Welcome to VitalRail and the Continental Action Plans for Sustainable Industry

Where stakeholders in Canada, the United States, and Mexico redesign our industrial systems for sustainable life.

Join us in developing urgent solutions for economic prosperity that preserve our natural world. With the foundation of collaboration, OnTrackNorthAmerica has created the Continental Action Plans for Sustainable Industry (CAPSI). Our first Industrial Action Plan is VitalRail, a comprehensive growth plan for rail-enabled industrial productivity.

CAPSI employs an inquiry-based methodology for information-gathering, brainstorming, and actionable decision-making by large groups of stakeholders. Together, stakeholders will redesign our fragmented industrial systems from natural resources, agriculture, and raw materials to production, distribution, consumption, and recycling. Together, we will improve the use of railroads, trucks, and waterways to create a balanced multimodal transportation network. OnTrackNorthAmerica’s leaders bring the insight and perspectives acquired from 30+ years of infrastructure advisory work in 45 states and Canadian provinces.

What do we mean by industrial systems?

"Industrial systems” encompass the complete set of commercial, policy, and planning activities involved in delivering materials and products for modern civilization’s survival and satisfaction. Industrial systems include all inputs and impacts, including land use, transportation, recycling, and disposal. What occurs between properties is often as significant as what happens at a property.

What do we mean by redesign?

Redesigning industrial systems means working together to find and employ ways to increase efficiency and reduce the negative impacts of an industrial system. It begins with stakeholders establishing collective goals and pragmatic measures while recognizing the reality of prior strategies and investments. Stakeholders decide if redesigning may require the sensible reconstruction, repurposing, and/or relocation of some facilities. For instance, to create the most effective strategic mineral supply chain, stakeholders could intentionally locate lithium mines, battery plants, vehicle factories, and recycling facilities to optimize systemwide logistics. We call this design process "Collaborative Industrial Optimization." Redesigning also calls for an inspiring evolution of the human element by incentivizing organizations and individuals to contribute to systemwide sustainability.

Who are the stakeholders?

You are all stakeholders, along with everyone involved in or directly affected by our industrial systems. Developing action plans for sustainable industries requires complete stakeholder representation. OnTrackNorthAmerica has already cataloged over 32,000 stakeholders across North America’s industrial, political, and geographic landscape. And for each Action Plan process we initiate, we will invite additional stakeholders throughout North America to work towards complete representation from all sectors: academia, advocacy, business, community, funders, government, labor, and media.

How do we work together as stakeholders?

We convene stakeholders in IntelliConference Series® forums that apply IntelliSynthesis®, our breakthrough question-and-response dialogue method, for efficient input from large groups of diverse stakeholders. In IntelliSynthesis we invite participants from all sectors in a given system or region to ensure representation of all perspectives. Each participant agrees to read and timely respond to rounds of questions. The facilitation team creates and shares a digest of each round of responses, saving participants time. Outlier perspectives are considered for the value they may offer the group. The IntelliConference Series® and IntelliSynthesis® processes are explained in greater detail elsewhere on this website.

What do we mean by sustainable life?

Sustainable life is the long-lasting, harmonious co-existence of humans and nature.

What is a Continental Action Plan?

“Continental” includes Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which already engage in extensive cross-border commerce and can greatly benefit from improved coordination. Action Plans specific to each industrial system or geography integrate with all other plans, emerging from a process that produces results immediately, distinct from static reports and studies that typically sit on a shelf.