Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI), in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration and the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, recently awarded $219,155 in rail safety awareness grants to programs in 11 states, with the FRA providing $175,000 of that funding.
[Above image by OLI]
Those grants will fund a variety of crossing safety and trespass prevention public education projects, said OLI; an effort aimed at growing awareness and encouraging safe behaviors around railroad and transit tracks. Many of those campaigns are scheduled to coincide with See Tracks? Think Train!® Week, which will be held September 15-21 this year.
“We are thrilled to announce this year’s grant recipients, whose innovative approaches are advancing rail safety education,” noted Rachel Maleh, OLI’s executive editor, in a statement. “Their dedication and creativity in sharing this lifesaving message make a real difference in communities nationwide. We are especially grateful for our continued partnerships with the Federal Railroad Administration and the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, whose support makes these critical outreach efforts possible.”
“FRA is very pleased to continue its support of Operation Lifesaver’s efforts to combat preventable grade crossing and trespassing incidents and casualties,” added James Payne, staff director of FRA’s Grade Crossing and Trespasser Outreach Division. “This grant funding allows OLI state organizations to conduct highly effective public outreach to deter the leading cause of rail-related deaths.”
Projects funded by the FRA grants include:
- Illinois: Enhancing rail safety awareness by partnering with minor league baseball teams to engage families in community discussions. This initiative will launch a season-long awareness campaign with the Windy City Thunderbolts-Crestwood and the Thrillville Thrillbillies-Marion, reaching thousands of attendees through on-site activations, digital promotions and multi-channel advertisements.
- Indiana: Launching a digital outreach campaign to address the rising number of railroad-crossing collisions in Indiana. Running from September to mid-October 2025, the campaign will use geo-targeted digital ads, public service announcements or PSAs, and social media outreach to educate high-risk communities, while distributing branded Emergency Notification System (ENS) materials to reinforce safety awareness.
- Minnesota: Completion of a Professional Driver Education video series by translating the remaining safety videos and social media clips into Spanish and Somali – creating 14 new digital assets. This expansion will ensure critical railroad safety messages reach a broader audience, particularly professional truck drivers.
- Missouri: Partnering with Learfield Communications to launch a statewide safety campaign emphasizing rail safety education to prevent collisions and injuries, using broadcast, digital media, and in-person events to raise awareness and engage the community.
- New York: A new public awareness campaign conducted in partnership with theMetropolitan Transportation Authority, Long Island Rail Road, and New York & Atlantic Railway (NY&A)railroads, will aim to combat the rising trend of train surfing among young teens in New York City. The campaign will use short, engaging videos mimicking user-generated content, in-feed ads and influencers to reach at-risk youth. Additionally, targeted outreach will take place in schools and community organizations along high incident train lines.
- South Carolina: A campaign focused on the City of Greenville, which ranks first in the state for highway-rail collisions and third for trespassing incidents. Through partnerships with city officials, law enforcement and media, they will leverage major public events—such as the Greenville Jazz Festival and Swamp Rabbits Hockey games—to educate the community, raise awareness and reduce rail-related incidents.
- Tennessee: Deploying an ESPN geo-targeting live stream campaign in the cities of Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, as well as the Tri-Cities area, to spread the rail safety education message.
- Texas: Enhancing public awareness of rail safety education among professional and independent truck drivers. Utilizing a comprehensive advertising strategy incorporating streaming, display ads and podcast advertising, the campaign will ensure truck drivers are well-informed about railroad crossing safety and reinforce key safety messages to help reduce incidents at railroad crossings.
- Washington: A new initiative focusing on areas of known and recurring trespass incidents through an extensive digital campaign featuring advertising, social media messaging, and targeted in-person outreach.
The Posner Foundation’s portion of this grant funding will supplement the Texas project as well as fully fund two additional state campaigns:
- California: A rail safety awareness campaign for Rail Safety Month throughout September 2025, with a key focus on “See Tracks? Think Train!” week. Using geofencing, connected TV plus other platforms and digital radio, the campaign will target high-risk areas with the highest rates of trespassing and grade crossing incidents aiming to educate at-risk populations and change dangerous behaviors to save lives.
- Florida: An effort using geofencing to push rail safety education information to individuals approaching railroad tracks. This effort will also use a “heatmap” of all the incidents in Florida to identify and target all seven of Florida’s top incident locations.
“Increasing the public’s awareness about grade crossing risks, trespass prevention and suicide are rail industry challenges worldwide,” noted Henry Posner III, chairman of the Posner Foundation and the Iowa Interstate Railroad.
“In the USA, Operation Lifesaver is front and center in dealing with these societal problems through education and advocacy,” he said. “For the seventh consecutive year, we are honored to not only provide funding but to stand as dedicated supporters of OLI’s lifesaving mission.”
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