00:00:04,870	Alright And, and we’re ready with DMA they’re ready. Mhm. OK. Good afternoon. It’s the 20th of August 1:30 p.m., more in the Mann City Hall. This is the Metro Metropolitan planning Organization. Uh, meeting, uh, first item we would have is Pledge of Allegiance. And Stan sly. United States of America.

00:00:37,330	the Republic for which it stands. F To Justice for all. Call the meeting in order if we can call roll. Mayor Berglund. Comm. Zach Meyer. Mayor Frelich, Comm. Schwab. Chair Schmitz. Next item is approval of the minutes from the July 16th meeting. Are there any Adjustments, amendments. If not, I’d take a entertain a motion to accept them.

00:01:14,630	I’ll make that motion. I can’t hear you guys. OK, uh, minutes from last meeting, Comm. or Mayor Frelich motion to accept them. 2. Any discussion. Hearing no will call roll. Mayor Frelich Comm. Schwab. Yes. Schmitz. Next item is the 2025 final, uh, tip program, Stephen. Yes, thank you, Chair. Give me one moment, I will share your screen.

00:02:13,100	All right, so you may remember last month, uh, the board approved the NPO’s draft 2025 through 2028, transportation improvement program. Uh, this was approved with modifications suggested by the tch board.

00:02:37,670	So we have since updated the document to its final form, the program of projects and project maps were updated to reflect changes requested by TA as well as uh some additions and changes requested by North Dakota Department of Transportation and Federal Highway. The updates included changing project cost estimates, lead agencies and project years as needed. The financial pages of the tip were also updated accordingly.

00:02:59,470	We did not need to re-advertise the tip for public comment, the changes we made were of a very minor nature. I will just highlight a couple of those changes very briefly for you today. This be page 16 of your packet, um, I would just note that Project 25 202. This is a Burley County project that was added at Burleigh County’s request.

00:03:30,230	This is a seal coat on Highway 10, uh, from Sixty-sixth Street Northeast 2 $83,760,000 estimated cost for this project. And then going forward a few pages to page 19 of your packets. Uh, there are 2 2028 projects that were added uh per interactions with DOT, uh, those projects were projects 28101, which is a pavement markings and signage project, uh, left turn realignment at Shaffer Street

00:04:01,030	and Divide Avenue, Tyler Parkway in Bismarck, this is an $80,000 project and then project 28601. As a safety project at Yaggen Road and University Drive, the intersection there for the installation of lighting, 165,000 is the estimated cost. And then finally I will. Show you the very end of the document here.

00:04:39,700	My apologies for the scrolling here. We also res uh incorporated the public comments received. Uh, into this final document we received a public comment through the TAC meeting which we included and that was summarized last month.

00:05:10,900	We also received a couple of notices, one from the Army Corps of Engineers, and one from the Department of Water Resources concerning permits that are required for certain kinds of projects. And the tip, um. So those are the most substantive changes that were made, attack did have one note yesterday, one project that we’ll need to change numbering, but no substantial changes were were requested by TA yesterday, and they did recommend approval of the tip

00:05:35,670	in its final form. Are there any questions? Any questions for Stephen? OK. If there are none, what are the wishes of the policy board? to Make a motion to accept. OK. Is there any discussion? We don’t, that will include the modification that came out attack, correct, correct? OK. If not, um, we’ll call roll. Comm.

00:06:24,630	Zachmeyer, Mayor Frelick, Comm. Schwab. No, Cheer Schmidt. Yes. Item 5 Safety policy study. Request for proposals, Rachel. Uh, thank you, Chair, and policy board members, um.

00:06:54,030	Uh, Steven, would you mind, um, providing Andy an updated uh copy, it’s right there in front of my chair, um, uh, prior to the meeting, I handed out an updated version of Exhibit B and. I Comm. Zach Meyer will get you an updated copy. Thank you, Steven. Um, I The updated version of Exhibit B is, uh, includes the revisions to our request for proposal on our newest study effort, the 2025 safety policies study. Uh, the safety policies study.

00:07:30,500	will be a project that includes all 5 of our jurisdictions and, uh, the project has a not to exceed budget of $180,000. Uh, the objective is to um do a few things. First, we want to evaluate um our current road network and specifically the.

00:07:54,400	Uh, safety countermeasures that are existing within our communities safety countermeasures can be many things, uh, but they are the elements along the roadway that keep vehicles safe from each other as well as pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users uh safe uh uh within the roadway as well. They could include um pedestrian lighting, guard rails, crosswalks, uh, any element that would improve or promote safety on the road.

00:08:20,800	Uh, so the safety policy study will first evaluate what countermeasures are existing within our communities and then outline which countermeasures are best practices for specific road types or intersection types. And then finally.

00:08:52,000	Uh, prepare something of a tool toolbox that our engineers can use to um either I identify and implement an appropriate safety countermeasure, if there’s a reconstruction or a new road being built, the engineer will know which countermeasures are most appropriate, um, and then they can also use this toolbox as um a guide when they’re speaking with your commissions and councils or with the public. That they’re able to liaise on and and explain why certain countermeasures are preferred and possibly why other countermeasures may not be preferred.

00:09:17,170	Uh, the road network that uh we’re hoping to evaluate within the study is our functionally classified network. Uh, we may also be able to include some local roads as our budget allows.

00:09:39,370	And um in order to make this study more manageable, the roadways will be categorized into what type they are, for example, uh, the major arterials will be one type of road, collectors will be a second type of road. Uh, but we may also include, um, a category of road such as neighborhood or local, something that is more residential, uh, because the countermeasures that would be used in a neighborhood environment are much different than the countermeasures that would be used.

00:09:59,170	Along one of our major arterials. Uh, similarly, we will categorize a particular intersections, whether they are an arterial, arterial intersection, uh, for example, this could be a century and Washington, um, or if it’s a, a less in-demand intersection which would be uh an arterial collector or a local roads together.

00:10:30,030	So by categorizing the style of, of road element we’re better able to To generalize what elements, what safety countermeasures are appropriate for that environment. And will also be sensitive to the surrounding land use, whether it’s commercial, uh, retail, uh, residential, because those things also make a difference to who is using it and how that roadway is being used. Um.

00:10:55,930	Uh, so, uh, it, it is our hope that the study will be a very useful tool for the engineers. Again, the priority of this study will be able to make um practical changes for our community and um to have a guidance so that through time the engineers may be able to right size the countermeasures and make those

00:11:19,100	countermeasures more consistent. By that, we mean we want to be able to have a community where arterials are. Approached in the same way and that we’re using predictable measures, and this is very important for the traveling public so that they they become more used to seeing certain countermeasures, knowing how to react and respond within the roadway, uh,

00:11:41,000	because they know what to expect and they can expect uh those safe elements. Uh, the project will begin this year as soon as it’s under contract should the RFP be accepted and, uh, we have a goal to end the the study by the end of 2025.

00:12:06,600	Um, we did receive a few minor changes from tack, uh, some typological changes that have been clarified in the RFP, uh, DOT also requested that we adjust our proposal submittal date by one day, and that way they will have a little bit more lead time in getting the RFP online, um, this is a, a busy time with vacations and back to school and they just

00:12:28,370	wanted uh to make sure that they would be able to uh. fulfill their role in the RFP. Um. And then, uh, one of the, uh, primary changes to this RFP as opposed to past RFPs is that I’m requesting only electronic submittals, not paper submittals, and in the past we’ve received paper submittals

00:12:52,570	as well as um a PDF version. Uh, so this is our, our first RFP where we’re only requesting an electronic submittal, and I think that will make it easier for the consultants to bid on the project. Uh, it’s a little lower of a thresh.

00:13:14,370	for them to be considered responsive and we have been seeing fewer consultants responding to our RFPs over the last few years, so I wanted to make that threshold as easy as possible. Um, and I hope that this change will mean that we do get more submitters. Um. Uh, so the, uh, Uh, the last piece that I would like to share with you. Um, I’ll share a screen.

