Countdown to the Mobility 21 Summit

Mobility 21 is excited to bring together more than 1,200 transportation leaders and elected officials for the 16th annual Southern California Transportation Summit on Friday, Sept. 29 at the Disneyland Hotel. Registration, the breakfast buffet and the expo open at 7:30 a.m. and our opening general session will begin promptly at 8:45 a.m.

Getting There
Parking
Complimentary self-parking at the Disneyland Hotel is available to all Summit attendees.

Transit
Metrolink and Anaheim Resort Transportation (ART) are offering complimentary roundtrip service to the Summit. Simply use your Summit registration ticket (either electronic or printed) as your Metrolink and ART fare.

Plan Your Day

  1. Choose the breakout sessions you want to attend
  2. Plan your networking time by checking out the Summit sponsors
  3. View the conference agenda

Twilight Disneyland Tickets

Full conference registration includes a twilight ticket to Disneyland redeemable after 4 p.m. Each registrant must provide their name badge and valid ID in order to receive their ticket. Please note that Student/Military Personnel and Exhibitor-Only registration ticket types do not include a twilight Disneyland ticket; however, they may be purchased online at a reduced rate by Sept. 27.



Mobility 21 Advisory Board Member Spotlight:
Sarah Catz
Director, Center for Urban Infrastructure

Sarah L. Catz is the Director of the Center for Urban Infrastructure at Brandman University – Chapman University System and a Research Associate in the Institute of Transportation Studies at University of California, Irvine. She joined the Mobility 21 Advisory Board in 2015.

During the past two decades, Sarah has been a leading transportation/infrastructure and public policy expert and has played a key role in critical transportation and infrastructure projects, both at the local and state levels. She has served as the state’s acting Deputy Secretary of Transportation as well as the project manager for The Commission on Building for the 21st Century, a California infrastructure commission that included projects within water, transportation, housing, facilities and technology areas. While with the state of California, Catz also helped secure state funding for critical infrastructure projects, including major rail projects in Southern California.

Sarah spent 10 years on the Board of Directors of the Orange County Transportation Authority and served as Chairman of the Board, and was a founding member and two-term chairperson of the Board of Directors of Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink). Sarah is the immediate past chair of the Orange County Forum, a nonpartisan current affairs organization convening the Orange County civic community to exchange ideas, and discuss public policy issues with distinguished speakers and national leaders.

Sarah recently joined Vectis Strategies, a national public relations and public affairs firm, as Senior Partner. Prior to joining Vectis, Sarah was Vice Chancellor of External Affairs at Brandman University-Chapman University System with responsibility for community and government relations as well as advancement and alumni relations. She has also been a partner in a national law firm and operated her own public affairs consulting practice.

Sarah has been recognized by The League of Women Voters of Orange County with the “OC Woman of Achievement” Award and by OC Metro Magazine as one of “10 Women Making a Difference in Orange County.” She also is the recipient of the California Transportation Foundation Tranny Award for “Citizen of the Year” and has been named “Woman of the Year” three times by the Orange County Chapter of WTS.

Sarah received her law degree from the University of Santa Clara and her bachelor’s degree from George Washington University.


Mobility 21 Advisory Board Member Spotlight:
Christopher Thompson
Vice President, Local Public Affairs, Southern California Edison

Christopher Thompson, vice president of Local Public Affairs for Southern California Edison (SCE), is responsible for community and government relations at the municipal and county levels.

Previously, Thompson served as senior vice president at Edison Water Resources, a subsidiary of Edison Energy Group. He was part of the senior management team responsible for the overall strategy and operations of the firm, with a particular focus on policy and business development at the company.

Prior to his role at Edison Water Resources, Thompson was vice president, Strategic Planning for Edison International, the parent company of Edison Energy Group as well as SCE. He also served as vice president, Decommissioning, at SCE. In that role, he was responsible for developing and implementing an integrated strategy for all technical, external, financial, regulatory and legal tasks related to the decommissioning process for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Thompson joined Edison International in 2013 as vice president for the Chairman’s Office, working with the company’s strategic planning team on new business development.

Before joining the company, Thompson served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington, D.C. In addition to acting as the principal advisor to Senator Feinstein, he oversaw all elements of office operations, including the legislative agenda, communications and political strategy.

Prior to becoming Chief of Staff, Thompson worked in several roles during his 10 years on the staff of Senator Feinstein, including Legislative Director and Legislative Assistant. He developed significant expertise in water, energy and environmental policy while working on the Senator’s staff.

Before working on Senator Feinstein’s staff, Thompson served as Executive Director of a nonprofit agency developing and implementing programs to improve U.S.- United Nations relations and humanitarian efforts related to landmine removal. He also worked on the Capitol Hill staff of U.S. Representative Julian Dixon and at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Thompson is on the Board of Trustees of PBS SoCal.

Thompson majored in Political Science at the University of California at Santa Barbara.


WeWork buildings have the right mix of design and function.

Summit Platinum Sponsor Spotlight:
Consensus

Three Ways WeWork is Killing the Commute

For this year’s Consensus article, we’re excited to highlight one of our most innovative clients, WeWork. A platform for creators, WeWork provides over 130,000 members around the world with space, community, and services through both physical and virtual offerings and currently has more than 163 physical locations in 52 cities and 16 countries around the world.

In Los Angeles, members can work at one of 15 buildings across the county, and for southland residents, this means a new take on the traditional workplace and the standard commute. With offices spread throughout greater LA, from Pasadena to Santa Monica, Culver City to Manhattan Beach, residents now have the option to live closer than ever to where they work.

What does this mean for mobility?

READ MORE

Be sure to check out WeWork’s booth at the Mobility 21 Summit in September to learn more about their offerings and how you can be part of their movement to end the commute in Los Angeles. To set up a tour, contact andrea.conant@consensusinc.com.

Consensus is an award-winning public relations, marketing and community engagement firm distinguished by our innovative communications programs, visit our new website to learn more and we look forward to seeing you at Mobility 21!


Lane’s wholly owned subsidiary, S.A. Healy Company, is currently working on the Gerald Desmond Bridge project in Long Beach, along with Lane’s parent company, Salini Impregilo.

Summit Platinum Sponsor Spotlight:
The Lane Construction Corporation

A platinum sponsor of the Mobility 21 Summit, The Lane Construction Corporation is one of America’s leading construction companies, specializing in heavy civil construction services and products in the transportation, infrastructure, and energy industries. Lane has a unique combination of capabilities including public-private partnerships/innovative financing and joint ventures; large, complex design-build and bid-build projects; as well as the ability to produce and install asphalt, aggregates, and concrete.

Lane’s 5,600 employees team with customers and partners on diverse, large-scale projects including highways, bridges, racetracks, mass transit, airport systems, tunnels, and the development of energy resources. With expertise in the fields of engineering, procurement, and construction project management, Lane has the proven capacity to handle multiple, large-scale projects and to quickly mobilize resources to staff any project.

Lane’s wholly owned subsidiary, S.A. Healy Company (Healy), completed the tunnels contract for the Central Subway Project in San Francisco. Healy is currently working on the Gerald Desmond Bridge project in Long Beach, along with Lane’s parent company, Salini Impregilo.

We build value. Learn more at www.laneconstruct.com.


Metrolink Welcomes Mobility 21 Participants

Metrolink is excited to partner with Mobility 21 to allow conference attendees to ride Metrolink free of charge with their conference registration confirmation.

As a coalition bringing together various stakeholders in pursuit of regional solutions to transportation challenges, Mobility 21 has similar goals to Metrolink.

Metrolink is an integral part of providing alternate forms of transportation to the Southern California region. Eighty-two percent of Metrolink riders have an automobile, but choose to take the train to get to their destinations – more than any other public transportation agency in the area. This means that because of Metrolink’s service, there are less cars on the region’s freeways. In fact, Metrolink removes the equivalent of 1-2 lanes of parallel freeway traffic during peak hours of the area’s most popular freeways.

As Metrolink approaches its 25th anniversary in October, the agency is continuing to invest in its service through additional safety measures, such as Positive Train Control, and sustainability, with the upcoming debut of the Tier IV locomotives, and remains one of the region’s best investments for the future.

Once Mobility 21 passengers reach the Anaheim-ARTIC Station, they can transfer at no additional cost to an ART shuttle between the station and Disneyland Hotel.


Metro Leads the Nation in Setting Ambitious 2030 Zero Emission Bus Goal; Takes First Step with Purchase of 100 Electric Buses

This month the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board unanimously adopted a motion endorsing a comprehensive plan to transition the agency to a 100 percent zero emission bus fleet by 2030. The plan is contingent upon two primary factors: continuous advancements in electric bus technology – which includes an increase in range, reduction of bus weight, reduction of charging times and extension of battery life cycles – as well as a drop in price as the technology develops. Metro is the largest American transportation agency to endorse such a goal.

In a first step, Metro awarded two contracts on Thursday totaling approximately $108 million for manufacture and delivery of 60 forty-foot zero emission buses and 35 sixty-foot zero emission articulated buses as part of Metro’s move toward a 100 percent zero emission fleet by 2030. In March the agency awarded a contract for 5 sixty-foot electric articulated buses.

