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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK that time to get to Chicago, decreasing the at-grade crossings and increasing the level of safety. It met a lot of the requirements they were looking for in their perks and needs statement.At the same time, we were getting a lot of feedback from the Council and stakeholders. We were recognizing that this was such a major decision with such significant impacts to the City. These were long term impacts. We thought it was important to ask NICTD to pause the study they were during and expand that to take a more holistic approach to this to look at other things. That included, number one (1), other potential sites. We looked at the feasibility of four (4) additional station locations and those were the Chocolate Cafe site,Honeywell,Amtrak and Downtown. We took a much more comprehensive look at each one (1) of those sites. Not only did we look at the cost but we also, and very importantly, looked at the benefits that each of those provided. In addition to looking at travel time, which was really important to us, we looked at ridership, safety, and we added some other things like economic development opportunities and socioeconomic impacts. This gives us a more comprehensive look at what each one (1) of these proposed areas will do for the City long term. Mr. Horvath went on, As we were looking to do this, AECOM came to mind as a partner because they are a recognized world leader in rail, both in planning and construction. They have done a lot of work for the South Shore line. There are three (3) members of the AECOM Report Team here tonight to speak to the findings. We are very fortunate to have them here. The first one (1) is Earl Wacker. Earl is the lead in AECOM's Railroad Practice for the Americas. He has over forty-five (45) years of experience in the railroad industry. Along with him is Gary Foyle. Gary has over forty-three (43) years of experience in railroads as a Project Manager for AECOM and a Planning Director at Chicago Metro as well. Finally is Chris Brewer. Chris is one (1) of the leaders in AECOM's Economics Division. So I think this study was really unique as it required specialized expertise. We are very pleased with the results we got. They brought a level of experience, expertise and diligence to the study and I would like them to give the report of the study. Committeemember Oliver Davis interrupted, For the report they are about to give, do we have a copy you can send to us or email us so we can look at that as they go? Mr.Horvath replied,Yes,absolutely.I can email you a full copy as well as all the technical memos. In addition, again,that will be on our website following this meeting. Committeemember Davis interjected, Can we get it now? Mr. Horvath replied, We will email that to you. Committeemember Davis stated,I would appreciate that because that way we can follow back and forth without asking all the questions. That is what I was hoping that we would have gotten before but that is ok. Earl Wacker, Vice President of US Railroads for AECOM with offices located at 100 South Wacker Drive, Chicago,IL, stated, One(1)thing I would like to point out is that all three (3) of us are local to the Midwest. We are all out of the Chicago office. We are very familiar working with Metro, South Shore and all the communities in and around Chicago. This is kind of a close to home project to all of us.About four(4)years ago, South Shore started taking a very aggressive approach to reducing travel times to Chicago. Not just for South Bend but for their entire service area. One (1) of the biggest things they did was the double track project. That is currently finishing up the EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 1 TfD 574.235.5567 I www.southbendin.gov 2