Mass Transit

SEP-OCT 2014

Mass Transit magazine features agency profiles, industry trends, management tips and new product information.

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62 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 Engle said it's important to develop the alternative fuels market in order to reduce costs and emissions, so lobby- ing for changes in policy or tax changes means educating lawmakers. Propane or natural gas or solar or wind energy are all pathways to these goals, but none of them are the only pathway. However, al- ternative fuels bring on some polarizing topics, especially with most conservative lawmakers, so Engle said he always tries to avoid polarizing words like "climate" given climate change is a topic where you either believe it's happening or cur - rent issues are only a small window of events from thousands of years of re- corded history, so using the term can derail legislation easily. "Most people have made up their minds, so all you can do is fght," he said. "But one thing we all can agree on is cleaner air and cleaner water and we know that's really valued by everybody." Problems can also arise within al- ternative fuels supporters, who dislike natural gas or propane because they're still a fossil fuel and consider the op- tions a bad answer moving forward. "Solar, yeah, that's great, but that's not where, the technology isn't there yet today," Engle said. "We need to work with bridge fuels to get to the technol- ogy of tomorrow, so we need to fll in the blank until we get down the road. We do have fuels here right here and now that are cleaner and less expensive and help us to get to where we need to go." Getting together a broad coalition to lobby lawmakers on the internal part of the process while simultaneously advo- cating externally means keeping a lot of diferent groups on the same message and deterring internal fghting between those who are supposed to work together. Janis said her organization tries to fend of in- fghting by making sure money is never put in the center of the table. "I've seen that where during the ne- gotiation with a coalition or negotiations around a project where all of a sudden the project proponent or developer of the in- frastructure throws money on the table," she said. "It's like red meat. It can really cause a whole disruption in the coalition." Tactics depend on government levels Federal and state lobbying also difer greatly in approaching a problem, given federal lawmakers enact mostly tax poli- cy when state lawmakers do more policy decisions on implementation. Te state level is also an easier arena to get things done, Engle said because it has less mov- ing parts than the federal level and less political polarization in most cases. "When it comes to getting returns, it's more popular and easier to sell something like tax incentives or low interest rates. But anytime you're taking revenue money away from anyone it's a tough fght," En- gle said. "Tax credits are really difcult 192 right decisions. When youÕre responsible for the safety and security of an urban public transport system involving hundreds of trains, the amount of incidents to detect, evaluate and act on every day is staggering. ThatÕs why weÕve made sure our network video solutions can handle it all. So you can make the right decision. For every incident. Visit the Axis booth at APTA Expo: October 13-15 in Houston, TX or get the details at www.axis.com/trains One day . 192 incidents . For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/10066180 "But one thing we all can agree on is cleaner air and cleaner water and we know that's really valued by everybody." POLITICAL RESULTS

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