Transit Finance Learning Exchange

"The Future of Fare Collection" workshop in St. Louis next week

2011-04-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

The agenda for the "The Future of Fare Collection" workshop has been revised. Please visit the www.tflex.org website homepage for more information.

TFLEx Spring 2011 Workshop - The Future of Fare Collection

2011-02-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

TFLEx Spring 2011 Workshop
"The Future of Fare Collection"
April 18-20, St. Louis

Click HERE to register online.

(Field of Study: Finance)
April 18-19, 2011
April 20, 2011 - Business Meeting

The workshop "The Future of Fare Collection" is scheduled for April 18-19th, 2011, hosted by Metro Transit in St. Louis, MO. Preliminary topics for the sessions cover topics such as:

Overview of emerging technologies
Open payment systems
Bank processes for settlement and clearing
Regional fare systems
Issues between fare policy and technology
Buying fare systems versus leasing
Paratransit fare issues
Needs and Leads
Unveiling of the new Transit 101 eLearning tool
Group-Live Delivery Method
Program Level: Advanced
Pre-Conference Reading Material Provided
No Prerequisites*

* This program is at an advanced level of continuing education. Although no prerequisite course or work experience is needed to participate in this program, working knowledge of finance and transportation practices and policies is required, as well as knowledge of the program topic.

To register for this course, contact Irene DeMers, at 214-749-2630 or visit our Web site, www.tflex.org. For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact Irene DeMers at 214-749-2630.

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Lodging and sessions are at the Westin St. Louis
811 Spruce Street - St. Louis, MO 63102
Phone: 314-621-2000
http://www.westinstlouishotel.com/
Group rate: $120 plus tax per night.

Workshop Fee
The registration fee for the workshop is $125.

For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact Irene Demers at 214-749-2630.

To complete your registration, mail a check for $125 per participant to:

Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Attention: Sharon Leary
POBox 660163
1401 Pacific Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75266-7220

Make check payable to "TFLEx", or use PayPal:

A finalized agenda will be posted soon. Check back here for more details.

Electrification and Commuter Rail Workshop

2011-02-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

March 22, 2011 Workshop - Chicago
On March 22, Transit Finance Learning Exchange and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) are co-sponsoring a one day workshop the subject of the electricification of diesel traction power systems in commuter rail. This is a DRAFT agenda for the workshop, please check back for more information. You can register online here.

Attendees should contact the Avenue Crowne Plaza Chicago directly for their housing needs. Use the group code TFLEx when registering.

Avenue Crowne Plaza Chicago
160 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
Hotel: 312-787-2900
Group Code: TFLEx
http://www.avenuehotelchicago.com/
Group rate $99/night

Fees: Registration fee is $75/attendee.
To complete your registration, mail a check for $75 per participant to:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Attention: Sharon Leary
POBox 660163
1401 Pacific Avenue Dallas, Texas 75266-7220
Make check payable to "TFLEx" or use PayPal option.

PayPal option for the Electrification and Commuter Rail Workshop

Agenda

8:15 - Welcome & Overview

8:30 - State of the Railroad

Across North America freight and passenger rail service is operated using multiple traction power alternatives. This session will explore the applications of these alternatives in the railroad industry today.

9:30 - Regulatory Issues and Technology Development

Rising environmental and safety expectations are spurring innovations in traction power technology. This session will describe the regulations that impact the railroad industry and how manufacturers are addressing these regulations.

10:30 - Break

10:45 - Powering GO Transit: A Case Study

Learn about the recent decision made by GO Transit to pursue the partial electrification for its system. Mr. McNeil will discuss the process and factors by which this decision was reached.

Noon - Lunch

1:00 - Operations and Interoperability

Traction power decisions impact railroad operations. This session discusses the characteristics and limitations of electric and diesel operations and the impact on interoperability with freight and passenger rail service.

2:00 - Energy and our Environment

Commuter rail plays an important role in protecting the environment and developing the communities which it serves. This session will explore the short and long-term environmental impacts and economics of traction power alternatives.

