User:Remingr/OneRail Coalition

The OneRail Coalition is a Washington-based, non-profit, non-partisan rail transportation advocacy group, whose members include freight railroads, public transit agencies, environmentalists, Amtrak, unions and rail passengers. Founded in 2009, OneRail is believed to be the first coalition of passenger, freight railroads, public transit agencies, environmental groups, labor unions, and railway suppliers advocating for equitable investment in America’s rail system.

About

OneRail is led by Anne Canby, president of the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, and supported by Donald Itzkoff, a partner at Nossaman LLP. The coalition advocates policies before Congress and other government officials that encourage investment in rail capital projects and on making intercity passenger and freight rail eligible for federal formula funds. OneRail supports actions to mitigate global warming and consumption of fossil fuels and policies that support sustainable development. Other activities include education about the benefits and value of increasing rail through the website OneRail.org

In January 2010, the Environmental Law and Policy Center and OneRail briefed the nation’s media on the development of high-speed rail in North America.

Members

OneRail draws members from across the railroad industry and environmental community:
 * The American Public Transportation Association,(APTA) a non-profit organization which serves as an advocate for the advancement of public transportation programs and initiatives in the United States.
 * The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association acts as a lobbying group for member railroads, representing them for both legislation and regulation.
 * Amtrak is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States.
 * The Association of American Railroads is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight railroads of North America.
 * The National Association of Railroad Passengers is a national membership advocacy organization for train and rail transit passengers.
 * The Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group founded in 1970, with 1.3 million members and online activists nationwide and a staff of more than 300 scientists, attorneys and other specialists.
 * The Railway Supply Institute, Inc. acts on behalf of more than 250 of the largest manufacturers and suppliers to North American freight and passenger railroads, and their 150,000 employees.
 * The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association is an industry trade group representing railroad contractors, suppliers, and the entire railroad and rail transit construction industry.
 * The States for Passenger Rail Coalition established in early 2000, is an alliance of state departments of transportation that supports intercity passenger rail initiatives and advocates for federal funding.
 * The Surface Transportation Policy Partnership is a non-profit, nationwide coalition working to ensure safer communities and smarter transportation choices that enhance the economy, improve public health, promote social equity, and protect the environment.
 * The United Transportation Union is a broad-based, transportation labor union representing about 125,000 active and retired railroad, bus, mass transit, and airline workers in the United States and Canada.
 * The Transportation Communications International Union is the successor to the union formerly known as the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and includes within it many other organizations, including the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters that have merged with it since 1969.

Leadership

Anne P. Canby is the President of The Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP). Prior to joining STPP, she served as the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and Treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Donald Itzkoff, a former deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), is a Washington-based partner in the law firm, Nossaman LLP. He was the FRA's chief operating officer with responsibility for railroad safety enforcement, regulation, funding, and policy. Prior to his tenure with FRA, Itzkoff was majority senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, with staff responsibility for all surface transportation matters under the committee's jurisdiction.