00:13:44,530	And then uh on the monitor is an a version of the paper copy that you have. This is the updated version, um. I believe it’s page 13. Uh, 13, on page 13 section D, um, I have an outline of the project.

00:14:16,700	Uh, we’re expecting submittals to be returned to us by September 12th and then hoping to have interviews the week of September 24th sometime between the 24th and the 26th, and we’re hoping to have, um, to be fully under contract by the beginning of November, um, with of course the. Final presentations no later than December 31. Um, there is an element that I, I failed to mention.

00:14:42,500	I apologize for overlooking this, but, um, within this study, there’s a very high chance that the communities may choose or uh like to. Uh, make changes, physical changes to the roadway. And uh we all know that construction projects are expensive and sometimes the funding for that construction is not always readily available.

00:15:10,600	There is a special, um, federal grant opportunity called SS4A and that stands for Safe Streets and Roads for all, uh, the SS4A funding is available for safety improvements. Um, however, in order to access that funding we need what’s known as a safety action plan. The elements of a safety action plan are being met uh within our. F Safe routes to services study.

00:15:39,970	Um, however, the, the, uh, projects for implementation within the safe routes to services study may look a little different than safety policies, which is more encompassing, um, and looks at, uh, our current study will look at the entire road network.

00:16:01,270	Um, so with that, um, in safety policy study, we will also embark upon all of the necessary elements that will make the eligible for grant funding under SS4A. And so within our scope of work, uh, we’ve listed out there’s about 8 sections that are available for that funding. I think we have to meet at least 5 of those sections, and there are 2 or 3 that are required by the federal government.

00:16:25,130	So there is a lot of flexibility as to how our communities will meet the SS4A requirements and we will be relying on our steering committee and the consultant to walk us through what that process is. And identify which SS4A elements are most appropriate for our communities to meet and maintain.

00:16:50,230	Um, and that way, Uh, the NPO will be really well placed for the cities and counties to be able to pursue that funding in the future. Um, Uh, the, uh, the RFP was approved by TAC at yesterday’s meeting, again with just a few minor changes, and I’d be happy to take any questions that you have regarding the study, um. If you do.

00:17:15,230	Does anyone have questions for Rachel? My only question is, have you received indication from the consultants that they prefer to to deliver electronically versus paper. I mean, what’s driving that? I have my own suspicion, but.

00:17:42,400	Um, sometimes the mail doesn’t arrive in time sometimes, um, the The the thumb drive and the paper don’t always get into the envelope and then unfortunately that, um, submittal has to be considered unresponsive. That’s a very rare thing, but it has happened. Um, so it’s just an extra element that uh when when paper doesn’t have to be mailed, it makes that submittal a little bit easier to process through. Policy board members.

00:18:21,000	What are your wishes? I would move that we proceed forward with the RFP and authorize the MPO to issue the RFP. Second, Is there any discussion? He no will call roll. Comm. Zach Mayor. Comm. Schwab. Chair Schmitz. Next item 6, advanced traffic analysis Center contract and I guess Rachel, you’re still on the podium. Thank you, um, Chair and policy board.

00:19:00,100	Um, exhibit C in your packet is a contract with Advanced traffic Analysis Center, the NPO has a standing contract with ATA uh whom is housed at North Dakota, um. State University and DSU, um, and this contract runs typically for 3 years.

00:19:25,370	Uh, the contract covers, um, the ability for ATAC to both house and maintain our travel demand model as well as to provide select services to the NPO as well as your jurisdictions, uh, should there need to be model runs done throughout the year.

00:19:47,670	Um, we usually get between 2 to 5 model runs, uh, that the engineering staff can Uh, and this is very, has been very important if uh for example, your land use has had a proposed change or there’s been. Um, uh, a new traffic generator like a shopping center proposed in a particular area, uh, the model can then be run and we can see what that land change might do to traffic, uh, which also then in turn helps the engineers know how to plan for

00:20:11,270	possible changes to the road network. So it’s a very good value to us, um, uh, with the contract, there is an annual fee of $10,000 so the total contract for the 3 years is $30,000 and this is the established amount that has been in place since I started with the MPO 10 years ago, um.

00:20:34,730	Uh, so, uh, ATA has prepared this contract, it is very similar to our past contracts uh with the exception of, uh, this contract now contains 4 NPOs since Central Dakota MPO in Minot is now online, uh, the contract also includes them, um, and then, uh, the second major change to the contract was the terms previously contracts ran.

00:21:07,630	From October to September and now the contract will expire at the end of the year. It will expire December of 2027 so this way the contract more uh it better aligns with the normal calendar year and hopefully it will be easier for us to update in the future.

00:21:32,800	Um, uh, since the expiration is on a more normal schedule. Uh, with that, um, uh, I did have the opportunity to review and offer comments on this contract. My comments were very minor and they were incorporated earlier this summer, uh, the other three NPOs had the same opportunity and um their comments have been included as well.

00:21:54,600	Uh, we’re hoping to have the contract approved by all 4 NPO policy boards, uh, before the expiration of our current contract, which is in September, um. Uh, I’m very comfortable with the contract and tech also recommended approval, um, but I’m happy to accept any questions that you might have or a request for revision.

00:22:18,470	The only thing I saw and I just as clarification is there’s a true up quarter effectively to get us to calendar year versus fiscal year. In the fee correct, so $2500 for those last calendar quarter of 24 to get us on cycle for. That that is correct, and I think in June we approved a UPWP amendment for the NPO to pay that $2500.

00:22:40,570	Uh, so we do have all elements in place to be able to uh complete that quarter payment. Any other questions, policy board members? Carry on, what are the wishes of the policy board. I make a motion to approve. OK. Is there any discussion? Hearing on a call roll. Comm. Zach Meyer, Mayor Feli, Comm.

00:23:11,970	Schwab, Schmidt. Next item is arrived 2050 MTP I believe Jeremy Williams is presenting. Hi, thank you, yep, so today I just have a quick update on progress. Jeremy. Jeremy, this is Rachel. I’m gonna have you pause a moment because the sound is very soft.

00:23:38,130	We’re going to address the sound in our room and um give me just a moment, please. Sure thing. Add Jeremy DMA is going to adjust up as you speak, so, um, go, go ahead and we’ll get that rated. OK, sure thing, yep, I will get going then.

00:24:28,400	So yeah, and again, just quick update on progress that has been made since the July uh policy board meetings, so the consultant team has put together a summary of the July 3rd public engagement booth. That was held at the Mandan Art in the Park event, uh, the team hosted the August steering committee meeting on the 6th of the month, and that meeting, the bulk of that meeting was dedicated to talking through the list of alternatives uh

00:24:46,500	that will be included in the MTP and working with local jurisdictions to refine that list. Uh, the consultant team also worked with ATech to develop travel uh demand model scenario runs to help screen uh the alternative benefits, uh, as well as worked with local jurisdictions to continue.

00:25:06,600	refine that project list, kind of had some separate uh Sessions with, with different agency staff, uh, and the consultant team also finalized the draft financial assessments and then finally began the development of the final MTP document.

00:25:28,170	So basically the remaining bulk of work will be uh dedicated to finalizing the uh the MTP document and getting that out to the public and to local jurisdictions for review and comment on that. And so yeah, that’s really all I had in terms of progress. So I guess if there are any questions I’d be able to answer those now. Policy board members, do you have any questions for Mr. Williams? I don’t see any, thank you. Awesome. Yeah, thank you all for your time.

00:25:49,370	Item 8 is safe routes to services complete street study and I think Mike Bittner or Bitter if I, yeah, OK. Green’s chair, members of the policy board and everybody hear me OK? Yes. OK, great. Thank you.

