Prototype News

Parks, of all people, would know.  

The transportation planner was a formative force in the Bay Area punk scene, particularly from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. This was an inflection point for punk, with bands like Green Day, Neurosis, and the Offspring making the leap from tiny scene venues to sold-out concert halls and stadiums.  

These iconic bands have at least two things in common. All of them are graduates of one of the most legendary punk venues of all time – 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, often called Gilman by the punk community – and Parks played an early role in their success. 

Parks cofounded 924 Gilman – an all ages, collectively organized nonprofit music venue still going strong today – in 1986 as part of the MaximumRockNRoll ‘zine and collective spearheaded by Tim Yohannan. Getting the venue off the ground required wading through the leasing and zoning process, attending city hall meetings, and speaking with officials. The experience was Parks very first taste of urban planning, and it would come to serve her professionally many years later.  

So, Green Day…well, Parks was their first-ever band manager. Neurosis and the Offspring? She booked their first two national tours. The Offspring were the first to bring her on tour as their road manager, the first of many tour managing roles she did for multiple bands. 

When she wasn’t uplifting other bands, Parks was drumming for Cringer, the Gr’ups, Naked Aggression, and the aptly named Kamala & The Karnivores. If you saw the recent film Freaky Tales, you might have spotted a Kamala & The Karnivores patch stitched on the back of star Ji-young Yoo’s jacket.  

“Parks is a networker of East Bay punk,” a 2017 profile of her proclaimed, noting that she unknowingly designed “what would become a blueprint for DIY scenes worldwide.” 

In sum, Parks is a punk legend.  

Many of her BART coworkers have absolutely no idea. Rather, they know Parks from her planning efforts, like her work on BART’s Transit-Oriented Development, her leadership on projects like Safe Trips to BART, and her role as the Station Area Planner from Orinda to Antioch. 

“Some folks are surprised I’m a punk rocker. They say I don’t look like one,” Parks said. “But I don’t have to look it. It’s my people, it’s a way of being in the world.”  

And transit, she said, is decidedly punk.  

“When you’re a punk, you love efficiency, sustainability, democracy,” she said. “Transit fulfills all these things.” 

Parks brings the spirit of punk to the workplace. When you’re a punk, if there’s an obstacle, you find a way to work around it. Low on resources? Figure it out. And most importantly, never take anything at face value, always question the status quo.  

“As a planner, I’m constantly asking myself things like, is there a reason this is the way it is? Can we revisit this? Reimagine it?”  

It’s a helpful vantage point for someone in her line of work. Crudely put, planners assess the present to construct the future. There’s a synergy with planning and punk, the music and movement known for holding a magnifying glass to the world and asking, “Why does it have to be like that?” 

“You don’t buy into the mainstream narrative as much when you’re a punk,” Parks said.  

Parks’ career was the least of her concerns as a free-spirited teenager growing up in Berkeley.  

“I was not exactly an ambitious kid,” she said. “When I was young, I wanted to be a cashier. They seemed to know everything – the price of an apple, the cost of a can of corn. This was way before the scanner. You had to enter all the prices manually! But as soon as the scanner rolled out, my dream was quashed.”  

Parks described her teenage years as “directionless.” She was a mediocre student at Berkeley High School, didn’t have a lot of friends or grand ambitions.  

What she did have was music. Parks recalled the summer before 11th grade when her dad left her in the care of one of his students from Diablo Valley College while he was on sabbatical in Europe. He gave the college kid $500 for Parks’ care and keeping. Not long after dad hit the road, the young woman and her boyfriend decided to spend the summer in Mexico, leaving Parks to fend for herself.  

“I came home from school one day and no one was home. But she had left the money on the table,” Parks recalled. “I immediately went to Telegraph [Avenue] and bought records and a Walkman. Needless to say, I spent that $500 in a very short amount of time.”  

“Music,” she went on, “was the thing that saved me as a kid. I cared about it so much, and I was beginning to have this incredible community in the punk scene full of very smart, supportive people.”  

But she had a bone to pick with Berkeley: All the cool live music venues in town were 21 and over. So 17-year-old Parks wrote a letter to the city council more or less asking, “What gives? There’s nothing for young people to do in this city. Why aren’t there any all-ages music venues?” 

That was the genesis of the idea that would eventually give birth to 924 Gilman.  

