United Rail Passenger Alliance

[originally posted to the All-Aboard email list]

URPA stands for United Rail Passenger Alliance. This small, but effective organization is made up of a coalition of academics, professional transportation consultants, and other contributors in various rail-related specialty areas with high levels of education and credentials. Also included are those in the travel agency industry and related fields, as well as private rail car owners. All of the consultants are actively participating in the field of transportation with client lists that include many facets of transportation including railroads, airlines, and the hospitality industry.

Also, political consultants are part of this group, and they have diverse political backgrounds including work on presidential campaigns and other high-level efforts.

In short, this small cadre of interested parties makes up an organization that is dedicated to the expansion of passenger rail in North America (and other parts of the world) through rational plans that include proven business and marketing techniques. Part of the group also specializes in “thinking outside of the box” to bring new concepts and ideas into focus for discussion and dissection. Also, one member of the group is one of the best known computer-modelers in our country. He has the ability to put any type of passenger rail operational model into a computer and produce a myriad of answers and suggestions. His work has been used time and again to prove to the Amtrak board that a particular concept or business plan will be a success or failure.

The expansion of passenger rail includes the growth of Amtrak, along with other worthwhile endeavors. No one idea or organization has a complete answer, including Amtrak and its supporters.

Note the difference between URPA and NARP. NARP is a dues-paying membership organization, which provides advocacy on behalf of Amtrak. NARP seeks to increase membership to be effective. Simply, it is a different type of organization than URPA, with different goals. NARP works to bolster Amtrak and assist its membership; URPA works to bolster all passenger rail and does not have a membership, other than the group of consultants and other professionals.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, URPA is led by Austin Coates, a well-respected lobbyist known on Capitol Hill for his feistiness and ability to be forth-right. He is also well-known inside of Amtrak, as are other URPA contributors. Most who work with URPA choose to remain out of the limelight. Their strength is through their work, not their public persona…

URPA depends on individual contributions for its funding; it has no permanent funding source in place. Often, URPA activities are paid for by the various consultants and professionals making proposals and laying out solutions.

Please understand that URPA has been in existence since the early 1980s, and is well-known among government circles on the state and federal level. The work of the organization is often low-key and not well-known among the advocacy community because the work is done differently than through public lobbying in the news media and other areas such as is done by [other organizations].

Many of URPA’s past successes have been as the result of determined, quiet conversations with Amtrak board members, senior officials, and key contacts on Capitol Hill. Some of URPA’s successes have been claimed by others, and many have happened silently because that was necessary to make a deal happen. In any event, passenger rail in North America is better today than a decade ago because of URPA and its contributors…

[We believe in] clear, concise communication [so] progress can be made on behalf of all of those Americans and Canadians who wish to have the choice of passenger rail transportation available wherever it is economically and rationally feasible.

Bruce Richardson