00:26:16,930	Uh, we had a pretty exciting last month we had really centered a lot of our activities around this field workshop where we rented two buses. We brought our steering committee members around some of the key areas that have been identified through either the public engagement process uh through our technical analysis process or even directly from that committee and that committee is made up of members of And City of Bismarck and Mandan Engineering and planning, we’ve

00:26:39,230	got MDDOT, uh, we’ve got Bizman Transit Burley. Uh, public health, Western Plains Public health. We also had members of Dakota Center for Independent Living, and a number of other folks there to help us look at some of these challenging corridors and connection points in the field from really an accurate perspective, which is,

00:27:00,530	which is how most folks are experiencing these on a day to day basis. So, uh, we brainstorm solutions. in the office and in the field um to reams of notes and and really had a a really great exercise of learning some of these problems a little bit more directly, some of the barriers

00:27:18,300	that have kept them from being improved in the past and some of the things that we should start to think about as we move forward. So, Building off of that workshop we plan on taking that information back, um, starts processing and then coming back to our group in October, um, to present some of those combined solutions that

00:27:37,200	we work together on. And then as we go through that process, we’ll also go back to the public, um, to throw some of those ideas at them and see how they react and see if any of those things or items are worth advancing into more of an implementation phase.

00:27:51,500	So that, that kind of concludes our, our last month of work and I’m happy to answer any questions. Members, any questions? I don’t see any, so thank you. Yeah. Item 9 is Federal Rail Administration long distance study, um, Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority Kim Chair Schmitz.

00:28:21,200	Members of the policy board, if you can give me just one moment, bear with me, and I’ll try and pull a screen up to share with you. Oh Apologies that this is taking so long. I’m not finding my share screen options, so maybe DMA will do that for me. OK. Thanks, DMA.

00:29:13,500	Uh, today I’d like to talk to you a little bit about the long distance service study that’s being conducted by the Federal Railroad Administration, uh, you will find this information in your packet as exhibit F, starting on page 117. If you want to follow along there, otherwise I’ll bring it up on the screen for the member of the, the public viewing at home and those of us in the room.

00:29:31,970	Uh, this study began in January of 2023 and it’s expected to conclude at the end of this year, IMPO staff have been attending the stakeholder meetings throughout the study. There have been 4 stakeholder meetings and we thought that now was a good time to uh provide an update because preferred alternatives have now been identified and were presented at the last and final

00:29:52,470	stakeholder meeting on the study. As a reminder, the long distance service study is required. Of FRA as part of the infra infrastructure investment and jobs Act of 2021. Its purpose is to evaluate the restoration of daily inner-city rail passenger service along any Amtrak long distance routes that were discontinued and any Amtrak long distance routes

00:30:17,730	that occur on a non-daily basis. The definition of a long distance service is a total route length of 750 miles or more also FRA was given the option to evaluate potential new Amtrak long distance routes with specific attention to routes that were in service as of April 1971, but were then discontinued by Amtrak.

00:30:44,730	This criteria directly applies to the north coast Hiawatha passenger rail line that used to transverse North Dakota from Fargo to the Montana line and continuing westward. It ran roughly parallel. I-94 and it ran directly through the counties of Burley and Morton passing directly through the communities of Bismarck and Mandown. This route was discontinued by Amtrak in 1979.

00:31:14,830	This slide, this map shows the existing passenger rail line network? Uh, you will notice that there is a distinct lack of passenger rail lines in this mid to upper Midwest portion of the United States.

00:31:38,800	Also you’ll see that uh we do in North Dakota have a passenger rail line that is in existence currently running from Fargo um through the northern tier of the state into Montana. However, that does leave our central and southern portions of the state without any passenger rail access.

00:32:21,070	This slide does tell us that there is a federal funding that has been appropriated through the bipartisan Infrastructure law, also known as the BI and 50 million of that is allocated specifically to restoration and enhancement, and that’s our focus today. Corridor ID or corridor identification and Development program was established by the US Secretary of Transportation and FRA to facilitate the development of inner-city passenger rail corridors. Now how does this connect with FRA’s long distance service study.

00:32:43,870	They do connect together because corridor ID eligibility includes exactly what the long-distance service study is evaluating specifically increasing the frequency of long distance service and also restoring service over any route formerly operated by Amtrak. For the corridor ID there were over 90 applications that were received nationwide for this program. 69 were selected.

00:33:10,170	Of those 69, 3 were long distance routes and one of those long distance routes is the restoration of the former North Coast Hiawatha from from Chicago to Seattle. FRA received over 47,000 comments to their proposed network as shown on this slide and this slide does clearly depict the proposed restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha passenger rail line.

00:33:36,930	You can clearly see it running from Chicago up through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, all the way over to Seattle through Washington. 99% of the comments that FRA received were supportive of passenger rail overall, so that’s very encouraging.

00:34:03,530	The next 4 slides provide information on the Chicago to Seattle route based on FRA’s evaluation of all proposed routes to determine preferred routes, FRA assessed each network using the following methods and tools assuming once daily service. They looked at conceptual service schedules and provided a network analysis overview. Equity and accessibility. Cost estimating. And public benefits which include safety, jobs, and earnings. Now I just flew through those slides in the interest of time.

00:34:35,800	I’m not going to belabor what details are provided on each of them, but the information is extremely noteworthy, and I’d encourage all of you to go ahead in your own time to take a look at what those slides provide.

00:34:58,800	There are 17 preferred routes that have been identified through the study with 3 of those already selected through the corridor ID program, while the other 14 are considered to be additional preferred routes while the 14 additional routes currently have no sustained funding or program to advance their development. It’s important to note that the corridor ID route do have appropriated funding through the corridor ID program. In closing.

00:35:27,170	Moving forward, FRA will conclude their study and provide a report to Congress to establish options for restoring or expanding long distance service. The corridor ID program will continue to pride sustained funding for new or improved passenger corridors through planning and project development stages, including for 3 long distance routes, one of which is the former North Coast Hiawatha. The final report will be published on the study and FRA websites.

00:35:52,470	And then you can see the um study website there that’s available for you. Now the far the FRA long distance service study along with Corridor ID program has really, really opened up some doors for the potential expansion of passenger rail in North Dakota with the restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha comes the potential for a substantial benefits to our communities, including

00:36:13,370	economic growth and a more connected regional transportation system. There will be decisions to be made by the counties and cities directly impacted, including placement of stations and funding options for them as well as transportation considerations to ensure a safe, reliable, connected and accessible system to tie different transportation modes and geographical areas together.

00:36:37,830	The NPO feels that this is an important opportunity for our region. An opportunity to extend and enhance our transportation network and to provide essential connections to our residents and visitors alike.

00:37:03,830	There are many groups, organizations and individuals who are interested in returning this passenger rail line to North Dakota and other northern states between Illinois and Washington, but perhaps one of the leaders in this effort is Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority.

00:37:24,400	Today we have Jason Stewart, Vice Chair of Big Skyrail, with us here today along with Dave Stromeyer, Chair of Big Skyrail, and also Dan Bucks, Chair of Development and strategic engagement for Big Skyrail online, uh, and the three of them will tell us more about BSPRA’s efforts and its government and municipal partners program. Once we’ve heard from Jason, Dave and Dan, any of us will be happy to entertain questions or to discuss next steps. Yeah We want to do, Jim. to the folks up there. Thank you. OK, um, well, fantastic job, Kim.

00:37:52,900	Thank you so much for a very good rundown of the FRA long distance study, what it means and the potential benefits um they’re going to accrue to communities like Bismarck and Mandan and, and all throughout North Dakota and Montana and all along the 2300 miles of the route, um, by the restoration of this service, uh, as Kim

00:38:11,700	mentioned, uh, my name is Jason Stewart. I’m the vice chair of the BSPRA. I’m the director for Dawson County, uh, Montana, which Some of you guys might know is about 3 hours to the west of here, uh, Glendive, Montana, uh, and also joining us on the line today again is our, our chair, uh, Comm.

00:38:31,100	Dave Stromeyer from Missoula County and our director, uh, our chair of our, um, development and strategic engagement Committee, Dan Bucks. Um, so we have a, uh, little presentation we’re gonna run through, uh, with you here, uh, as soon as Kim’s got that ready and gives the, uh, presentation fired up. There it is right there.