2:45 - Break

3:00 - Maintenance Requirements

Each traction power alternative presents its own maintenance benefits and challenges. This session will explore the issues with maintaining the diesel and electric infrastructure and vehicles.

4:00 - Where Do We Go from Here?

An informal roundtable of transit executives will reflect on the day's presentations and discussions.

5:00 - Adjourn

October 7th - Budget/Grants Special Interest Group

2010-09-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

TFLEx invites all members to attend the October Budget/Grants SIG online meeting
Topic: Oct SIG Conference call
Date: Thursday, October 7, 2010
Time: 10:30 am, Central Daylight Time (Chicago, GMT-05:00)

There are two ways to join the online meeting (see below). You may dial in with just your phone, or with both your phone and computer. If you connect to the meeting with your computer, you will be able to view any demonstrations or documents presented.

For reference, here are the time zones:
8:30 a.m. Pacific Time
9:30 am. Mountain Time
10:30 a.m. Central Time
11:30 a.m. Eastern Time

The agenda is still being determined. Some suggestions for topics include:

Dart's Contract Manager software application
Health Care & cost impact of new coverage requirement
TFLEx job/training exchange opportunities
Data center back-up/disaster recovery plan/location
Use of BI/Dashboards vs. traditional handouts for management & Board reporting
Records management system
Investment model - incremental & total operations - FTA & internal decision support

If you have any other items you would like to bring up, you may send them before the call to Irene (idemers@dart.org) or just ask the SIG attendees during the call.

To join the online meeting, see the members only information located at http://tflex.securespsites.com (Password required)

2010-07-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange Invites you to attend

Dealing with the Continuing
Economic Issues
(Field of Study: Finance)
October 18-19, 2010
October 19, 2010 - Business Meeting

Program Content/Learning Objectives

As transit agencies continue to deal with funding shortfalls from the ongoing economic slump, they are taking a hard look at operational areas (such as employee benefits) and making tough choices about what capital projects can be funded. This workshop will concentrate on 1) how agencies are dealing with continued cuts in operating funding; 2) how agencies are dealing with scarce capital funding by prioritizing capital projects; and, 3) what the economic outlook is currently and going forward. After attending this conference, participants will be able to:

Understand how transit agencies are dealing with the current economy by making changes in their benefit programs.
Understand how agencies are defining State of Good Repair and using condition assessments to prioritizne scarce capital funding.
Learn whether federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is actually creating jobs in Transit.
Learn how the Cleveland RTA is using Transit Stat to monitor performance measures.
Identify and share best practices through "Needs & Leads
Group-Live Delivery Method
Program Level: Advanced
Pre-Conference Reading Material Provided
No Prerequisites*
Earn 10 CPE credits

* This program is at an advanced level of continuing education. Although no prerequisite course or work experience is needed to participate in this program, working knowledge of finance and transportation practices and policies is required, as well as knowledge of the program topic.

To register for this course, contact, Irene Demers, at 214-749-2630 or visit our Web site, www.tflex.org. For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact Irene Demers at 214-749-2630.
Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Housing: Hotel Information
Mayflower Park Hotel
405 Olive Way
Seattle, Washington 98101
Room Rate: $135/night

Call the hotel at 800-426-5100 or email at mayflowerpark@mayflowerpark.com and refer to TFLEx. They will extend the rate for pre/post nights depending on availability, so call early.

Fees: The registration fee for the workshop is $125.

For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact Irene Demers at 214-749-2630.

