Vancouver to Host 2010 APTA Rail Conference and International Rail Rodeo

The 2010 Rail Conference and International Rail Rodeo will take place June 6-9 in Vancouver, BC. Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (TransLink), the event is North America’s largest and most comprehensive conference for the rail industry.

The 2010 conference encompasses all facets of the rail industry including: safety and security, commuter, high-speed and intercity rail, planning, sustainability and finance, capital projects, operations and technical forums. Rail professionals from throughout the industry will share best practices, lessons learned, and effective and timely solutions. Industry leaders, including Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff and Federal Railroad Administrator Jospeh C. Szabo, will address participants of the 2010 Rail Conference.

This marks the 18th year for the International Rail Rodeo Competition, which highlights the best rail operators and maintenance teams from across North America. Competitors, selected from local and state competitions, will compete to be crowned champion.

What: International Rodeo	What: 2010 Rail Conference
Where: VCC/Clark Station East 6th Ave. at Keith Dr. Vancouver BC	Where: Hyatt Regency Vancouver 655 Burrad St. Vancouver, BC
When: June 5, 2010	When: June 6 - 9, 2010
Operator competition begins at 7 a.m.
Maintaneance competition begins at 8 a.m.

Press:     Media registration for the 2010 APTA Rail Conference and International Rail Rodeo is FREE. To pre
                 register, go to the APTA web site at www.apta.com and fill out the on-line registration form. Your badge will be available
                 at the APTA registration desk in the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. To register on site, you will have to go to the APTA r
                 registration desk at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver.

Events: Some conference events are highlighted below.
                For a complete listing of sessions, visit: www.apta.com

