Wednesday, January 6, 2010

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Mantill Williams

202-496-4869

mwilliams@apta.com

Virginia Miller

202-496-4816

vmiller@apta.com

FRA ADMINISTRATOR SZABO AND FRA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR RAE TO KEYNOTE

REGIONAL SEMINARS ON HIGH-SPEED RAIL

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the International Union of Railways (UIC) announced that Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo and FRA Deputy Administrator Karen Rae will be keynote speakers at regional seminars on high-speed rail in February. APTA and UIC developed three regional seminars to provide U.S. decision makers with the information necessary to implement high-speed rail.

The seminars, titled "International Practicum on Implementing High-Speed Rail in the United States," will be held on February 8-9 in Washington, DC; February 9-11 in Chicago, IL; and February 11-13 in Los Angeles, CA. The programs feature practitioners from high-speed rail systems around the world and will focus on best practices and lessons learned from European and Asian systems. Experts from Spain, Germany, Japan, Korea, Italy and France will share their experience and knowledge, with U.S.-based speakers providing appropriate context for application in the North American operating environment.

The seminars are designed for local decision makers and practitioners, including executive and senior transportation managers, strategy experts, chief engineers, economists and stakeholder organizations who must understand the issues that they will face as their regions develop high-speed rail. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) will grant professional development hours to state DOT employees enrolled in the practicum.

This is the first set of seminars developed under a new partnership between APTA and the UIC. The two groups will now be able to engage in extensive information sharing that can cover the various technical, finance and management aspects of planning and building high-speed rail systems.

APTA is the legacy organization of the former High Speed Ground Transportation Association, which, in 2007 integrated its members and assets into the APTA structure and now functions through the constituent high-speed and intercity rail committee.

To register, go to www.apta.com.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of over 1,500 public and private member organizations, engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne passengers services, and high-speed rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products. More than 90 percent of the people using public transportation in the United States and Canada are served by APTA member systems.