REGISTER NOW (click here)

To complete your registration, mail a check for $125 per participant to:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Attention: Sharon Leary
POBox 660163
1401 Pacific Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75266-7243

Make check payable to "TFLEx" or you may use the PayPal link below:

2010-06-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

New Technologies and Their Capital Impact on Operations
Cleveland, Ohio

Summary of TFLEx Spring Workshop

The Spring 2010 TFLEx Workshop was held in Cleveland, Ohio, and was hosted by Loretta Kirk and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transportation Authority (GCRTA). Our sincere thanks go out to Loretta and her staff for the wonderful job they did in making this workshop a successful event. Five of the sessions were broadcast on the web and our thanks go to Ray Garton for setting up the webcasting and making sure it worked well during the workshop. Thanks again to everyone at the GCRTA. Thanks also to the Cuyahoga Community College for providing what turned out to be one of the best facilities TFLEx has ever had in which to hold a workshop.

The main topic of this workshop was New Technologies and Their Capital Impact on Operations. Joe Costello welcomed participants and gave an overview of the workshop objectives. After his remarks, Joe introduced Joe Calabrese, the CEO of the GCRTA who gave attendees an overview of the issues his agency has been facing with the current economy.

The first presenter of the workshop was Greg Kildare, LA MTA's Executive Officer for Risk Management. Greg gave an interesting talk on LA's use of technology and their experience with Smart Drive cameras in dealing with liability issues and related impact on the cost of insurance.

Two member agencies then discussed prioritization of capital projects and how life cycle costing can be used to aid in the process. Rick Harcum, from WMATA talked about their mid-life rebuild program WMATA uses to extend the life of their rolling stock. Using life cycle costing, WMATA has figured that it saves nearly $500,000 per vehicle by extending the life of each coach from seven years to fourteen.

Grace Gallucci, from the RTA in Chicago, gave an update on their capital prioritization process. They have made progress since Grace first detailed the new process at the Boston workshop in the fall of 2008.

On Thursday Brett Jones from the Cuyahoga Community College's (Tri-C) Logistics and Distribution Institute and Terry Cordell briefed members on the proposed partnership between the two organizations in updating the Transit 101 e-learning modules. Tri-C contacted TFLEx about working together to have their professional staff update the content of the modules to make them more current and more interesting for participants. Tri-C has submitted a proposal that will be reviewed at the business meeting.

Terry Cordell briefly detailed the results of the IT Survey that had been sent out to members prior to the workshop. Six agencies had responded and the results are posted on the web site (and included at the end of this summary). As more are received they will be added to the results. Irene DeMers then led the Needs and Leads session which wrapped up the day.

Friday morning's first session was an economic update from Dr. Edward (Ned) Hill, Dean and Professor at Cleveland State University, who proved once again that economics presentations can be fun and interesting. His presentation can be heard (and the PowerPoint presentation viewed) by going to the TFLEx web site. Some of his points:

a.) North America is leading the industrial world's recovery
b.) The recovery in employment growth will lag, compared to past recessions
c.) Average duration of unemployment is the highest it has been since the 1960's
d.) The economic disadvantage of the unskilled is growing and accelerating
e.) Consumer confidence is starting to pick up, but CFO's are more confident in their own firms than in the economy as a whole.
f.) For the federal deficit, current near term deficits are defensible; long term prospects are troubling
g.) Personal savings are beginning to recover; the financial burdens of households are recovering, but still high
h.) This is the second workshop in a row with a presentation on the economy and it is a session that will probably be repeated at most future workshops. Attendees were very interested in what Dr. Hill had to say and there was a lot of discussion during the Q & A.

The workshop wrapped up with a rehearsal by Grace Gallucci of a presentation she will be giving at the APTA Bus and Paratransit Conference on May 3. TFLEx and the FTA have begun a dialogue about the possibility of working together to make improvements to the data gathering for the NTD.

The Fall 2010 Workshop will be held in Seattle, WA from October 18-19, 2010. The workshop will consist of sessions all day Monday and Tuesday until noon, with the business meeting to be held on Tuesday afternoon. More information, including topics, will be forthcoming.

The regular Business Meeting was chaired by Joe Costello on Friday afternoon. Minutes of this meeting are also available on the Sharepoint web site. All members are encouraged to attend the Business Meetings at the workshops.