Monday, June 7, 2010
8:30-10:00 a.m.	Opening General Session: Public Transportation Takes Us There The 2010 APTA Rail Conference starts with a look at the 2010 APTA Chair’s signature initiative “Telling Our Story”, along with remarks from public transportation leaders. Additionally, the 2010 winners of the International Rail Rodeo will be announced. President’s Welcome: William Millar, president, APTA Presiding: Mattie “M.P.” Carter, chair, APTA, and commissioner, Memphis Area Transit Authority, Memphis, TN Welcomes: Ian Jarvis, chief executive officer, TransLink, Burnaby, BC Michael W. Roschlau, president & chief executive officer, Canadian Urban Transit Association, Toronto, ON Sponsor Recognition: Michael E. Fetsko, vice president, Americas, Systems Division, Bombardier Transportation, Pittsburgh, PA Remarks: Joseph J. Giuletti, vice chair-commuter and intercity rail, APTA, and executive director, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Pompano Beach, FL Addresses: Administrator Peter M. Rogoff, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC Administrator Joseph C. Szabo, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC 18th Annual International Rail Rodeo Awards: Gary C. Thomas, vice chair-rail transit, APTA, and president/executive director, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas, TX
10:15 - 11:45 a.m.	Telling Our Story Bringing the benefits of public transportation to life, this session will highlight ideas and best practices to tell the public transportation story, including testimonials and social media initiatives.
10:15 - 11:45 a.m.	High-Speed and Intercity Rail: Legislation and Future Financing from Federal, State and Private Perspectives This session will provide perspectives from across the political spectrum on how the stakes have changed regarding the prospects for significant progress towards a national intercity and high-speed passenger
12:00 - 2:00 p.m.	General Luncheon: A New Era of Transportation Choices: Linking Transportation, Land Use, and Sustainability Shaped profoundly by the streetcar and trolley, Vancouver rejected freeways and pioneered a form of development that is being adopted around the world. This presentation will illustrate Vancouver’s rail-based growth, compare it with other cities, and speculate on the impacts that increased transportation choices will have on cities and regions.
2:00 - 5:00 p.m.	Technical Tours Host System TransLink has arranged for a number of educational and informative technical tours including: Tour 1: Trolley Buses and Transit Centers Tour 2: Vancouver Light Rail: SkyTrain Nears the Quarter Century Tour 3: Canada Line: A New Model for Project Delivery Tour 4: Suburban Transit and System Communications Tour 5: Marine Services and the North Shore
2:30 - 4:30 p.m	It Takes a Region: Integrating Rail Investment in Multimodal Plans and Programs Hear discussions on developing rail at a variety of scales, from regional connectivity to the local accessibility. Panelists will explore the influences upon decisions about how and where rail investments are made. Discussions will address how the performance and results of investments are measured, and how this information can be used to advance sustainable, multimodal solutions that leverage available resources more quickly, comprehensively, and efficiently.
2:30 - 4:30 p.m	New Business Models for Transit Projects This session focuses on the new approaches being used to assist transit agencies in containing capital project costs and how the public and private sectors assess their success, as well as their potential for broader use on transit and high-speed rail projects.
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.	High-Speed Rail Technical Session: Systems & Systems Integration This session will focus on four topics: 1) Rolling Stock- New Designs and Concepts; FRA Regulations 2) Train Control – PTC, ERTMS, AND ETCS 3) Interoperability Planning and Implementation 4) Maintenance Optimization of High-Speed Trains
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.	Rail Products and Services Showcase Discover the rail industry’s latest technologies and products at the 2010 Products & Services showcase. Experts will demonstrate products and answer questions as you inspect the wide variety of rail equipment and services.
8:00 - 10:00 a.m.	High-Speed Rail 101 High-speed rail is expanding dramatically around the world; it is seen as a highly beneficial transport system for society. But there is no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing high-speed rail. In this session, learn about the main considerations that need to be addressed, and what the future holds for high-speed rail.
8:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.	Project Updates: Streetcars, Subways, Light Rail, Commuter Rail, Facilities & Mega Projects Come see status reports of popular project presented in half-hour intervals. Projects are in various stages of planning, design, construction, or operation to provide rail service that helps to create livable communities, provide environmental benefits, and stimulate economic development.
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.	Pedestrian & Motorist Safety in a Railroad’s Path This session focuses on the completion of a $180 million grade crossing elimination project of the MTA Long Island Rail Road as well as practices along commuter rail lines in Toronto; lessons learned involving crossing and trespassing accidents around passenger rail corridors; and measures to improve safety along LRT alignments that were documented in the recently released “TCRP Report 137, Improving Pedestrian and Motorist Safety along Light Rail Alignments.”
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.	Retrofits: Integrating New Technology into Older Infrastructure Integrating new technology into older systems poses challenges for agencies as they continue providing service. Learn how rail systems have met these challenges and hear their experiences.
4:00 - 5:30 p.m.	Recruiting and Developing a New Generation Workforce This session showcases innovative practices and uses of advanced technologies to hire and develop the best-of-the-best operators, maintainers, and supervisors in the rail industry.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
8:00 - 9:30 a.m.	Protecting Our Rail Infrastructure: What Are Our Risk Exposures? Best practices are presented on the ability to deter and detect activity for passenger rail given its openness. From design aspects, crime and terrorist activity patterns to application of technology and personnel deployment learn more about risk trends, and effective methods for mitigating crime and terrorism.
8:00 - 9:30 a.m	Fact or Myth: The Return on Investment of a National High-Speed & Intercity Rail Program This session will summarize case studies and examine the metrics behind the return on investment for national high-speed (HS) and intercity (IC) rail programs from Europe and Asia. Experts will discuss ways investments in HS and IC rail have delivered their promises and positively impacted travel behavior and economic development, and reduced overall fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions.
9:45 - 11:00 a.m	Developing Federal and Local Partnerships to Expedite Project Delivery This session will explore how the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) supports effective, expedited project delivery, and how local project sponsors might respond to these new opportunities. Success stories will illustrate the potential to enhance federal and local partnerships, and the innovations and results that can be achieved through proactive collaboration.
9:45 - 11:00 a.m.	Recognizing Maintenance Errors Involved in High Consequence Events This session will focus on case studies of accident investigations to identify best maintenance practices needed to manage complex systems and those that are safety critical. The session will also identify the APTA Standards for Rail Maintenance that incorporates the best maintenance practices for your organization to maintain rail as a safe mode of transportation.
11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.	Closing General Session: Rail Safety Leadership for High Reliability Organizations Public transportation is one of the safest modes of travel. Yet, recent events have proven that the impact of a single failure can propagate exponentially with severe consequences on cost, policy, and public perception, both regionally and nationally. Policies, procedures, organizational structures, and management that seemed to work fine in the past can collapse under these conditions. Join this session to hear about building a high reliability organization adequate for the high consequence environment in which we operate.

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The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 public and private member organizations, engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne passenger 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. More than 90 percent of the people using public transportation in the United States and Canada are served by APTA member systems.

Vancouver to Host 2010 APTA Rail Conference and International Rail Rodeo

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