MARP Members:
I would like to welcome MARP members to the kick-off of 2008 activities by attending the first member meeting of the New Year. The meeting will be in Lansing at 10am, Saturday, January 12, at the Lansing Public Library, corner of Capital and Kalamazoo Streets downtown. Parking on the street is free on Saturday.

This year is already shaping up to be a good one for public transportation. The President just signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, which provides an all-time record high amount of funding for transit. Amtrak’s funding is secure for another year while efforts continue in Congress to get a multi-year Amtrak funding package approved. Congress has also released a national passenger rail expansion plan recently that indicates, at long last, that our elected leaders understand the need for efficient and effective passenger rail service as a national priority. Here in Michigan, our leaders are supporting MARP in our vision to expand service beginning with a second Pere Marquette train.

This is a great time to get more involved with passenger rail’s resurgence. I especially invite our younger members to attend and participate in the future that will be yours to inherit.

Our member meetings are always casual dress. We typically follow the meetings with an informal trip to a local restaurant for lunch for those interested (Dutch treat). When in Lansing, we usually eat at Clara’s in the old passenger coach.

The agenda is posted on the MARP website, click here. We have some new additions and continuous updates to the website, so visit often.

Michael Whims
Executive Director
Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers
marprail@yahoo.com