Presentations from the Spring Workshop are available to members on the TFLEx Sharepoint website at http://tflex.securespsites.com.

TFLEx IT and Intranet Benchmarking Survey

2010-03-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

The Transit Finance Learning Exchange (TFLEx) is conducting a benchmarking survey on IT technology and agency intranets. If your agency would be interested in participating in this survey, TFLEx will copy all participants the results. The results will be presented at our next conference. It is a short survey of two pages. Questions consist of total technology cost benchmarks, some policy questions, the features implemented on your intranet, and questions about what are your principal software solutions.

The survey is located at: http://www.tflex.org/TFLExITSurveyForm2010.pdf

Send the completed survey to: Terry Cordell at cordellconsulting@cox.net by April 7th, and the results will be posted back by April 28th.

TFLEx is a consorium of 23 transit agencies focusing on the finance function in the transit industry. It had it's inaugural workshop in March 1999. The conference shaped the ideas of a few leading finance professionals into an active nation-wide working group of transit finance professionals. T-FLEx enables transit agencies to share and exchange training materials, instructors, uniform procurement scopes of work, policies and procedures and best business practices.

T-FLEx membership totals approximately twenty-three organizations and approximately 250 participants. Members include: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra), Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA),
Pace - Suburban Bus Division (PACE), and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

For more information on TFLEx, you can contact us at:
Sharon Leary, VP Finance at Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)
sleary@dart.org
OR
Terry Cordell, Cordell Consulting
cordellconsulting@cox.net

Website: http://www.tflex.org

2010-02-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

New Technologies and Their Capital Impact on Operations
Cleveland, Ohio
(Field of Study: Finance)
April 29-30, 2010
April 30, 2010 - Business Meeting

Program Content/Learning Objectives

As transit agencies continue to find ways to cut costs, new technologies have evolved in areas such as scheduling, fare collection, security and even rolling stock. This workshop will concentrate on 1) how new and existing technologies can be leveraged to improve efficiency and lower operating costs; and, 2) how societal changes in the U.S. have affected the transit industry. After attending this conference, participants will be able to:

Understand the role of new technologies within a transit agency and how they can lower operating costs.
Learn methodologies for performing life cycle costing analyses to determine the true cost of new technologies.
Understand the role societal changes are playing in effecting changes in the transit industry.
Identify and share best practices through "Needs & Leads
Group-Live Delivery Method
Program Level: Advanced
Pre-Conference Reading Material Provided
No Prerequisites*
Earn 10 CPE credits

* This program is at an advanced level of continuing education. Although no prerequisite course or work experience is needed to participate in this program, working knowledge of finance and transportation practices and policies is required, as well as knowledge of the program topic.

To register for this course, contact, Irene Demers, at 214-749-2630 or visit our Web site, www.tflex.org. For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact Irene Demers at 214-749-2630.

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Workshop Fee
The registration fee for the workshop is $125.

For more information regarding refund, complaint and program cancellation policies, please contact Irene Demers at 214-749-2630.

To complete your registration, mail a check for $125 per participant to:
Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Attention: Sharon Leary
POBox 660163
1401 Pacific Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75266-7243

