Tracks to the Future Leadership Award

NARP presents this award on occasion to individuals and organizations, including governments and agencies, that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their commitment to constantly improving and expanding rail-based transportation options for the people of a given city, county, state or region.

Recipients of the Tracks to the Future Leadership Award

2011- Los Angeles County Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) and Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink)

Metrolink and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority were honored with the National Association of Railroad Passengers’ (NARP) Tracks to the Future award today, in recognition of their outstanding work creating an efficient, attractive public transportation system in a city many call the “car capital of the world.”

“The work done in tandem between Metro and Metrolink has created a vital alternative to driving in the Los Angeles County region,” said Ross Capon, NARP’s President & CEO. “For the first time, workers and families in the region are getting a sense of what it means to be able to travel and live in a city that caters to them, not their cars.”

Metrolink worked to enhance safety following a 2008 collision between a Metrolink train and a freight train. CEO John Fenton—who took over in April of 2010, and personally attended NARP’s event to receive the Tracks to the Future award—has overseen the introduction of a new fleet of passenger rail cars that rank among the safest in the nation. Metrolink has accelerated its implementation strategy for Positive Train Control, a technology capable of detecting and preventing collisions before they occur, and is on schedule to put the system into operation ahead of the 2015 federal deadline. Additionally, the agency has launched a rail-specific safety leadership program with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of Metrolink’s forward-looking board of directors and dedicated staff,” Fenton said. “Our focus on people, whether it’s our passengers or employees, drives our uncompromised commitment to safety.”

2008 - City of Portland, Oregon

For the city's development and expansion of a robust network of streetcars and light rail, and for investing in the rehabilitation and upkeep of Portland's iconic Union Station as a multi-modal travel hub. Also for the city's “pioneering leadership in smart growth…[and] wisdom to understand the link between the movements of people, and the communities that grow from these movements.