00:38:51,400	Um, so I’m actually, I’m gonna turn it over to Dave first, and Dave’s gonna take you through the first set of slides, kind of tell you about uh what BISPR is, what it isn’t, uh, and where we are in our processes and uh about and, and a little bit more information about the quarter ID and what it means

00:39:09,400	for the BSPRA is the lead organization. We are the organization that that quarter ID award was granted to. So we are in the driver’s seat, as it were for.

00:39:29,870	This project, um, but we obviously recognize that we need the cooperation and the assistance of all the communities and counties and NPOs and other government organizations up and down the route from Chicago to Seattle and Portland, so, uh, with that, I’m going to turn it over to Dave for a minute, uh, assuming we have Dave online, right? I believe that we do. OK. Yes, I am here. Can you hear me? Yes. OK, fantastic. Uh thank you, Jason.

00:39:51,470	Now thanks for that great presentation, opening up the topic and covering the long distance service study and a brief overview of corridor ID, Mr. Chair and policy board members, thanks so much for having us again. Uh, my name is Dave Stromeyer. I am Chair of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority.

00:40:11,270	I also wear the hat of the chair of the Missoula Board of County Commissioners, and I am vice chair of our MPO, the Missoula MPO policy uh coordinating committee. So I have to apologize. I’m going to uh run through some of my slides and if we go a little bit long, I will, uh, uh, have to exit by 1:30 p.m.

00:40:31,630	because I have an MPO meeting that I need to hit myself. So without further ado, what is, what is it that we are going to talk about ever so briefly before you here today.

00:40:51,830	We’re going to hit a little bit on Uh, what the Big Sky passenger rail Authority is and some of the progress that we have made in promoting what is now called the Big Sky North Coast corridor. We’ll talk a bit about some of the benefits that passenger rail brings to communities which those of you in North Dakota and particularly any of you with ties to the corridor that the Empire Builder passes through are well acquainted with, and then we’ll talk a little bit

00:41:12,530	about our government partner program that we offer. Slide. Big sky Passenger Rail Authority. What are we? So we are a subdivision of state government in the state of Montana.

00:41:37,900	We are a government agency here in Montana, committed to and focused on both the expansion of passenger rail service through our service area and also the uh solidification and the improvement and enhancement of existing passenger rail service. We were created in 2020 when 12 counties across the state of Montana, came together. Using a state statute that allows counties and only counties to join together and establish either a countywide or a regional passenger rail authority.

00:42:01,600	We’re now up to 19 member counties that you can see depicted on the map on your screen. We also include 3 tribes, uh, three tribal nations through which this corridor passes as ex officio members, BNSF Railway is on our board. Amtrak, the Montana Department of Transportation and Representing Labour, the AFL-CIO is also an ex officio member of our board, even though we are in Montana.

00:42:29,070	government entity we have broad statutory authority to work across jurisdictional lines and particularly when we’re talking about long distance passenger rail routes, which you heard earlier, constitutes routes over 750 miles in length. We absolutely need to collaborate across jurisdictional and state lines to plan out and eventually implement this route. Next slide.

00:42:59,170	And again, Next slide. OK, so, uh, the quarter identification program. So what you heard earlier, uh, highlighted two things. One, there is this thing that is ongoing right now, called the Amtrak Daily long distance Service study.

00:43:28,430	The Big Sky passenger rail Authority played a role in helping draft language that made it into the bipartisan infrastructure law directing the US Department of Transportation to conduct this nationwide study looking at restoring uh or enhancing existing long distance or creating new long distance routes that have never existed before. This is critical and lays the groundwork for what I’m going to talk about here in just a moment, but as you heard earlier.

00:43:51,330	What the long distance service study will deliver by way of a deliverable is a report to Congress this year outlining recommended preferred routes to be restored or created.

00:44:14,330	We are fortunate enough to, and I’m here today, pleased to report that this former North Coast Hiawatha route, now known as the Big Sky North Coast corridor is one of the preferred routes that will be one of the recommendations to Congress. But that is a report to Congress with recommendations and this leads us to the big show in town right now is the quarter identification program and development program, and this is the mechanism by which the Federal Railroad Administration will move projects will move recommended routes long

00:44:39,900	distance routes among others, into the project development pipeline. Uh, why is this important for us? Well, out of all of the 69 routes in the quarter identification and development program, the former North Coast Hiawatha route, now known as the Big Sky North Coast corridor is the only new long distance route in this

00:45:01,300	program out of those 69 routes and, and this is huge for North Dakota and Montana and states to the east and west of our jurisdiction. This program will uh do a few things. One, even though we are the project sponsor here in Montana. This is a 2300 mile long corridor.

00:45:24,770	So one of the first things that we will be doing and, and we just recently brought on board a consulting team that that comprises several different firms. David Evans and Associates, KLJ Engineering, the Steer Group and Qandeel consulting out of Chi.

00:45:53,970	Chicago, one of the first things we’ll be doing in phase one or step one of this program is Pulling together an intergovernmental consultation council. Uh, what this will uh include will be NPOs. It will be state DOTs.

00:46:15,470	It will be tribal nations across this entire 2300 mile long corridor and what will we be doing to begin with? Well, we will be in step one of the corridor identification program, developing a scope schedule and budget, or step 2 and step 2 is creating a service development plan For this route, which will answer many of the burning questions that folks have in terms of where will the stations be located? What infrastructure investments will be necessary to accommodate both freight and passenger rail service and what does the schedule look like? What does

00:46:37,130	the rolling stock? What do the train sets look like for a 21st century service like this. Uh, step 3 of the quarter identification program is a combination of both preliminary engineering and NPA, which will at the end of all of that deliver a shovel ready project. Next slide.

00:47:04,230	And again, this might simply be a review of what you already know, but we in both Montana and North Dakota need look no farther than the Empire Builder to our north to identify what are the economic benefits and impacts of a service like this and arguably the economic benefits and impacts of a restored North Coast Hiawatha route, or again, as we are calling it the Big

00:47:29,500	Sky North Coast corridor. Uh, will arguably be even greater than this because this route, this proposed restored route will pass through the most populous portions of both the states of North Dakota and Montana, and finally connect our capital cities in both of our respective states and connect us to the east and to

00:47:49,300	the west. You’re looking at the Empire Builder statistics, uh, very impressive, uh, economic benefits return to communities along this uh this corridor and Uh, a sixfold return on investment which by any measure is a great return on investment for uh uh economic benefits to communities along a route like this.

00:48:14,900	And if you look at pre-pandemic, uh, even greater benefits that uh we are still uh coming back from, but, uh, coming back in a very robust manner. So we are thrilled to be with you today. I’m going to pass uh pass off the baton to my colleague.

00:48:35,400	Jason Stewart from Glendive to take us through a few additional slides, but suffice it to say we’re an excite in an exciting period of time in the United States and uh both of our respective states are uh in the epicenter of uh realizing a vision that many of us have, have had for a long time and uh only now are uh within grasp of the resources necessary to bring

00:48:57,500	this to reality. So, uh, with that, I’ll turn it over to Jason. Thank you. Thank you, Dave. OK, uh, so next up, let’s talk about what some of our BISpers goals are for this new passenger rail service that we’re looking to create.

00:49:15,200	Again, we’re looking to recreate a service that used to exist, but we’re also looking to create a a train service for the 21st century. As we often say, we’re not just looking to recreate somebody’s last worst experience on Amtrak, uh, for anybody who’s written Amtrak or especially people who’ve ridden it regularly, there are issues that crop up, right? Trains don’t arrive on time. etc. etc.

00:49:36,570	So let’s talk about some of the things that we are looking to establish with this new service and that BSPRA is going to be pushing for as we go through the quarter ID process and and work on our service development plan.