Make check payable to "TFLEx"
Register HERE

DAILY WORKSHOP AGENDA (updated 3/24/2010)
Day One - Thursday April 29, 2010
8:30 - 9:00 EDT	Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 - 9:30 EDT	Welcome and Review of Meeting Objectives Joe Costello - T-FLEx Leadership Committee/CFO - RTA of Northeast Illinois welcomes participants. Joe Calabrese - CEO - Cleveland RTA
9:30 - 10:30 EDT	Using Existing Technologies to Better Manage Operations (Webcast) Greg Kildare - LA Metro - Discusses his agency's experience with Smart Drive Cameras, and cross matching fare collection with GPS to improve reconciliation of receipts.
10:30 - 10:45 EDT	Break
10:45 - 12:00 EDT	Life Cycle Costing - Does New Technology Really Save Money? (Webcast) Rick Harcum - WMATA - A discussion on his agency's mid-life rolling stock rebuild program. Grace Gallucci - RTA of Northeast Illinois - An update on the RTA's capital planning process and discussion of how life cycle costing is used in the prioritization of projects.
12:00 - 1:30 EDT	Lunch
1:30 - 2:00 EDT	Transit 101/201 Brett Jones of the Tri Cities Community College will brief members on the partnership TFLEx has begun to provide content for Transit 101 on the TFLEx web site.
2:00 - 2:30 EDT	Update on the TFLEx IT Survey Results of the IT survey submitted by members prior to the workshop will be shared.
2:30 - 4:45 EDT	Needs & Leads (time for break included) Facilitated discussion of learning & development needs and business practices that others can emulate.
4:45 - 5:00 EDT	Wrap-up Day One Irene DeMers, DART
Day Two - Friday April 30, 2010
8:30 - 9:00 EDT	Registration and Continental Breakfast Joe Costello - T-FLEx Leadership Committee/CFO - RTA of Northeast
9:15 - 10:15 EDT	Economic Update (Webcast) What is the current view of the short and long term state of the U.S. economy?
10:30 - 11:15 EDT	Partnering with the FTA to improve the NTD (Webcast) Grace Gallucci - RTA of Northeast Illinois - Preview of a presentation Grace will be giving during the APTA Bus Operations Conference, discussing TFLEx working with the FTA in improving the ability of the industry to generate their annual NTD data.
11:30 - 12:00 EDT	How are Societal Changes Leading to Changes in Transportation Howard Maxer - Northeast Ohio Area-wide Coordinating Agency Policy Board (Cleveland MPO) (Invited) - How does high unemployment lead to lower ridership? Is transit losing discretionary riders? Is telecommuting and car-pooling changing how people ride? Tech - We have to become more customer oriented technologically - where's my bus, etc. What kinds of programs/incentives being used to build ridership, location specific advertising, fare collection.
12:00 - 1:30 EDT	Lunch
1:30 - 3:45 EDT	Business Meeting Please note that attendance at the business meeting is a must for at least one representative of member agencies. Representatives must be authorized to speak for their agency during the meeting. Meeting Agenda: T-FLEx financial status/budget update Outline plans for Fall 2010 workshop and determine sites for future workshops Membership growth strategies, status, and prospects Follow up items/assignments
3:45 - 4:00 EDT	Overall Workshop Evaluation

The hotel information is:
Embassy Suites Cleveland - Beachwood
3775 Park East Drive
Beachwood, Ohio 44122
[link]

Phone Number: 1-216-765-8066
Room rate: $109 per night
Group Name: TFLEx
Group Code: TFL

The sessions will be held at:

Corporate College East
4400 Richmond Road
Warrensville Heights, OH 44128

A shuttle will be available to transport attendees from the hotel to the corporate college in the morning and afternoon.

Summary of TFLEx Fall Workshop - The New Normal

2009-11-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

The Fall 2009 TFLEx Workshop was held in Orange County, California, and was hosted by Bill Dineen and the OCTA. Our sincere thanks go out to Bill and his staff for the wonderful job they did in making this workshop a successful event. Attendance was down due to travel restrictions from many member agencies. To address this issue, three of the sessions were broadcast on the web, allowing members to view presentations and hear speakers. Our thanks go to Ray Garton for setting up the webcasting and making sure it worked well during the workshop. The successful experiment in webcasting will continue with future workshops. Thanks again to everyone at Orange County Transit.

The main topic of this workshop was The New Normal in transit finance. Bill Dineen welcomed participants and gave an overview of the workshop objectives. After his remarks, Bill turned the program over to Terry Cordell to provide the results of a survey he did prior to the workshop on current funding problems and service issues facing members. The survey results are attached. During the discussion, participants expanded on the issues they are currently facing and how they expect those issues to continue to affect their agencies moving forward.

