(Source: Operation Lifesaver press release, July 24, 2018)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), announced that $205,525 in grants have been awarded to 16 state Operation Lifesaver programs. The grants will fund a variety of rail crossing safety and trespass prevention public education projects in conjunction with the nonprofit safety group’s upcoming Rail Safety Week (RSW), which will be observed in the U.S. and Canada from September 23-29, 2019.
Funded by FRA, the grants will be awarded to Operation Lifesaver organizations in Alabama, California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and South Dakota; individual grant awards will range from $1,800 to $20,000.
“We must continue to target grade-crossing and trespasser deaths with an unrelenting commitment toward zero tolerance,” says FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory. “Educating the motoring and pedestrian public about how to be safe near railroad tracks is a never-ending task that will help reduce risk while enhancing safety.”
OLI Interim President Wende Corcoran said, “These grants, which fund innovative community outreach and education projects, are an important part of Operation Lifesaver’s ongoing rail safety efforts in 16 states across the U.S., in support of our mission to eliminate collisions, injuries and deaths at crossings and along rail property. We are grateful to our safety partners at the Federal Railroad Administration for their assistance, which will help raise public awareness of the need for safe behavior around tracks and trains.”
Corcoran noted that the approved grants were awarded through a competitive process, with selection based on criteria such as successfully leveraging the federal funds with private partnerships, targeted messaging and the frequency of pedestrian-rail incidents and highway-rail collisions.
Please see link above for full list of grant projects.