Contracts will go to BYD for the 40-foot buses to run on the Silver Line and to New Flyer for the 60-foot articulated buses, which will be assigned to the Orange Line. In March, the agency awarded a $6.6 million contract to BYD for 5 sixty-foot articulated buses that will run on the Metro Orange Line.  The new buses will replace retirement-eligible compressed natural gas (CNG) buses currently operating on the lines.

“We’re making bold investments in new technology because Metro is serious about making our air cleaner and communities healthier,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti, Chair of the Metro Board. “This purchase of 100 electric buses is a down payment on a more sustainable future, and a big step toward our goal of having a fully electric bus fleet by 2030.”

Since 1993, the Metro Board has been committed to buying alternative energy buses and retired its last diesel bus in 2011. Metro currently operates a fleet of 100 percent CNG buses but in 2016, the Board directed Metro staff to create and implement a plan that would move the agency to electric buses on the Metro Orange Line by 2020, with the Silver Line to follow. These projects include both the purchase of electric buses and the implementation of an electric infrastructure on the Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley and the Silver Line between El Monte and San Pedro, via downtown Los Angeles.

New Flyer was also awarded a $68 million contract for 65 sixty-foot CNG articulated buses. This award will be used to replace CNG buses that have passed the end of their useful lives and are slated for retirement. The contract includes the cost of optional vehicle features, spare parts and training aids.

“As we continue our transportation revolution, we must continue to make sustainable practices the norm,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “We hope our move toward a zero emission fleet will inspire other transit agencies across the nation to consider this as a possibility and investigate how they can transition toward greener fleets for the benefit of patrons, as well as the cities and towns they serve.”

The CNG purchase does not contradict Metro’s move toward a 100 percent zero emission fleet. Rather, it is part of Metro’s bus fleet replacement plans for fiscal years 2018 to 2022, which dictate minimum retirement eligibility age and mileage of Metro buses and confirm Metro’s commitment to lowering the average age of its fleet to ensure that passengers experience travel that is safe, reliable and comfortable.

“I want future generations to live in a Los Angeles where people have safe and convenient connections to transportation options that don’t cause traffic gridlock and doesn’t poison our air,” said Metro Board and L.A. City Council Member Mike Bonin, the motion’s author, along with Mayor Garcetti and Board Members Ara Najarian (who serves on the Glendale City Council) and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “Electric buses are a game-changer because they help move more people to where they need to go, without adding harmful fossil fuel pollution to our air.”


Students at Pedley Elementary School in Jurupa Valley eagerly listen to the Operation Lifesaver presentation.

RCTC Encourages Public to Be Rail Safe

Every three hours, a person or vehicle is hit by a train in the United States, with California leading the nation in trespassing and grade crossing fatalities. September is Rail Safety Month, and the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) and its partners are working to raise awareness of the dangers of illegal railroad crossings and to decrease the number of injuries and deaths that occur in Riverside County, the region and the nation.

RCTC has teamed with Metrolink, California Operation Lifesaver, the Riverside Unified School District, the City of Riverside and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to kick off Rail Safety Month with a news conference on Sept. 6 at the Riverside Downtown Metrolink Station. The news conference will feature representatives from the partner agencies, including Metrolink Chair Andrew Kotyuk, Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey, Riverside Unified School District Board of Education President Brent Lee, California Operation Lifesaver State Coordinator Nancy Sheehan-McCulloch, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Captain Karl Schow and Metrolink Chief Executive Officer Art Leahy.

A group of Riverside high school students will provide rail safety reminders throughout the event. The school district adopted a proclamation on August 21 to support the efforts of California Operation Lifesaver to raise rail safety awareness in all schools. The resolution notes that there are more than 70 crossings with more than 128 trains per day in Riverside, making it important to reinforce rail safety among students and their guardians through school events, announcements, lesson plans and interactive activities.

The morning of the news conference also will feature an information booth at the Riverside Downtown Metrolink Station to share rail safety strategies with train riders. The same morning, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which serves the Metrolink system, and local law enforcement partners will conduct a directed enforcement effort at rail crossings at Mission Inn Avenue and 3rd Street in Riverside to closely monitor these rail crossings and to cite motorists and pedestrians who cross the tracks illegally.

The news conference is RCTC’s latest effort to raise rail safety awareness in Riverside County year-round, not just during Rail Safety Month. RCTC and California Operation Lifesaver have partnered since 2014, in preparation for the opening of 91/Perris Valley Line service in June 2016. RCTC has supported dozens of presentations, information booths, a poster contest, school assemblies, advertisements and social media platforms to spread the word about rail safety, primarily through the Operation Lifesaver campaign, “See Tracks? Think Train.” California Operation Lifesaver also is promoting #SaveLivesTell5 to urge community members to share rail safety information with five friends or family members – an effort that could save the lives of loved ones.