Participants then gathered in smaller groups to come up with the three main issues they see continuing to affect their agencies moving forward; in other words, what their agencies were going to be dealing with as the new normal.

On Monday afternoon Irene DeMers led a discussion on the Significant Interest Group (SIG) calls done between workshops. Participation in the SIG calls has generally been good; but could always be better. Members agreed that two things could be different - 1) co-chairs should be rotated as needed and 2) an agenda team should be established to set topics for the calls and. Bill Dineen volunteered to be the new co-chair for the grants SIG. The calls will be webcast in the future, so participants can share presentations and other visual media.

Tuesday morning's session included two economists sharing their take on the new normal. Dr. Jerry Nickelsburg from UCLA discussed "Old Normals and New Normals" and concluded with the idea that the "new normal" may be the "old normal" with continued annual GDP growth in the 3.2% range. Dr. Christopher Thornberg, founding principal of Beacon Economics, gave a fast paced and fascinating presentation with his view being that the recovery will occur but will most like be slow. All members are encouraged to review Dr. Thornberg's presentation on the TFLEx web site, as it is full of great information on the national (and California) economy.

Tuesday afternoon's session concentrated on changes in the municipal bond markets. David Leininger, CFO at DART started things off with a discussion of his agency's recent bond sale. DART financed new capital construction by selling $1 billion in bonds, including $829 million in Build America Bonds.

Rodney Johnson, Deputy Treasurer of OCTA, gave a presentation on the bridge financing OCTA is using for the financing of the Highway 91 Express Lane placement, due to the collapse of the financial markets in 2008. The complicated transaction of the bridge financing has provided stability, and OCTA now has some breathing room to review options.

Jim Martling of Sperry Capital discussed his company's role in the OCTA Highway 91 Express Lane placement and how the markets have changed since the liquidity crunch. Nic Malas from Siebert, Brandford Shank & Co. echoed Jim's comments and added his own take on the issues.

The Spring 2010 Workshop will be held at the Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland Ohio in April 2010. The workshop will consist of sessions all day Monday and Tuesday until noon, with the business meeting to be held on Tuesday afternoon. Preliminary topics of the workshop will include the value of technology and the capital impact on operations, industrial relations and the role of unions, and societal changes that are leading to changes in transportation. More information will be forthcoming, including specific dates for the workshop.

The regular Business Meeting was chaired by Terry Matsumoto on Wednesday morning. Minutes of this meeting are attached as a separate document. All members are encouraged to attend the Business Meetings at the workshops.

All presentations from the Fall Workshop are available to members on the TFLEx Sharepoint website at http://tflex.securespsites.com.

Summary of TFLEx Spring Workshop - Public Private Partnerships (P3)

2009-05-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

April 6 - 8, 2009

Chicago, Illinois

The Spring 2009 TFLEx Workshop was held in Chicago, Illinois, and was hosted by Joe Costello and the RTA. Our sincere thanks go out to Joe and his staff for the wonderful job they did in making this workshop a successful event. Forty-five people registered for this workshop. Everything was well organized and the presentations were informative. Thanks again to everyone at Chicago's RTA.

The main topic of this workshop was Public Private Partnerships (P3). Stephen E. Schlickman, Executive Director of the RTA, welcomed participants and gave an overview of the workshop objectives. After his remarks, Stephen turned the program over to representatives of the Government Finance Officers Association for a primer on Public Private Partnerships. This session started with a discussion of the benefits and challenges of P3s. The presenters also talked about risk allocation and how important it is in developing P3s. They reviewed different types of P3s with examples of projects from around the country. A discussion of financing and funding sources followed, and the session ended with a case study of a proposed California high-speed rail system.

During Monday's lunch, guest speaker Ellen Rissman, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, gave a sobering talk on the current state of the economy and what benchmarks the Fed uses in judging the state of the economy.