Flash forwards a couple of years, and Parks and her cofounders are sitting in a city council meeting, ready to make the case for their venue.  

“The lightbulb did not go off that this sort of work was what I should be doing, not at all,” Parks said of urban planning. “I thought the city was being silly, asking things like, ‘Where will people park?’ And I said, ‘Parking? Who cares about parking!’”  

Parks argued that the industrial area already had ample street parking, and most people would carpool or use transit. The majority of her friends didn’t own cars.  

“We ended up rezoning the building for an entertainment permit,” she said. “At the time, it seemed like a bunch of hooey that we couldn’t have our club immediately. There was so much hoop jumping. I was definitely not inspired to pursue urban planning.” 

But there was a lesson in all of it.  

“The wonderful thing about youth is you’re not weighed down by past experiences that tell you what is and isn’t possible,” she said. “Fresh, questioning eyes are an asset.”  

After Parks “barely” graduated high school, she worked at the Peet’s Coffee and Tea warehouse and other blue collar or service jobs to prioritize and fund the unpaid efforts of touring, booking tours and shows, playing music, and volunteering at Gilman. However, part-time studying at community colleges eventually led to her getting a math degree from a four-year college. Unsure of what to do next, she got her teaching credential. 

“Teaching was brutal,” she said. “I have so much respect for teachers. That is the hardest job I’ve ever had.” 

Before getting the credential, Parks had taken a few urban studies classes at San Francisco State and realized, “This is it! This is what I want to do!” 

But Parks wasn’t sure she wanted to spend more time in school to get a second bachelor’s degree. And though she loved the field, she was sick of being poor and just wanted to start working. 

Her stint as a teacher lasted about two years, and Parks took some time to regroup working as a project assistant at a construction management company. While there, she discovered the urban studies flame still flickered inside her.  

Parks eventually decided to enroll in a grueling program at UC Berkeley, where she got two master’s degrees, one in civil engineering and one in city and regional planning.  

She went on to work in consulting and for the City of Berkeley. BART, however, was always the dream.  

“BART has a very special place in my heart and has been crucial to many aspects of my life,” she said.  

In 2018, after applying for years to any position she was qualified for, Parks finally got the call that she was selected for a planner role.  

She’s never looked back. 

“There is rarely a day I wake up and say, ‘I don’t feel like going to work today,’” she said. “I just feel so lucky.”  

Parks wishes she had discovered transportation planning earlier. Growing up, she never thought of it as a profession or really knew that the field existed at all. Now, she’s doing her part to amend that for the next generation.  

“A few years ago, I went back to Berkeley High School for a lunch session called ‘How did you get that cool job?’ where I met with seniors and talked about what I do,” she said. “I wish someone had done that for me!”  

Through it all, the punk community has remained a constant force in her life. And she’s still involved with 924 Gilman, not as a booker or board member anymore, but as an attendee and an as-needed advisor. To this day, the venue hosts more than 20 nights of performances a month, often with bills consisting of five to six bands.  

Parks left an indelible mark on the Bay Area punk scene, and now, as a planner for BART, she gets to leave a different sort of legacy behind.  

“Planners come up with the ideas that spur improvements to connect communities,” she said.  

And that’s a through line in her life. Whether its music or street improvements, she wants more than anything to facilitate connections– to other people and to the spaces in which they gather. 

The post Transit is Punk: Kamala Parks Went From Cofounding 924 Gilman Street to Urban Planning at BART appeared first on Railway Age.

They laced up, volunteered and showed what it means to play with purpose. Hockey Helps the Homeless, sponsored by CN, raised an incredible C$7.8 million for local organizations fighting homelessness across Canada through a series of friendly hockey tournaments.

Our inaugural season has been an incredibly positive experience. This partnership is yet another way CN shows its commitment to communities across our network—and beyond. Together with Hockey Helps the Homeless, we’re working toward a vision of Canada where everyone has a safe place to call home.

–Olivier Chouc, CN Senior Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer

Team CN showed up in full force: 162 players and 46 volunteers across eight cities stepped onto the ice alongside former pro-players, all united by one goal: to help shutout homelessness.

John Mazzei, CN National Account Manager, Bulk, who played hockey in his youth, was all-in at the tournament in Calgary. “It was a fantastic day of hockey! Playing alongside teammates and against opponents who were all united in the same cause created an incredible atmosphere,” says Mazzei, who got to play left wing on a line with former Montreal Canadien Brian Skrudland, who brought in his Stanley Cup ring for people to try on.