Motorists and pedestrians also are reminded that:

  • The only safe place to cross the railroad tracks is at a designated public crossing.
  • It can take a mile or more to stop a train, so a locomotive engineer who suddenly sees someone on the tracks likely will be unable to stop in time.
  • Railroad property is private property. For your safety, it is illegal to be there unless you are at a designated public crossing.
  • Trains overhang the tracks at least three feet in both directions. If you are in the right of way next to the tracks, you can be hit by the train.
  • Never walk around or behind lowered gates at a crossing, and DO NOT cross the tracks until the lights have stopped flashing and it’s safe to do so.
  • Be aware that freight trains do not follow set schedules. Any time is train time!
  • For more information, visit https://oli.org/

Later in the month, RCTC will join other organizations throughout the nation to mark Rail Safety Week, September 24-30. At that time, RCTC will join California Operation Lifesaver to bring awareness to communities throughout Riverside County through Farmers Markets, school presentations, back to school activities at UC Riverside, and other community events. RCTC also will launch a poster contest for schools in Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, Jurupa Valley, Beaumont and Banning to give students an opportunity to win prizes by using artwork to convey rail safety messages.


Don’t Miss SBCTA’s 5th Annual Business 2 Business Expo

 

The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority is proud of its ongoing relationship with the contracting community of Southern California. The 5th Annual Business 2 Business Expo scheduled for Oct. 17 at the Ontario Convention Center will connect prime and subcontractors, enhance awareness of local labor, and educate prospective bidders on what makes for an effective proposal. Past events have resulted in lasting relationships to enhance opportunities for big and small contractors alike. Click here to register!


Join SCAG for Economic Summit
Addressing the Costs of the Housing Crisis

Last October, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) held a summit to address California’s housing affordability crisis, convening more than 400 local leaders to discuss the nature of the crisis and explore strategies for improving housing capacity and affordability in the state. Since then the crisis has only deepened, and is poised to make substantial impact on the regional economy. SCAG will continue the conversation on this pressing issue at the upcoming eighth annual Southern California Economic Summit: “The Cost of Not Housing” on Nov. 9. Click here to register now!

SCAG, in partnership with the Southern California Leadership Council, will host the summit on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the L.A. Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, bringing together local civic and business leaders to explore how the state’s record-high home prices and shortage of available housing units stands to impact the economic health of the region. To solve the housing problem is to solve an economic problem: From stemming corporate moves to other states, to balancing local residential and retail development, to finding housing solutions for existing Southern Californians, there are numerous opportunities for multi-benefit solutions.

SCAG invites you to join us for a discussion on the region’s housing needs, and learn about the challenges that housing affordability poses to local, regional and statewide economies. Early bird registration is $75 per person until Sept. 15. Please visit www.scag.ca.gov/economicsummit.


For news on transportation-related issues, visit
www.mobility21.com.


Mobility 21 wants to hear from you
If you have ideas for future Mobility 21 Forward Motion articles, send them to Kristin Slocum at
kslocum@mobility21.com

 

TRANSPORTATION EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY

Thursday, Sept. 7merican Planning Association California Chapter: Golf Tournament
More info | Register

Thursday, Sept. 14
WTS-SD: Annual Awards & Scholarship Gala
More info | Register

Sept. 18-20
ITS-CA: Annual Conference and Expo
More info | Register

Tuesday, Sept. 19
OCBC: Executive Invitational Golf Tournament
More info | Register

Wednesday, Sept. 20
WTS-OC: Luncheon Featuring Mike Kraman, TCA
More info | Register

Tuesday, Sept. 26
BDA/IE: LA Metro Joint Development Program Luncheon
More info | Register

Thursday, Oct. 5
AAa/e: Annual Banquet
More Info

Wednesday, Oct. 11
OCBC: Orange County Workforce Development Conference
More info | Register

Tuesday, Oct. 17SBCTA: 5th Annual Business 2 Business Expo
More info | Register

Thursday, Oct. 19
ACEC-SD and WTS-SD: Members-only Meet Your Elected Officials Event
More Info | Register

Oct. 29-31
Self-Help Counties Coalition: Focus on the Future
More info | Register

Nov. 8-10
CTA: Annual Fall Conference
More info

Thursday, Nov. 9
SCAG: Economic Summit – The Cost of Not Housin
More Info | Register

Thursday, Nov. 16
OCBC: Turning Red Tape Into Red Carpet Awards Reception
More Info

Have a transportation-related event you want people to know about? E-mail
Kristin Slocum
or call 949.288.6884 to have your event listed in our next ForwardMotion.