Monday afternoon, the first panel discussion of the workshop included Robert Frye, Rochester Gennesee RTA, Scott Schroeder, BART, Terry Cordell, Las Vegas RTC, and Joe Seliga, law firm of Mayer Brown. This panel focused on the pitfalls and lessons learned from P3s in both the capital and operating areas.

Joe Costello welcomed participants on Tuesday morning and introduced Tom Mulvihill from KPMG, who provided a view from the "Private" partner of P3s. His discussion included a review of risk allocation, traditional versus alternative funding, P3 examples from around the world and his view of the future of P3s in transit. The second panel of the workshop included Randy Blankenhorn, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Rhonda Reed, Federal Transit Administration, Kevin Adams, MV Transportation, Robert Kelly, the Amalgamated Transit Union, Larry Wilson, Illinois DOT, and Mike Schneider, Co-Chair, APTA P3 Task Force. They presented a variety of industry viewpoints on P3s. Discussing public interest viewpoints in the third panel were Eric Reese on the GFOA's recommended practices on P3's, Frank Beale, Chicago Metropolis 2020, Maria Choca Urban, Chicago's Center for Neighborhood Technology.

The lunch speaker on Tuesday was Mike Pagano, an economist from the University of Illinois at Chicago, who discussed current revenue trends and the future state of affairs that will impact the P3 environment.

Tuesday afternoon's panel included representatives from the transit properties in the Chicago region discussing their views on P3s. The panel included Melinda Metzgar, PACE, Bill Tupper, METRA, Ken Kabira, CTA and Heather Tabbert, RTA. Bennett Johnson, former budget director for the City of Chicago also talked about some of the efforts the City has undertaken in P3's. The workshop concluded with an example of an operating P3 from Dayton, Ohio. Representatives from Commuter Advertising Company discussed their partnership with the greater Dayton RTA for audio ads on transit vehicles. Stephen Schlickman wrapped up the workshop by thanking all the participants and attendees.

The Fall 2009 Workshop will be held in Orange County, California. The topic of the workshop will be "The New Normal," centering around the current economic situation, how agencies are dealing with funding issues and new methodologies for projecting revenues. More information will be forthcoming, including the dates for the workshop.

The regular Business Meeting was chaired by Joe Costello on Wednesday morning. Minutes of this meeting are attached as a separate document. All members are encouraged to attend the Business Meetings at the workshops.

All presentations from the Spring Workshop are available to members on the TFLEx Sharepoint website at https://tflex.securespsites.com.

Boston, MA - September 8-9, 2008

2008-05-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

The Fall 2008 TFLEx Conference will be held in Boston, MA, hosted by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on September 8th and 9th, with the business meeting on the 10th. More information on the agenda, registrations, and travel arragements will follow.

Mark your calendars!

Photo: Boston from the Boston University Bridge. Credit Flickr by Ja chega

Chicago, IL - April 7-9, 2008

2008-04-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

All sessions at the Regional Transportation Authority.
175 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
312-913-3200

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange invites you to attend

Federal Funding Issues
(Field of Study: Finance)
April 7-8, 2008
April 9, 2008 - Business Meeting

Program Content/Learning Objectives

Funding from the Federal government continues to play an important role in the ability of transit authorities to finance capital projects. Over the last several years, policies used to distribute that funding have changed. This workshop will concentrate on reviewing some of those changes and making participants aware of how those changes can affect their ability to provide capital projects. After attending this conference, participants will be able to:

Understand how the FTA's new charter regulations will affect the ability of their agencies to provide special services.
Understand how new grant programs like Job Access Reverse Commute and New Freedom Initiative can be successfully implemented.
Understand the USDOT's National Strategy to Reduce Congestion and what it means to their agencies in obtaining discretionary funding for capital projects.
Understand how software can assist in allocating available funding to infrastructure needs on the basis of the established capital programs goals and objectives.
Identify issues with the National Transit Database and determine best practices in developing and sharing industry-wide benchmarking data.
Identify and share best practices through "Needs & Leads.