00:49:53,670	Number one, we are, we’ve been very adamant and upfront with the FRA and Amtrak and Ibre involved from the get-go that we want to trains per day in each direction. In other words, right now on the Empire Builder, a lot of the towns, they have the service, but when does the service arrive? 5, when does the train come through in the middle of the night, right? That’s not, uh,

00:50:08,570	it’s not the most user-friendly, right? Uh, it’s, it’s not the most beneficial for, for people to, to have that service come through at, you know, midnight or 1 or 2 a.m.

00:50:24,230	So we want two trains per day in each direction so that every community up and down the route can be pretty much guaranteed that they’re going to see at least one train per day in each direction during regular daylight hours where people can access it. So that’s one thing we want to make sure that gets done. Uh, on time. Performance.

00:50:41,530	Another big issue with Amtrak currently, uh, this gets into building out the infrastructure the right way and better working with the host railroads, uh, which as you see there, we have BNSF at the table with us from the very get-go. They’ve been there with us, uh, I do, I do wanna dispel any notion that people might have that BNSF is somehow anti-passenger rail that they aren’t on board with this.

00:51:00,730	They are absolutely on board with it. They are at the table, they have, we have established. A great working relationship with BNSF. You can go ask them yourself what they think about BSPRA and they’re going to give you a very glowing review about working with us.

00:51:20,500	We helped BNSF acquire through a federal, uh, private, uh, Public-private partnership grant that we got back in December along with quarter ID, uh, a $15 million grant to do track work up around Malta on the High Line to get rid of a bottleneck up there that will both improve service for the passenger trains but also for BNSF’s freight trains.

00:51:39,200	So we have a great relationship with them. We want to work on that relationship to build, make sure that when we have this train restored, that the trains are arriving on time. We resiliency kind of comes built in with, uh, rail service, right.

00:51:53,800	Uh, as everybody knows, it takes, it takes a hell of a lot of snow to stop a train, right? Uh, I know coming from Glendive, a lot of times the interstate is closed at the border there with North Dakota during the winter. Uh, it really would have to pile up considerably to, to make a train stop. So we have that weather resiliency built in.

00:52:10,900	Uh, continuous Wi Fi connectivity on a, on a new established service. That’s one thing the Empire Builder does not have. I was disappointed when I first wrote the Empire Builder earlier this year to find out that it’s one of the Amtrak long distance trains that does not have Wi Fi service. Uh, we want, this is the 21st century.

00:52:23,870	We want to make sure that people have that Wi Fi connectivity on the train so that they can get, uh, they can work, they can play, uh, while they ride. Um, small parcel delivery service.

00:52:47,670	So this is actually something that we’re working along with hand in hand with restoring the passenger rail service, BSPRA actually received a, a separate 150,000 rural infrastructure accelerator grant via the Pacific Northwest E. region, uh, late last year, in order to do a study about the feasibility of putting small parcel delivery service on a restored passenger train.

00:53:08,770	The idea being that, especially in your rural communities, uh, to the east and west of here in places like Glendive, where the parcel delivery services tend to uh go back and forth past your house like 5 different times on the interstate in between their various hubs, and you sit there and watch him track it as it goes like 3 times past. Your house over the course of 3 days, you’re like, why didn’t you just stop and deliver the thing.

00:53:23,530	Um, you know, we’ve got businesses that need, uh, products delivered in a timely fashion. We have, for instance, agriculture producers, they need a part for their tractor it’s harvest time. The thing is broken down. The parts in Chicago, and they need to get it there ASAP.

00:53:41,330	Imagine being able to take that tractor part, put it on the train in Chicago, and within 24 hours, a guy’s down here at the Mandan Depot picking it up, getting it on his tractor and getting back to work. So that’s another thing we’re going to be looking at.

00:53:57,230	And finally, uh, another goal for potential goal for restored passion rail service for this new passenger rail service we’re looking to create is advanced technologies, uh, using things like potentially looking at using things like hydrogen trains, uh, for the route rather than your traditional diesel trains.

00:54:18,200	Now, why is that, uh, here’s Dave and I standing just to show you guys that these things are not some pie in the sky, uh, you know, wishful tech here. This train exists. Dave and I rode it back in March, uh, down at the USDOT test facility outside of Pueblo, Colorado. It’s actually going into service is, is completed its testing, uh, with USDOT is actually going into the service later this year on an Amtrak commuter, state-supported route in California.

00:54:40,200	So hydrogen-powered train, uh, the thing goes 85, we got it up to 85 miles an hour on the test track, rides smooth as a button, uh, makes almost no noise. Incredibly quiet, which is one of the common complaints that people have about trains who live close to the tracks, right? They’re loud, they’re noisy, they’re smelly.

00:54:57,800	Well, this thing is quiet. It makes it hums like a baby. It makes almost no noise at all, and the only exhaust it produces is pure H2O water is all that comes out of its tailpipe, um, as far as why I look at this technology, this isn’t just about being quote unquote green, right? This is also Job

00:55:16,170	investment. This is also economic opportunity, um. We are starting to work with some of the hydrogen hubs you guys may or may not be aware that uh throughout the country there are these official government-created hydrogen hubs.

00:55:34,670	They’re the one that covers, uh, the Dakotas and Minnesota here is called the Heartland Hub, uh, in western Montana and to the west and the Pacific Northwest. We have the Northwest hub. Each one of these hubs already has $1 billion. Each hub has a $1 billion appropriated to it by the US Department of Energy to develop And implement a hydrogen fuel, uh, manufacturing and supply network.

00:55:57,270	And so working in conjunction with them, we put hydrogen trains on these tracks, we get these hydrogen facilities built in our new communities. This is new economic investment, new high-tech, high paying jobs coming into our communities through this as well. So it’s not just about cleaning the air or whatever. This is actually, this is further potential economic opportunity with this.

00:56:16,530	As far as what does the service mean for communities, why does somebody from Glendive, Montana, why does the city of Glenda, Montana, for instance, where I’m from, uh, so gung ho about this, and they are, uh, believe me, people in Glenda, people in Weibo, people in these small little communities in Montana and across the border, we get

00:56:36,230	it in North Dakota too, right? The city of Dickinson has recently voted to join our government partners program, so has the city of Jamestown, uh, we get a lot of enthusiasm about this because As Dave Alray showed these services, these trains are economic engines. They are economic drivers.

00:56:58,130	They are going to create new jobs, new tourism, new economic opportunities for your hotels, your retailers, your restaurants, right? You’ve got a beautiful depot right here in Mandan. I just walked down to it earlier today before I came here. Imagine if that’s back in service and there are people coming and going 4 times per day for the trains leaving and coming and going.

00:57:15,630	Well, that’s a lot more Activity, right? And when you have people. Concentrated in a downtown area, which is another great thing about a lot of our stations is they are in downtown areas, right, can help rejuvenate that downtown. Breathe new economic life into it. Make those old buildings that are across from the depot.

00:57:33,500	They’re standing there empty, make them much more, um, much more desirable in terms of redevelopment and putting them back into service for retail, restaurants, hotels, what have you, other services that service travelers. Um, the service also will build stronger.

00:57:56,100	Healthier communities and this is especially true, true for rural and tribal areas of our of both of our great states. Um, especially when it comes to health. Healthcare is one of the things we hear about more than anything, right? Um.

00:58:17,500	In eastern Montana, and I, I believe too in Western North Dakota, uh, we have a population that is uh generally aging, right? We have a, a high proportion of elderly people, disabled people, veterans, uh, all those kind of things and for a lot of these folks who live in these, especially in these outlying communities, they need access to healthcare services. They cannot get locally. What that means for a lot of them is being put into a car and driving for 34.

00:58:39,600	56789, 10 hours or more to get to the healthcare services that they need. That’s not a great option for a lot of people, right? They’re disabled, they’ve got disabilities, they’ve got Oshin tanks, uh, etc. etc.

00:58:58,900	And we have heard this up and down the route as we did our, our, uh, meetings that were funded by the Montana Healthcare Foundation last year throughout the, throughout Montana, through the rural and tribal communities there. Uh, this is one of the number one reasons that people want to be able to access this train because how much better would it be for us to be able to get on a train comfortably and sit comfortably.

