Albert Martin , Deputy Commissioner of Transportation, State of Connecticut

Prior to accepting Governor M. Jodi Rell’s invitation to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Transportation in Connecticut, Mr. Martin served as Director of Transportation for the City of Detroit in an area covering 4 million people.  He also managed a six-county regional public transportation authority

Mr. Martin received a Bachelors degree from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan and a Masters from Michigan State University.

Norman Garrick, Director, Center for Transportation and Urban Planning, University of Connecticut; Associate Professor of Civil and Engineering

Mr. Garrick’s fields of specialization include sustainable transportation and urban planning, urban transportation systems, streets and highway design and bicyclists and pedestrian facility design.

Mr. Garrick currently serves on the board of the Center for New Urbanism, a 501-c-3 non-profit, its Emeritus Board includes new urbanist luminaries such as Peter Calthorpe, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zybeck.

Mr. Garrick has served as a visiting researcher at the University of California, Davis and Cambridge University, England and as a Fulbright Scholar at University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica.

Mr. Garrick received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (B.S.C.E.) at University of the West Indies in Trinidad.  He subsequently earned M.S.C.E. and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

George Haikalis, President of Institute for Rational Urban Mobility, Inc., a consortium of advocacy groups - Regional* Rail Working Group, Vision 42 and Auto-Free New York

A civil engineer and transportation planner by trade, Mr. Haikalis’ past experience includes a 19-year stint at Tri-State* Regional Planning Commission, where he served as as Director of Research and at NYC Transit as Director of Revenue Budget and Fare Structure Analysis.

Mr. Haikalis received his B.S.C.E. and M.S.C.E. from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

* (NY-NJ-CT)

Albert Papp, Jr., National Association of Rail Passengers, Vice-Chair of Legislative Policy and Strategy

Mr. Papp serves as Director, New Jersey Association of Rail Passengers (1994-present) and is the former chair of the Lackawanna Coalition (NJ) a rail advocacy group.

His past employment includes serving as an Economist for Public Service & Electric & Gas Co. in Newark NJ and a Bond Research Analyst & Ratings Officer Moody’s Investor Service,

He served as a officer in the US. Air Force 1966-1970 and was on Active Duty in Iraq during Desert Shield/Desert Storm 1990-1991

Mr. Papp earned B.S. Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark NJ and an M.B.A from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY.

Joe Clift, Regional Rail Working Group

Currently at transportation advocate especially the ARC - Penn Station.

Mr. Clift is a past Director of Planning and Director of Strategic Planning for Long Island Railroad and worked in Operations, Capital & Strategic Planning at Conrail.

Mr. Clift earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA at Stanford University

David Kooris, Director, Connecticut Office, Regional Plan Association

Born in Bridgeport, David Kooris is currently managing the urban design aspect of the Downtown Bridgeport Master Plan. At RPA, he has also worked on neighborhood center plans for Glenbrook and Springdale in the City of Stamford.

Mr. Kooris holds a bachelors of arts degree in geography from McGill University, a Master of Arts in City and Regional Planning at University of Pennsylvania and a Master Certificate in Urban Design from PennDesign.

Eugene Colonese, Rail Administrator, Connecticut Department of Transportation

Prior to accepting his current position of Rail Adminstrator in January 2006, Mr. Colonese worked for MTA Metro-North as Deputy Director of Operations Planning Department.  In that role he was responsible for developing schedules for the five Metro-North commuter lines and oversaw trains, equipment and crew planning.  He started his career as a conductor.  Mr. Colonese received a bachelor of arts degree from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Michael Piscitelli, AICP, Director, Transportation, Traffic & Parking Department, City of New Haven

Mr. Piscitelli has headed Transportation, Traffic & Parking Department since its inception in 2007.  That department enhances New Haven’s transportation assets into a sustainable, transit-oriented and integrated system, which supports New Haven’s quality of life and economic standing. Previously Mr. Pisicitelli was employed in the planning departments in the City of New Haven, the City of Springfield, MA and MTA Metro-North Railroad. 

Mr. Piscitelli earned a bachelor’s degree at St. Bonaventure University and a master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts.

1. 1.National Train Day Connecticut May 9, 2009 Seated in row 2: Ron DeGray; row 3: Mark Scott, New Haven Alderwoman Erin Pascale Sturgis, Don Stacom (Hartford Courant); Row 4: Mark Abraham, David Kooris, Jessica Kooris

The 3rd Annual National Train Day will kick off with a live musical performance by Berklee School of Music graduate Michael Greenberg, a singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Train Day will celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the opening of New Haven Union Station, the 4-story beaux-arts building designed by architect Cass Gilbert.  Mr. Gilbert not only designed Union Station, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, but also designed two buildings with U.S. National Historic Landmark status: the Woolworth Building, which at 57-stories was the world’s tallest building from 1913 to 1930 and the 4-story U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington D.C.

The speaker portion of the program will begin at 1 p.m. and continue until 4 p.m.  Confirmed speakers are:

Roland Lemar.  Roland Lemar serves on the City of New Haven’s the Board of Alderman representing the 9th Ward.  As an Alderman, Mr. Lemar co-authored New Haven’s “Complete Streets ordinance, “anti-blight” legislation and a number of innovative environmental initiatives.  Mr. Lemar earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  Mr. Lemar will give the welcome address and will speak on the topic of complete streets.

