UIC News Release

August 28, 2009

Media Contact: Anne Brooks Ranallo, (312) 355-2523, aranallo@uic.edu

CN Grant Funds UIC Study of Rail Freight Policy

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a $300,000 grant from CN, one of North America's largest railroads, for research on freight transportation policy.

The grant, to UIC's Urban Transportation Center, will support research on freight rail issues such as infrastructure needs, public safety at grade crossings, the effect of regulation on the industry, railroad performance measures, and the impact of urban development on freight rail systems.

The grant will enable the center to study "the relationship of freight and urban congestion and explore the costs of congestion and solutions to it across highway and railroad systems," said Joseph DiJohn, director of the Metropolitan Transportation Support Initiative at the center, which is part of the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

"As North America's freight hub, Chicago is the ideal place to research these issues," DiJohn said. "Rail is the nation's most fuel-efficient way of moving freight and is a vital component of the North American transportation network. The efficient movement of products from manufacturer to consumer plays a vital role in the country's economy."

The center will produce working papers, presentations to transportation conferences, workshops and lectures on freight-related issues. The grant also funds a fellowship in the center.

"CN is very proud to contribute to this program, as it allows for new research exploring the needs and challenges facing the freight rail system," said Jim Vena, CN's senior vice president for the southern region. "UIC can build on its previous research that has addressed public policy issues here in Chicago and across the nation, such as the affects of freight congestion on Chicago commuters, the impact of railroad quiet zones on public safety and forecasting freight demand."

The grant is through the CN Stronger Communities Fund, which supports health and safety programs for young people, transportation education, the CN Railroaders in the Community employee volunteer grant program, and the United Way. CN -- Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries -- spans Canada and mid-America, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.

For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu