Bill Farquhar
Chief Operating Officer
Trinity Rail Express

Bill’s career has spanned close to thirty years in freight and passenger railroading, with experience in the planning, operating, mechanical and engineering departments of railroads. He has worked in public agencies as Executive Director, railroad-operating officer and transportation planner, involved in the initiation of passenger service and daily operation on five passenger railroads and three short line freight railroads. His experience includes working with Class 1 railroads, public commuter rail agencies, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, freight railroads, tourist railroading (both steam and diesel powered) as well as museums and private enthusiast operations. He remains a licensed locomotive engineer and is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Trinity Railway Express in Texas.

Kevin Feldt, AICP
North Central Texas Council of Governments

Kevin Feldt is a certified transportation planner with over 16 years experience in both the private and public sectors. Kevin is responsible for oversight of transit corridor planning projects. Kevin leads of team of six professionals currently charged with moving four transit corridor projects toward implementation.

Kevin’s other professional experience in North Texas was with the North Texas Tollway Authority. As the Director of Project Development and Planning at NTTA, Kevin was responsible for the team determining the future toll road projects in North Central Texas. Kevin also was responsible for NTTA coordination efforts with local, regional and state agencies as well as the public.

Feldt is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, American Planning Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Intelligent Transportation Society of America and the Urban Land Institute. He is a Past President of the First Coast Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and is currently a member of the First Coast Section of the Florida American Planning Association Board of Directors. Feldt is also the Chairperson for the Florida Statewide Model Task Force Transit Committee which oversees Transit Travel Demand Model development for the State of Florida.

Presentation

Dan Flowers
Director
Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department

Co-Chairman
American Association of State Highway Officials

American Road and Transportation Builders Association Join Committee

Full Biography Link

Presentation

William E. "Bill" Glavin, P.E.
Director
Rail Division
Texas Department of Transportation

Glavin has over 30 years of experience in the rail industry and has worked for Burlington Northern Railroad, North American RailNet and comes to TxDOT after working with Raul V. Bravo + Associates, Inc.

Glavin holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Johns Hopkins and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Michigan State. He is licensed as a professional engineer in Wisconsin and Texas.

John Helsley
Chairman of the Board
Texas Alliance of Rail Districts

John Helsley, from Granbury, Texas, developed the first rural rail transportation district in Texas in 1991, and since that time over 40 rail districts have been created in Texas. Helsley developed the rail district for Bexar County, which was instrumental in landing the Toyota Manufacturing Plant for San Antonio. Additional information can be obtained at www.gotrail.org.

The Texas Alliance of Rail Districts is a Texas non-profit organization.

Texas Shortline Map

John Horsley
Executive Director,
American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials

From 1993 to 1999 he served at the U.S. Department of Transportation. As Associate Deputy Secretary, he was an advocate for intermodal policies, quality of life initiatives, and liaison to State and Local Governments, U.S. Congress, and transportation constituencies.

A native of the Northwest, Horsley was elected to five terms as County Commissioner in Kitsap County, a community just west of Seattle. He is a graduate of Harvard, an Army veteran, a former Peace Corps volunteer and Congressional aide, and did graduate study at Georgetown. He is Past President of the National Association of Counties, and was founding Chairman of the Rebuild America Coalition.

Dennis Kearns
Legislative Counsel
BNSF Railway

Mr. Kearns is BNSF's Legislative Counsel. He has been a staff attorney representing the railroad before state governments and legislatures since 1979 and in Austin since 1988. He has a B.A. of Political Science from St. Louis University and a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Mr. Kearns will be our Thursday evening speaker at our optional conference dinner on January 28th.

Presentation

Ruth McClendon
Texas Representative

Representative Ruth Jones McClendon sits on the House Transportation Committee and has authored and sponsored numerous legislative bills, many dealing with rail. She was the House Sponsor on legislation which directs TxDOT to coordinate the planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of a statewide passenger rail system. She is considered by House Transportation Chair Representative Joe Pickett as the "go-to-person" dealing with rail issues.

Jennifer Macdonald
Assistant Vice President for Government Affairs
Association of American Railroads

Prior to joining the Association of American Railroads, Jennifer was the chief policy and legislative advisor for Arizona’s Department of Transportation under Mary Peters, leading its legislative program at the state and national level.

