OLI, FRA Award Rail Safety Awareness Grants
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), has reported the award of $200,317 in competitive rail safety awareness grants to OLI programs in 12 states.
The grants will fund a variety of crossing safety and trespass prevention public education projects—many of which will be conducted in conjunction with OLI’s observance of Rail Safety Week, Sept. 20-26, 2021—in Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee, according to the nonprofit group.
Additionally, $45,000 from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh through a previously announced grant will go toward projects in Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, with the balance supporting New Jersey’s project, OLI said. This totals 16 state grants, with $245,317 in combined funds.
The approved grants were awarded through a competitive process, with selection based on criteria such as the defined safety need, the number of highway-rail collisions in the state, and how the proposal leverages federal funds with private partnerships, according to OLI.
“OLI is grateful for our ongoing safety partnership with FRA, which facilitates these targeted, grant-funded safety efforts by state Operation Lifesaver programs to stop track tragedies in our communities,” OLI Executive Director Rachel Maleh said. “We also appreciate grant funding from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, whose support enables additional states to launch their projects.”
OLI lists all grant awardees and their projects on its website.
