continue to be an important element and a theme that both secretary foxx and deputy secretary victor mendez deliver to us on a frequent basis as much as we can with the authorities that exist and also to pursue things going forward should they need statutory change. >> what's very interesting about the streamlining initiatives is the common theme that it is up to all of us to make that happen. it's not up for a federal agency 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. so very consistent with your messages and your remarks. yes? >> thank you, i'm jackie dupont walker, board member l.a. county. in case anybody doesn't know that's california.

i really want to thank you both for the updates today. and in l.a. county we have a high percentage of unemployed and underemployment that impacts areas, particularly where some of our projects are actual lay under construction. the light rail. we're very excited about the innovative workforce development program that has come out.