We each have a responsibility to show up for our communities and Hockey Helps The Homeless offered a chance to contribute in a meaningful and focussed way,” says Camila. “Seeing the genuine camaraderie between athletes, volunteers, and community partners –people from all walks of life – who were there with their families, was the best part.

–Camila Andrea Sanchez, CN Junior Coordinator, Legislative Affairs

The hockey events were made successful thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, including an enthusiastic group of CN pensioners, employees and their families in every participating city. Camila Andrea Sanchez, CN Junior Coordinator, Legislative Affairs, volunteered at the Montreal tournament, welcoming players, helping coordinate team logistics, and supporting the teams throughout the day. “Homelessness is not something people choose—it can happen to anyone. It has many faces, and it doesn’t define a person’s worth. Everyone deserves compassion. Everyone deserves a second chance—and a safe place to call home,” says Sanchez.

In 2024, CN became the new Premier National Partner of Hockey Helps the Homeless, beginning with the 2024–2025 season, to raise awareness and support for people experiencing homelessness through education, fundraising, and partnerships with solution-focused local shelters and services.

The stories shared, the connections made, and the collective energy dedicated to helping others truly exemplified the best of our hockey community. It was a great reminder of how sport can be a powerful force for unity and positive change.

–John Mazzei, CN National Account Manager, Bulk

Currently, there are 300,000-plus unhoused people each year in Canada, though this figure is likely underreported. In 2023-2024, the organizations benefiting from HHTH tournaments provided over 2.7 million meals and 1.8 million nights in beds across the country, among many other vital services. Support from CN will enable HHTH to expand into new markets and to deepen support in existing markets, allowing more lives to be impacted.

The post CN: Playing With Purpose appeared first on Railway Age.

​At about 5:44 p.m. local time, eastbound NS mixed-freight train NS-167, as it passed over a spring switch at milepost 139.90W, derailed 24 railcars. The derailed cars then collided with stationary westbound mixed freight train NS-33K on the NS Midwest Division, Southern West District, near Browns, Ill., which was holding in a siding adjacent to the derailment site. The derailed equipment from train NS-167 included three tank cars carrying hazardous materials, two tank cars containing molten sulfur that were breached and released product, and one tank car carrying denatured fuel ethanol, which released about 15 gallons of product. “Two NS crewmembers from train NS-33K were injured,” the agency said. Visibility conditions at the time of the accident were clear with no precipitation; the ​ temperature was 88°F.

​The crew of train NS-1​67, which was composed of two locomotives and 44 railcars (26 loaded railcars and 18 empty railcars), consisted of one engineer and one conductor. Shortly before the accident, a signal maintainer had conducted work on the spring switch. “About 40 minutes later, train NS-167 proceeded through the spring switch, the first train to do so after the maintenance was completed. As the train traversed through this switch, 24 of its railcars derailed,” according to the report.

The crew of train NS-33K, which was composed of two locomotives and 44 railcars (37 loaded railcars and 7 empty railcars), consisted of one engineer, one conductor, and one engineer trainee. “At the time of the accident, train NS-33K was stopped in a siding adjacent to the switch at milepost 139.90W,” NTSB said.

​As the head end of train NS-167 traversed the spring switch at 47 mph, the railcars derailed, according to the report. “As a result, the train NS-33K engineer sustained a leg injury and was treated at a local hospital; the engineer trainee was injured when molten sulfur splashed onto him and was treated on scene and later airlifted to a trauma center,” according to the report.

While on scene, NTSB investigators inspected the railcars involved in the accident, examined conditions of the track and signals, reviewed event recorder data from the lead locomotive and the video from inward- and outward-facing image recorders, conducted a reenactment of the accident, tested the spring switch cylinder from the accident switch, and conducted interviews.

NTSB’s investigation is ongoing. “Future investigative activity will focus on testing and maintenance protocols of spring switches, and review of interdepartmental collaboration between the railroad’s Signals and Communications and Maintenance-of-Way departments, with emphasis on communication, joint procedures, training programs, and overall maintenance practices related to spring switch inspection and maintenance,” the agency reported.

Parties to the investigation include the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC); NS; the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED).

The post NTSB Issues Preliminary Report for NS July 18 Derailment appeared first on Railway Age.