All Aboard Ohio's advocacy work in 2024 was nothing short of transformative, and we're excited to continue in 2025 and beyond. For most of our history, we've been advocating for an intangible "better passenger rail in Ohio." With the announcement of the Corridor ID program and the selection of four routes in Ohio, All Aboard Ohio finally has a concrete opportunity to improve rail transit in Ohio and beyond.

Ohio's 136th General Assembly begins on January 6th, 2025 - so does our advocacy! The first six months of the session are consumed with three budgets - primarily Transportation and Operating. We have been working with our coalition partners to refine our requests for these budgets, and the ideal timing to include them.

Our goal is to see:

• Transportation Budget (Completed by March 31)

• Rejoin MIPRC - Ohio needs to have a seat at the table when it comes to passenger rail planning, and joining MIPRC offers us this chance.

• Create an Office of Passenger Rail - Our federal partners are looking for robust administrative support as the Corridor ID program progresses and becomes competitive. Establishing an Office of Passenger Rail under the ODOT/ORDC umbrella shows that Ohio is serious about passenger rail expansion. In the short term, this office would manage Corridor ID but eventually would manage passenger rail operations for all Ohio-sponsored routes.

• Fund Step 2 of Corridor ID - Step 2 of the Corridor ID process requires a 10% local match. Our coalition is asking to fund this local match for the 3C&D, Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit, and Midwest Connect routes.

• Operating Budget (Completed by July 1)

• Fully Fund ORDC - The Ohio Rail Development Commission manages rail project funding in Ohio, including: road crossing safety improvements, rail-based business development, shortline railroad projects, and recently passenger rail development through Corridor ID. They are only limited by their funding, and their projects make rail transportation safer and more fluid.

• Fund any of the initiatives in the Transportation Budget not funded in that bill.

Our largest effort to advocate for these items will be on February 19, when All Aboard Ohio hosts our Passenger Rail Advocacy Day and Reception at the Ohio Statehouse. Members of our Board and coalition partners will meet with elected officials during the day, and a public reception will be held at 5pm in the Statehouse Museum Gallery. Our team is hard at work to make this a day that our legislature remembers, and plan to illustrate a diverse - bipartisan - coalition of advocates for passenger rail expansion in Ohio.

The Corridor ID program is funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) as it is also known. Most funding in this bill must be allocated by the end of 2026. For Ohio, this means that the federal dollars for Step 2 of the Corridor ID program are there, but Step 3 and capital improvements will require another funding source or a renewal of the IIJA/BIL. While our primary focus is Ohio, All Aboard Ohio will continue to highlight opportunities for our members to advocate to their federal elected officials to support the continuation and expansion of passenger rail service.

Finally, the All Aboard Ohio team continues to develop programming for our members that is meaningful and fresh. January's Statewide Zoom Meeting will feature Amtrak's Manager of Government Affairs, Ismael Cuevas, to discuss the Chicago Hub Improvement Plan (CHIP). Chicago has notoriously been a bottleneck in all rail transportation, and CHIP aims to offer real solutions to congestion. We are already hard at work planning our 2025 Annual Meeting in Columbus, and looking forward to joining the Toledo Train Day festivities in May. Grassroots chapter growth in places like Toledo, Lima, Crestline, and Hamilton will engage new members. Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus local chapters will continue to highlight speakers and trips that are meaningful to our members, and Youngstown, Dayton, and Toledo are poised to make 2025 their best year yet!

Thank you for being a part of the All Aboard Ohio family - our Board, Staff, and volunteers are honored to serve such a wonderful member base. Our future is bright, but we won't stop until we achieve a more connected Midwest!