00:59:18,070	And get to our providers and get to the services we need in comfort, safety, and affordability, right which right now, again, for a lot of, a lot of people up and down this route, they only have one way to get anywhere, and that is to drive and that’s a very long drive and for, you know, 5 to 6 months out of the year.

00:59:35,470	It can be a pretty dangerous drive, right? So this will help add that, uh, and make your communities just quality of life. It will make the quality of life higher by having that service, by having that transportation equity by having that availability of that.

00:59:54,170	Additional way to get from point A to point B to say that I don’t have to drive, OK? I can get on the plane and I can get to. Wherever I need to get to, whether that’s Jamestown or Dickinson or Medora or Glendivever, Miles said you Billings going that direction or into the uh Minnesota going that direction, places you cannot fly to, right? Or if you can, you can only do it in a

01:00:13,070	very roundabout way and you spend $1000 you know, jumping planes 3 different times to get there, um. Instead, let’s put them on the train, get them straight there in a few hours, we can do, make that work a lot better. Uh, it also means a working tool for businesses, farmers, ranchers, schools, all these, uh, institutions.

01:00:32,730	What I mean by working tool is a train that has Wi Fi that’s going from point A to point B twice a day in each direction. Great example, um, I’m not sure where your VA hospital is here in in North Dakota.

01:00:51,030	In Montana, the VA hospital is outside of Helena, Fort Harrison, OK? There’s a VA clinic in Miles City. There’s a veteran’s home in Glendive. Now the VA doctors are all at Fort Harrison. They only come out to Mile City in Glendive when they need to or on a specific on a certain schedule, right? How do they get to Mile City or Glendive from Helena, any. Guesses They, right.

01:01:12,230	That’s the only way to do it. Only way to do it. And that’s 10 hours, 8 to 10 hours in a car, right? Just driving in the winter, white knuckling it down the highway.

01:01:34,200	How much better if those doctors, those providers, or even a business person conducting business could be on the train with Wi Fi getting patient cases done, getting work done while they’re going from point A to point B, they can be productive, not sitting there white knuckling down the highway, risking their life and limb. I already mentioned the revival of small parcel delivery service, so I won’t hit on that anymore.

01:01:51,200	Um, The investment that’s going to go into restoring the service also is going to stimulate further economic development, including new housing and businesses, especially near your stations, right? As those stations are redeveloped as they become once again as they were back when they were first established back in the late 1800s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, early 1900s when those stations were built, they were the hub.

01:02:17,370	social, economic, commercial activity in our communities. Pretty much every, almost every town up and down. This big sky North Coast corridor only exists. Because the railroad made it exist, right? They were built by the railroad. They were developed by the railroad. The railroad was their lifeblood and those stations historically were the epicenter. The nerve center of those communities.

01:02:41,670	By redeveloping them, by putting the service back in operation, we’re going to recreate that opportunity for our downtowns and and our local communities. And finally, I would mention that again, when it comes to working with the freight railroads, number one, BNSF is not against us. They’re with us.

01:03:01,170	They’re walking down hand in hand with us because they recognize one very important thing, as I mentioned with the track workup at Malta. Is that every dime, every dollar that we put into upgrading. This track So the passenger trains can roll on it once again. It also Improves the freight rail service. So every investment we make to the rail network.

01:03:26,130	Make it so the passenger trains can once again utilize that rail network. Improves the freight rail efficiency and effectiveness and improves their operations as well. So everything will run smoother. And our local communities will have greater economic opportunities, more tourism, stronger quality of life, more accessibility to healthcare, universities.

01:03:53,330	Whatever it is you need to do, families connecting for holidays, business people, so we all know there’s huge family ties, business ties between North Dakota and Montana. Those ties will be much better served and kept stronger with this service in place. And with that, I’m going to turn it over to the direct, the chair of our, uh, development and industry strategic engagement committee, uh, Mr.

01:04:14,630	Dan Books, and Dan is going to walk you through the BSPRA government Partners program and how, uh, the Bismarck Mandan MPO might, uh, be a participant in that. So Dan, I’m gonna turn it over to you now. Yes. Thank you, thank you very much. Can you hear me? I’m sorry, Dan. I did, I did miss one slide, sorry.

01:04:33,700	Um, sorry about the guys, real quick, train, when will the trains arrive? OK, we’ll get through this very fast. 2032 is our goal, uh, that BS BSR has, um. The date on that can potentially come down. It’s going to go lower if we work together effectively.

01:04:58,400	In other words, the more communities, the more cities, towns, counties, NPOs, CVBs, tourism regions that we have working together all pulling in the same direction, saying, and letting it be known loud and clear to the FRA, to Amtrak, and most importantly to our members of Congress, many of whom already support this. This is a bipartisan thing, right? It’s not a partisan issue. It’s absolutely a bipartisan.

01:05:21,270	I bipartisan issue. We have strong support from several of North Dakota’s Congress, members of Congress, as well as Montana’s, Minnesota’s, Idaho’s, everywhere in between, OK? If we work together effectively, we can get this done faster, right? The more, the better we work together, the morals we have pulling in the same direction, the quicker this

01:05:40,070	thing will get done. As far as what we need local governments to lead on renovating or building train stations, right? That’s gonna be a decision that this NPO needs to make, right, is where Where is the train station going to be here in the Bismarck Mandan area.

01:05:54,570	Is it going to be this one? Is it gonna be that one? Where is it going to be? How do we want to develop that? Very clear, just real quick to make things clear when it comes to renovating or building train stations.

01:06:13,270	Amtrak or the FRA federal government will have a role in the funding of that, uh, as we understand it, what Amtrak federal government will do is they, they have a minimum standard to which they will renovate or upgrade or build a train station to operate at, but anything above and beyond that that you might want to have would be the responsibility of the local, um, municipality.

01:06:32,630	Um, We need to work with you on that, uh, developing relevant services and development in your stations and destinations is something we refer to as first mile last mile connections, right? How do we get people from this train station to where to their doorstep, uh, and other services that travelers for the train will need, and that also goes hand in hand with creating connecting those transit

01:06:50,830	services within your cities and towns to the outlying communities, those little towns are up the two-lane highways. There are 2030, 40 miles outside of town.

01:07:07,830	Those folks want to ride the trains too? How can you get them there to the train station and get them on it, that will be another thing that we will need local governments to take the lead on, uh, working out those issues. OK, so that wraps up my portion of it and with that, Dan, sorry about that, I am going to turn it over to you now. OK. Thank you, uh, Jason, and thank you, uh, members of the uh policy board. I hope you can hear me.

01:07:27,700	Uh, please advise if if there’s a problem, I’m in a large conference room here at our local airport uh in Missoula, Montana right now. Um, this last slide that, and, and we’ll stay with where we, where we are right now, but the last slide is the introduction to this, which was we need local

01:07:47,900	governments to start taking the lead on figuring out what kind of train stations they would like to have, what kind of development makes sense around their stations in terms of new business.

01:08:12,500	This is uh new housing and Critically, what are, what are the connecting services like, uh, both within communities and to outlying communities and destinations, uh, uh, beyond the train stations. That’s what we need communities to take the lead on and to foster that those efforts and those, those efforts, the local efforts, I mean, the corridor ID program will lead to a plan for getting the trains to the stations, but what happens after the arrives and we want We want to

01:08:36,000	encourage communities to maximize the benefits of passenger rail to their citizenry and to their economies and to the lives of their the quality of life of their residents. And so this governmental partner initiated is designed precisely to to encourage communities to maximize the benefits of passenger rail.

