ALEXANDRA, Va. — Metra, NJ Transit, and TriMet of Portland, Ore., are among the initial members of the Commuter Rail Coalition, a new association formed to advocate for commuter railroads in the U.S.
Describing itself as “a single-minded advocate in Washington” for U.S. commuter railroads, the coalition website says it is “a collection of agencies, operators, and public owners, along with the supply and consulting sectors” with two core purposes: to educate and advocate.
Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski is the group’s chairman, with Tri-Met General Manager Doug Kelsey as vice chairman.
“Commuter railroads need the focus in Washington that brings our issues forward,” Derwinski said in a press release announcing the group’s formation. “By coming together as a single group, the Commuter Rail Coalition allows us to leverage our collective voices on the issues that matter.”
Other coalition members are the Connecticut Department of Transportation; the North County Transit District of northern San Diego County; the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District (South Shore); the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, the overseeing agency for Tri-Rail; and Washington, D.C., consulting firm FTI Consulting.
As Mr. Rice points out this is just another lobbying group whose main purpose is not to just advocate for the commuters but ot get as much money as possible out of your wallets via the tax system. This is just another wealth transfer opportunity. Don’t be fooled.
If you can’t get the voters in your home locality or state to give you money, then lobby the Feds because it doesn’t have to balance its budget.
… along with the supply and consulting sectors
Makes is sound like just an after-thought.
Cha-ching!
All of them are struggling to get the dough from their state authorities, so they band up and start petitioning the Feds directly.
For all concerned this is mostly and for all purposes a DC lobbying effort.
FTI is a major consultant on strategy and their lobbying division is quite active.
Many of these commuter outfits have worked with their Congressional delegations directly, but I think they have finally seen the light on recent behaviors in Congress and have decided to team up.