Railway Track & Structures - January 2009 - (Page 5)

INDUSTRY TODAY Snoble to retire as Measure R boosts LA projects The Country Registrar made it official that Measure R, the Los Angeles County half-cent sales tax increase for comprehensive county transportation improvements, officially passed with more than a two-thirds majority vote. Approved by more than two million votes, a 67.93 percent majority, Measure R is expected to bring in $40 billion over 30 years to fund critically needed transit and highway projects and support transit operations throughout Los Angeles County. Metro officials hailed the final vote as a major milestone that puts the region back on track to address many dire transportation problems the county faces and vowed to put funds to work quickly and help create construction jobs that will stimulate the local economy. Measure R sales taxes will start being collected July 1, 2009. During the first full year, it is projected that over $650 million will be collected and that revenue stream will grow as the economy expands. According to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Measure R will cost residents an average of $25 per person each year. Los Angeles Metro CEO Roger Snoble said he would retire once his successor is on board. Snoble, 63, has headed Metro for seven years and, under his leadership, the agency garnered top national awards for excellence. He played a key role in securing the passage of Measure R. “After 43 years of public service in the transit industry, I think this is an opportune time to move on and pass the baton to another executive who will ensure the implementation of Measure R,” Snoble said. “I decided it’s in the best interest of the agency to have an executive on board soon who can commit the next four to five years in guiding the development of dozens of critical transit and highway projects that will be funded by the new sales tax.” Metro’s expenditure plan ensures that all 88 cities will receive a 15 percent local return of taxpayer funds based on yearly city population figures. The remaining 85 percent of funding will be divided among critical new transit and highway projects and for transit operations countywide. Many new transit projects will receive funding, including the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension in the San Gabriel Valley, Regional Light Rail Connector in Downtown LA, Metro Green Line extension to LAX and the South Bay and the Westside subway extension. Projects already in development will be accelerated, including Expo Light Rail Line Phase 2 from Culver City to Santa Monica, Metro Orange Line Chatsworth Extension and the Crenshaw Transit Corridor, a transit project to improve public transit service and mobility in the Crenshaw Corridor. Measure R also provides Metro with matching funds that can be leveraged to obtain federal funding for projects such as the Westside subway extension and the Regional Connector. Pennsylvania Governor supports National Gateway At a National Gateway coalition event hosted by CSX Chairman and CEO Michael Ward, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell said he supports the National Gateway's goal of creating a state-of-the-art, double-stack transportation corridor connecting manufacturing centers in the Midwest with deepwater ports on the East Coast. The event was held at a CSX Intermodal Terminal in Chambersburg, Pa., that serves as a key transportation link connecting shippers with both truck and rail service. “This terminal is a prime example of the kind of economic growth that comes from investing in our infrastruc- www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures January 2009 5 http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - January 2009 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Railroads Continue to Budget Major Capital Projects Battling Brush and other Vegetation Steel Mills Increasing Metallurgical Quality of Rail Steels Products and Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - January 2009

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