01:09:02,900	Uh, we’ve had a governmental partners program in Montana, it was largely designed to uh to help gain city and town support for our advocacy efforts, our advocacy efforts have now been successful and so we’re moving on to this stage of encouraging local community planning and development along the entire route and so we’ve expanded the program to include cities, towns, metropolitan planning organizations and counties

01:09:29,470	outside Montana, and we’re here inviting you to be a part of this process. In return for Uh, a subscription to this program, an annual subscription to this program, we will support communities in planning uh new facilities and connecting services and and creating a forum for best ideas and best practices and helping to assist

01:09:56,770	and encourage how you can coordinate your, your metropolitan transportation plan with the service development plan for passenger. rail. A year ago, I was in uh um I was in a community in Wisconsin that has had passenger rail service for 125 years.

01:10:25,430	They’ve had a transit system for 4 or 5 decades, and yet the bus, their bus transit system does not stop at their train station and they were excited about our efforts to get more passenger rail in their community so that it could give them an excuse. To find the funding to change the path of the bus station so that it hooked up with the train station.

01:10:43,730	That’s just a simple example. We want things to connect and work together locally as best as possible for as much economic development for as many social and other benefits to your citizens overall, and that’s what the government program, the government partners program is about, uh, next slide, please, just very quickly.

01:11:09,930	We’re gonna do this by And uh uh back here, maybe I was uh uh back to the last one, Kim. I was probably not, we’re gonna do this through a regular webinars. Uh, for government partners we will cover federal grant opportunities and more importantly, community planning and project development uh tools and trying to tailor those tools to the local communities and more, more than

01:11:33,400	that, we will be trying to create a network, an overall passenger rail community of communities along this route trading ideas for how to make best use of this new tool called Pas. passenger rail for, for your citizenry.

01:12:01,700	Um, and we will, uh, uh, we basically, it’s through those webinars that we will be tying communities together and providing information and we ask you to subscribe to the service, uh, if we go, uh, uh, we, we’re, we’re asking communities to decide uh uh such as your, your metropolitan planning organization, we would ask you to make a decision by the end of October whether you wish to enroll in the program this year.

01:12:24,070	We’re gonna have another seminar in September before that enrollment date closes, but we would hope and invite uh the, the Bismarck Mandan Metropolitan planning organization to join, uh, we tailor, uh, the, uh, subscription service to the size of the community are uh our largest category right now is for communities population of 5 to 150,000 in population, buildings, Bosman, and Missoula,

01:12:50,470	Montana qualify in that area. That’s where Bismarck Man Dan would fall as well and uh if you’re located on the route, the subscription service is a request to the requested amount is $6000 again, and that’s the level that Billings, Bozeman in Missoula, Montana are at in terms of subscribing to this program.

01:13:17,330	Again, the purpose is, yes, a train may stop in your community, but how can we best make Sure that that train provides the greatest possible benefits to your citizenry in terms of a of a station that serves your community’s needs beyond just welcoming passengers, better connections to within the community and connections to outlying communities that need to have

01:13:42,330	access to this new transportation system as well, as well as how can you stimulate housing and business development around vital and revitalized train station. That’s our purpose here to make passenger rail work the best as possible for the communities that will be served.

01:14:06,530	I’d be, we’d all be, uh, Jason and I will be glad to answer any questions you have, uh, so, uh, about joining uh uh joining this uh program. Thank you very much for the time, by the way. I appreciate, we appreciate it greatly. Yeah, thank you, Dan. And yes, uh thank you to the, uh, members of the advisory board here. We sure appreciate your guys’ time.

01:14:28,300	Um, I do believe Dave’s mentioned, he, I believe he’s already off because he had his own MPO meeting to attend to. Uh, they’re from Missoula County, um, but as Dave, as Dan mentioned, he and I are happy to answer any questions.

01:14:42,300	Uh, just a couple of things I want to hit on again real quick in terms of what kind of if one of those questions might be what kind of support have we seen from North Dakota so far. Again, the city of Jamestown. And the city of Dickinson have both already voted, um.

01:15:04,500	Overwhelmingly to join our government partners program, both of those communities are joining at the $2000 a year level. Uh, so they have both already joined up for that. Um, I, before I came here, I was just across the river for a meeting with uh Erin Burst, with the executive director of the North Dakota Association of Counties, very, very enthusiastic about the product, uh, the project, uh, and it sounds like, uh, we’re going to

01:15:23,570	be getting, uh, at a minimum, a, a an official statement of support coming out of, uh, NDA NACO here within the next week at their next meeting, um, Governor Burgu, uh, of North Dakota has, uh, been very enthusiastic, uh, a couple of years ago, he cut about, we asked him for about a, a one

01:15:44,770	minute video. I think we got about 5 minutes out of him where he was just effusive with praise, uh, for the idea of restoring passenger rail service through Bismarck and, and Mandan and in this region of North.

01:16:06,770	Dakota and Montana, and, and in particular, very excited about the thought that as the uh Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library near completion in Medora that a visitor to that library might in the very near future, be able to reach. That new facility, the very same way that President Roosevelt did himself when he came to Madora as a young man.

01:16:26,430	So, uh, with that, um, again, any questions you might have, uh, Dan and I will do our best to answer them. And again, thank you so much for your time. Yeah, what are the proposed stops in North Dakota? Well, uh, I, I want to be very clear. Right now there are no proposed stops anywhere, OK? Uh, we are, that’ll be part of the service development plan.

01:16:45,430	That’s step 2 of the quarter ID. Now, if you look at what the studies Amtrak has done in the past, the most recent one was the uh the PRA study done back in 2009 and the proposition back then, I believe, was uh Fargo, Jamestown, um, Valley and then uh Bismarck, Bismarck slash Mandann one stop for the

01:17:12,430	two of them, uh, and then Dickinson would be next and then into Montana. At that time they did not, I don’t believe they had a stop in Medora. Uh, we believe Medora should have a stop. It has this national park.

01:17:30,400	It’s got the presidential library going up, uh, we certainly be a fan of Medora getting a station even if it’s just a seasonal station, um, and but those decisions. are going to be part of the quarter ID process.

01:17:47,700	And that’s part of the reason that it’s so important for us to start, uh, reaching out and working across state lines here is because again, BSPRA, we are a we are part of the Montana State government. It is not really our business to be telling the people in North Dakota where their station stop should be.

01:18:10,100	Uh, if I could just add, uh, it would be very hard to see a train coming through southern North Dakota and, and it, and, and having it not stop in the Bismarck Mandan area that would be uh counterintuitive. I, I think it’s, I think there’s a 0% chance of that, right? I, I think the big question for here is going to be which community is that stop going to be in, um, are we going to be able to, are you going to be able to Put one

01:18:29,000	of your existing stations back into service that might be easier with one over the other, as I understand it, uh, you know, I know the Bismarck station was recently, I believe, uh, purchased by a private owner and is being redeveloped for a restaurant retail facility, if I read that right, uh, whereas the station here in

01:18:46,400	Mandan is owned by the city and is being used, you know. Occasionally for events and stuff. So, um, you have a great layout here, down here, by the way, it’s very beautiful, uh, what the city of Mandan has done around that station.

01:19:03,400	If the NPO had any part to do with that park and everything that are up there, kudos because it really is beautiful over there. Um, and it would obviously make a, a wonderful, beautiful stop for passenger rail. But again, that is, that will be your decision here locally, or maybe, you know, maybe the decision of, of this body and and Bismarck man and working together.

01:19:20,770	That, well, we want to build a new station, um, and, and again, that would be your, you in the driver’s seat are making that choice. Mr. Schwab, Uh You know, you’re talking about these stations. Uh And I think this would concern Bismarck more. You’re not gonna stop a train.

01:19:55,170	In downtown Bismarck and cut crossings and that’s part of what we heard about the Bismarck depot and why it might not be so feasible to put that station back as one of I’ve heard that before about that station that is just giving us location downtown, it just may not be feasible to have a, a passenger stop there has gotten to the point where you can’t

01:20:12,170	stop fire trucks. That’s number one. And back when they had train service, you could block crossings for 20 minutes. No, and again, well, obviously if you do that, it’s probably gonna come down on, on you guys, right? Um, so again, but, but those decisions are yours to be made.