Prior to joining ADOT, Jennifer was the District Director for Congressman John Shadegg and served as Special Projects Advisor to Senator Jon Kyl. In Washington, D.C., she worked for the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade, advising Members of Congress on international economic policy, technology security and international trade. At the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, she worked on export promotion and export financing initiatives. She also worked for two Washington think tanks: the Center for Security Policy and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Association of American Railroads is a trade association that represents the interests of the Class 1 railroads of North America.

Presentation

Karen Rae
Deputy Administrator
Federal Railroad Administration

In March 2009, the Obama Administration named Karen Rae Deputy Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). As Deputy Administrator, Ms. Rae is responsible for helping oversee operations for the nearly eight hundred-person organization. This includes managing comprehensive safety programs and regulatory initiatives; enforcement of FRA safety regulations; development and implementation of national freight and passenger rail policy; and oversight of wide ranging research and development activities in support of improved railroad safety. In her capacity as Deputy Administrator, Ms. Rae will play a leading role in the FRA’s efforts to successfully implement the President’s historic commitment to advance the development of high-speed rail and implement the Administration’s public policy directive to improve intercity passenger rail for users and communities across the US...

Full Biography

Fritz Plous Introduction

Gary Ridley
Director
Oklahoma Department of Transportation

Longtime transportation executive Gary Ridley was named Director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation in August, 2001. Ridley’s journey up through the ranks provided him with first-hand insights into the whole spectrum of department operations.

His ODOT service dates back to 1965, when he joined the department as an equipment operator. He left ODOT in 1997 to become executive director of the Oklahoma Asphalt Paving Association. He returned to the department in January 2001 as Assistant Director for Operations.

Amadeo Saenz Jr.
Executive Director
Texas Department of Transportation

Under Texas Transportation Commission direction, Saenz manages, directs, and implements TxDOT policies, programs, and operating strategies. He also represents TxDOT before the Texas Legislature and other entities. He became Executive Director on October 1, 2007.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering (with honors) at the University of Texas at Austin, he joined TxDOT in 1978 in the Pharr District as an engineering laboratory assistant. Working within the district, he progressed through various positions including engineering assistant, assistant area engineer, assistant field operations engineer, and area engineer.

He was named district engineer in the Pharr District in October 1993. He held this position until his appointment as Assistant Executive Director for Engineering Operations in Austin, which became effective November 1, 2001. In this role, he implemented and managed TxDOT’s engineering operations policies, programs and operating strategies according to federal and state laws and Texas Transportation Commission regulations and directives.

Clint Schelbitzki
Director, Public Affairs
Union Pacific Railroad

Clint holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of North Texas. He started with Union Pacific in 2005 spending his first four years in their Marketing and Sales group where he managed a range of industrial products customers. In his current capacity, Clint is the Public Affairs Director responsible for managing community relations at Union Pacific Railroad in North Texas and Oklahoma. He also oversees state governmental affairs for the railroad in Texas and Oklahoma. Clint is a Board Member of the North Texas Commission.

Presentation

John Robert Smith
President and CEO - Reconnecting America

Reconnecting America is a national non-profit organization that is working to integrate transportation systems and the communities they serve, with the goal of generating lasting public and private returns, improving economic and environmental efficiency, and giving consumers more housing and mobility choices.

Mr. Smith is past chair of the Amtrak Board of Directors and served as the mayor of Meridian, Mississippi for four terms. As mayor, Smith was known as a strong supporter of the arts. In 2005, he won a Public Leadership in the Arts Award from Americans for the Arts.

Presentation

Peter LeCody
President
Texas Rail Advocates

Dinner Speaker

Dennis Kearns
Railroad Advocacy before Public Policy Makers: Then and Now

John Horsley
AASHTO
Rail Gridlock Ahead

NARP/TxARP Meeting, Saturday January 30

Immediately following the 6th Annual Southwestern Rail Conference on Saturday January 30, the National Association of Railroad Passengers and the Texas Association of Railroad Passengers will hold their annual meeting at the Magnolia Hotel. There is a separate fee for this meeting. You may take advantage of the same hotel rate for the Southwestern Rail Conference. If you are interested in passenger rail, you will find both meetings beneficial—please consider attending both! Follow this link for details:

http://www.tempo-rail.org/NARP.htm