Ned Lamont. Mr. Lamont is Chairman and President of Lamont Digital Systems, which he founded in 1984. Mr. Lamont is an heir to the fortune of his great-grandfather Thomas Lamont, a former chairman of J.P. Morgan & Co. His father Ted, was an economist involved in the post WW2 construction of Europe via the Marshall Plan. After attending Philips Exeter Academy, Mr. Lamont earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard and master's degree from Yale School of Management. After a brief stint writing for the Black River Tribune in Ludlow, Vermont, he managed Cablevision's Fairfield County operation.

Mr. Lamont is best known for his successful 2006 Democratic primary challenge to Senator Joe Lieberman. During the campaign he brought to light his role as a volunteer high school teacher at Harding High School in Bridgeport. Afterward, Mr. Lamont served as a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics. In 2008, Mr. Lamont served as a Connecticut delegate to nominate Barack Obama. Currently, Mr. Lamont is a professor (focusing on public policy and entrepreneurship) at Central Connecticut State University.  He is currently seeking the Democratic nomination for Governor.

Oz Griebel.  Mr. Griebel has been President and CEO of MetroHartford Alliance since 2001.  He served as Chair of the Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board.  Mr. Griebel worked at Bank Boston for 22 years, serving as its Connecticut CEO from 1993 to 1999.  The Hartford Courant and Hartford Business Journal named Mr. Griebel as “Businessperson of the Year in 1993 and 2001, respectively.  Mr. Griebel earned a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College and JD from Suffolk University.  Mr. Griebel is seeking the Republican nomination for Governor.

Bruce Clouette. Mr. Clouette will focus on the influence of Cass Gilbert, the New Haven Union Station architect, on American architecture. Mr. Clouette, who holds a PhD in history at the University of Connecticut, is a Senior Historian at Archaelogical Service, Inc. A historic preservation consultant since 1975, Mr. Clouette has written hundreds of National Register of Historic Places nominations, including some railroad stations, for historic resources in Connecticut.  Mr. Clouette will speak about the history of Union Station.

Herbert S. Newman, FAIA. Mr. Newman, who holds a B.A. (Brown University) and M. Arch. (Yale University), is an architect and founding principal of Newman Architects, LLC. Mr. Newman's designs include renovations to New Haven Union Station and New Haven City Hall and has been a principal in planning and designing for the revitalization of the Broadway and 9th Square Districts. Mr. Newman has taught architectural design at Yale School of Architecture since 1965.

Mr. Newman received the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture from the AIA for lifetime achievement in 1995 and the Master Builder Award from Habitat for Humanity in 1993. He has received national AIA Honor Awards for design excellence for Ninth Square, Battell Chapel, and the Center for American Arts at the Yale University Art Gallery; national AIA/ALA awards for Yale Law School Library and Colgate University Library. Mr. Newman’s firm is the subject of a monograph entitled Herbert S. Newman and Partners: Selected and Current Works, which is part of the Images Publishing Master Architect Series.   Mr. Newman will speak about Union Station renovations.

Joe Taylor. Mr. Taylor is a New Haven native who works at Yale. Mr. Taylor has collected postcards depicting New Haven's history for over 20 years. His collection of historical images of New Haven date back to the mid-1860s. He has given numerous history presentations to the Greater New Haven Labor History Association and New Haven Museum and Historical Society.  Mr. Taylor is a past president of the Connecticut Postcard Club.

Douglas Rae. Mr. Rae is the Richard S. Ely Professor of Management & Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He holds a MS & PhD from University of Wisconsin and BA from Indiana University. Mr. Rae's most recent book is City: Urbanism and Its End was published by Yale University Press in 2003. Mr. Rae is a past Guggenheim Fellow and consults for three European Union countries.

Mr. Rae will discuss TOD's potential to boost rail ridership and create vibrant bicycle and pedestrian-friendly districts with tax-generating, mixed-use residential and commercial buildings.

Philip Langdon. Mr. Langdon is the senior editor at New Urban News and writes commentaries for the Place page on the Sunday Hartford Courant.  Along with Robert Steuteville, Mr. Langdon recently assembled the 4th Edition of a 448-page book entitled "New Urbanism Best Practices Guide" and prior to that Mr. Langdon wrote "A Better Place to Live," which was published in 1994.

Mr. Langdon holds a M.A. in History from Utah State University, a B.A. from Alleghany College and studied as a National Endowment for Humanities Professional Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan and Knight Fellow in Community Building at University of Miami.  Mr. Langdon will speak about livable communities and Transit Oriented Development.

Michael D. Nicastro.  Michael Nicastro is currently President and CEO of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce in Bristol, CT.  Mr. Nicastro previously served as Senior Vice-President & Chief Marketing Officer of Open Solutions.  Mr. Nicastro earned a JD in Law from Western New England College School of Law and a bachelor of science in marketing from Central Connecticut State University.  He has been a leading advocate for Hartford-Waterbury commuter rail service and opponent of the New Britain Busway.

Richard Stowe.  Mr. Stowe, founder of Rail*Trains*Ecology*Cycling and a leader in the bikes-on-trains campaign, has been a key organizer in New Haven Union Station’s three Train Day celebrations.  He serves on the Connecticut Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board and served as chair of the City of Santa Barbara Transportation Committee.  His most recent transportation-related commentaries have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Hartford Courant and New Britain Herald.  He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Marlboro College.  Mr. Stowe will speak about bicycle-rail integration and “bikesheds” surrounding train stations in relation to walksheds.

Linda Degutis, DrPH, MSN. Ms. Degutis serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. She is the Director of Research, an Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing and serves in a joint faculty appointment with the Yale School of Public Health. Ms. Degutis served as Past President of the American Public Health Association. She also serves on the Executive Board of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Ms. Degutis will discuss the health benefits of travel by rail and bicycle.