01:20:34,230	I mean, whether or not that station is just forget it, it’s not gonna work, then it’s a question of, OK, do we redevelop our existing historic depot here, or do we want to look and, and, Ask Amtrak to, you know, we find some city county property in between the two and one of the communities that’s on the tracks would be,

01:20:52,630	uh, easily accessible and a and a good spot, good location for a brand new modern depot again, but those those decisions about where the station is and uh what it’s gonna look like, those are entirely your local decisions to make. And, and If I could just add one thing. Oh, hold on, Dan, uh.

01:21:18,900	Uh, And that’s where the Metropolitan planning organization comes into play as well as to the as to how you shape the local transit connections to serve that station.

01:21:42,700	Many people will be driving there, but other people will not be and would like to have a transit connection and uh so that uh your involvement will be critical to wherever the station gets cited, those local transit connections will be an important Topic No What is the average length of the trains. Of the actual train set themselves. Uh, Dan, do you recall that the Empire Builder I think runs with what, about 16 cards or so, I think.

01:22:04,500	I, I, well, I think it’s, I think it’s fewer I, I was on the impression it’s more like 10 to 12. I think, yeah, 10 to 12 might be right. But the con the, especially with the newer technologies, uh, the, uh, the configuration of the train sets.

01:22:27,770	Uh, will, it can change and can be different and also uh if we uh are successful with the small parcel delivery service. Uh, that can change the train sets as well, but 10 to 12 is not a bad guess.

01:22:53,370	Uh, but again, depending on what the trains are are asked to do in terms of the kinds of service for people, uh, the writers, the potential writership, uh, and the the the existence of auxiliary services such as small parcel delivery services could change that configuration somewhat. We’re looking to create a model for the 21st century, and not to have it look like the old train service. But something that meets today’s and tomorrow’s needs effectively. I have another question for you.

01:23:20,330	How many units on the engine? How many what now units? How many units on the engine? That will be part of the service development plan. Uh, it’s a question I don’t believe either Dan or I could answer right now, um you know what I’m talking about. When you say unus on the end you’re talking about locomotives, uh, locomotives because that adds length.

01:23:40,930	Yeah, generally current Amtrak trains, I think they have. Stan, yeah, one out front, uh, then they’ll, they’ll break them like the Empire Builder breaks up in Spokane and part of the train goes to Portland and part of it goes to Seattle, so they add an engine onto part half of the train and take the rest of it on, uh, but current standards,

01:23:58,630	as, as Da mentioned, is one for one engine for um. An Amtrak train. The Moy. If I could add here, the modern passenger rail trains that are being developed globally. No longer have locomotives at the front. They have a propulsion unit in the middle. That propulsion unit can be a traditional diesel locomotive.

01:24:25,900	It can be battery electric, it can be a hydrogen fuel cell or some type of hybrid. But the, but the propulsion unit sits in the middle of the train.

01:24:47,100	And then the cars that uh that perform passenger or small freight services extend out from that and then at either end of the train is a control booth where the engineer sits and drives the train. And there’s no longer any reversing or whatever. There’s no front or back because when you, when the train needs to, to, to go a different direction. The the the engineers simply goes from one end of the train to the other end to the other control booth.

01:25:06,900	That’s much like it’s done in subway systems around the world, and that is now moving to the heavy rail systems. So the future train sets may not look at all like the current train sets.

01:25:27,570	Again, propulsion system in the middle and control boosts at either end that enable the train to move flexibly backwards and forwards, a reverse directions without any Moving of locomotives from one end of the train to the other that improves efficiency, uh, and the operation of the trains overall greatly. So we’re, we’re looking at 21st century train sets, not old train sets. Thank you, Dan. And, and just to just to follow up on Dan’s point there.

01:25:50,070	The train sets that are going to operate this passenger route. Have not been built yet. OK, we’re, we’re not gonna, we’re not talking about taking existing sets off the Empire Builder and putting them here. It’s gonna be new rolling stock, new locomotives. New passenger cars.

01:26:11,170	New freight cars if we need them for things like spars small parcel delivery. These are going to be new train sets. I’m going to correct you on your terminology here. You don’t drive a train, you run it or operate it because if you could drive a train you could go down to McDonald’s on the highway. They run a train, an engineer does run a train. Yes, sir.

01:26:30,630	Thank you. OK We appreciate that. Right. So the question I have for you is really what is your ask right now? To get down to brass tacks down to brass tacks, um, well, as we pointed out here, we would ask the NPO to at least give some consideration to joining our government partners program.

01:26:53,230	So one request for the entire MPL given we have two cities but just the one, just the one, yes, and that was kind of the way that it was presented to us by Mr.

01:27:10,030	Johnson and, and Kim there, uh, that it might be beneficial instead of trying to get both Bismarck and Mandan separately that perhaps MPO would be since the body covers both communities, uh, and it’s going to be making plans for both communities in terms of this service that it would be.

01:27:30,000	Probably wise and beneficial to make a a single ask of the NPO rather than I don’t see us duplicating services 7 miles apart for 1, it’d be very foolish for both of our communities to think Amtrak would, would buy that either, quite honestly and. You know, where the, you know, where it’s. Ultimately built if there is one or rehabbed, I do agree with Comm. Schwab.

01:27:51,800	Downtown Bismarck’s not gonna happen, um, that would be probably a hard no out of the city commission because of traffic and that current station is privately owned. And is about to be filled, so. The only place actually in it it would have to be way on the east side would would be uh. Using the overpasses, and I think they pulled out the passing tracks. Kind of screwed on the deal.

01:28:14,900	We’re we’re a long ways from that. I just want to know what the request is for us now and then that that would be a that would be our request as you consider joining the government partners program, which again for a community of this size, uh, it’s, there’s a tiered, if

01:28:28,200	you go back and look at that I see the numbers, you would be the, the annual ask for this MPO, um, to provide, um, that is, if that is a route you decide you don’t wish to go right now, we would also So welcome any official letters or statements of support for the project that you’d be willing

01:28:47,800	to offer. Again, the more, the more communities and the more local municipal government organizations, we can get all pulling in the same direction with this That have to deal with this and I don’t know how we’ll do that if and how you want to bring that forward.

01:29:18,170	Uh, we’ve had some initial discussions with that at the NPO staff level, um, Kim, I’m not sure if, if you want to take this, otherwise I’m happy to, to step in.

01:29:37,070	Um, so the way that staff sees that rolling out is that we would prefer to have an official vote at the um commissions and councils of the NPO so that we know we have your backing. That would be my expectation. Uh, the NPO is happy to be a coordinating partner in this, and to provide for funding as uh FHWA allows. OK. And just the last thing, just so everybody’s clear, you know, with our government partners program, you’re not just giving us money so we can go out and promote this project.

01:29:57,870	This is actually a working relationship that you’re creating with BSPRA where we can leverage, uh, our ability to leverage federal dollars and, and transportation funding, FRA funding, USDOT funding, other sources to help you get the projects done here on the ground in your community that you need to get done to facilitate these to facilitate

01:30:18,630	these services as well as just a better. facilitate transportation, um, services around town, right? Any other questions? OK, thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you for having us today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. OK, item 10, 2024, 2027 TIP administration modification, Steven. Yeah Thank you, Mary. Mayor, I’ll be very, very quick.

01:30:46,030	This month we processed 6 administrative modifications to the current 24. Tip, uh, these modifications are used for minor changes that do not require approval by the boards or uh public comment, uh, modifications are moving 6 projects to fiscal year 2024 for DOT’s request.

01:31:12,030	In response, partly to the uh August redistribution that they conduct every year and also partly to uh a need for backup projects to be in place in case some of their larger projects do not go through. The projects being moved are various Bismarck projects for traffic signal work and concrete pavement repair. This is exhibit G. I also gave you a handout for a 6th project being moved on I-94.

01:31:33,300	Um, again, all those projects are just moving fiscal years. They are not necessarily moving construction years and there are no changes to funding or anything like that. Any questions? Doesn’t look like it. Thank you. Is there any other business? See none, we stand adjourned. Thank