Infrastructure in the News: January 9, 2013
BAF IN THE NEWS:
Politico: Infrastructure bank advocates seek a new champion
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/infrastructure-bank-advocates-seek-a-new-champion-85925.html
With Kay Bailey Hutchison gone from the Senate and John Kerry probably soon to follow, supporters of creating a national infrastructure bank are searching for a new champion.
Politico: Morning Transportation
http://www.politico.com/morningtransportation/
I-BANK IN THE SENATE: The upper chamber’s biggest supporters of an infrastructure bank — Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Kerry — are gone or soon to be gone, leaving others to pick up the slack on an idea that’s been around for years but never picked up major congressional support. Losing Kerry will be bad, but Hutchison’s loss could be even worse, thinks Marcia Hale, president of I-bank supporter Building America’s Future. “Hutchison was really important in this process,” Hale said, adding that whatever Democrat might take up Kerry’s mantle in the Senate will need a GOP partner to have any hope of success. “A partnership with a Republican is key.” But Hale said that even if Kerry joins the administration, he probably won’t give up on the idea — especially since his former aide who worked on the infrastructure bank legislation, Heidi Crebo-Rediker, now works at the State Department. Pick up today’s POLITICO paper for Kathryn’s story or read it right here: http://politi.co/VOHvKO
The Atlantic Cities: Lessons From Sandy: Even New Green Infrastructure Was Destroyed
When we talk about ways to protect cities and other coastal communities from storm surges, the idea of restoring or creating wetlands is coming up more and more often these days. Bolstering this kind of "green infrastructure" was one of the topline recommendations in the draft report of the NYS 2100 commission, created by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to chart a future path for storm preparedness in the state.
Forbes: Rebuilding In A Warming World
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mindylubber/2013/01/08/rebuilding-in-a-warming-world/
“Rebuild smarter.” That’s the constant refrain in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut work to repair the devastation to seaside communities, businesses and the infrastructure that ties them together.
New York Law Journal: Environmental Review of Climate Change Adaptation After Sandy
This article addresses two key legal requirements that must be considered by New York City and State as they implement measures needed to improve New York City's infrastructure so that it is better adapted to high-impact events such as the catastrophic storm surge caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Grid Chicago: Cool New York City transportation stuff I’d love to see in Chicago
http://gridchicago.com/2013/cool-new-york-transportation-stuff-id-love-to-see-in-chicago/
Last week I wrote, “[Chicago is] now the national leader in providing enhanced on-street bikeways.” It’s probably true that we have the highest total number of miles of protected and buffered bike lanes, 12.5 and 14.5 miles, respectively, for a total of 27 miles. (The Chicago Department of Transportation recently started counting both types as “protected,” but I’m sticking with the standard definition of protected lanes as ones with a physical barrier, such as parked cars, between cyclists and motorized traffic.)
NATIONAL NEWS:
Public Policy Polling: Congress somewhere below cockroaches, traffic jams, and Nickelback in Americans' esteem
Our newest national poll finds that Congress only has a 9% favorability rating with 85% of voters viewing it in a negative light. We've seen poll after poll after poll over the last year talking about how unpopular Congress is but really, what's the difference between an 11% or a 9% or a 7% favorability rating? So we decided to take a different approach and test Congress' popularity against 26 different things. And what we found is that Congress is less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, and even Nickelback.
Eno Center for Transportation: Boy Scout Railroading Badge Makes a Comeback
http://www.enotrans.org/eno-brief/boy-scout-railroading-badge-makes-a-comeback
Railroading was one of the Boy Scouts of America most popular merit badges in the early 20th century. During those years every boy and his family had fond memories of traveling to be with Grandma or setting on holiday by train. As automobiles became the main form of transportation following WWII, interest in the badge tailed off. It was revived, however, during the National Boy Scout Jamboree Railroading Pavilions that followed thanks to such organizations as Progressive Railroading and Railway Age magazines, Kalmbach Publishing, Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, GE Transportation, Union Pacific Railroad, UPS and Hertz and Operation Lifesaver.
Grist: Who will serve on Obama’s second-term green team?
http://grist.org/politics/who-will-serve-on-obamas-second-term-green-team/
Who will the president pick to fill all these empty chairs? Much of President Obama’s green team is moving on to greener pastures. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced last month that she’ll be retiring soon, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu is expected to follow suit. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is said to be mulling over his future. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood appears to be undecided as well, and there’s a chance that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack could leave.
Switchboard: Public Transit is Boring. Why Not Make It Fun?
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dlovaas/transit_is_boring.html
Approaching the escalators exiting the Metro stop near my workplace yesterday, I was annoyed to see that half were out of order. Which half had staff decided to keep running? Those going down, not up. Odd choice. It's no fun fighting gravity on a long escalator.
Governing Magazine: Should Parking Be Taxed to Fund Bike Paths?
http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/Should-Parking-Taxes-Pay-For-Bike-Lanes.html
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to introduce in the coming days his plan for shoring up transit and road funding in the Commonwealth. His former transportation director has been offering some ideas too.
STATE NEWS:
Washington Post: McDonnell proposes eliminating Virginia’s gas tax
RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell proposed Tuesday an ambitious overhaul of how Virginia pays for roads, rail and transit, including eliminating the gas tax and replacing it with an increase in the sales tax.
Washington Post: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s bold and paltry transportation plan
THREE YEARS AFTER taking office, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) has finally proposed to do something about the state’s critical long-term shortfall in transportation funding. The plan is serious and, in some ways, bold; it is certainly better than continued inertia and inaction. At the same time, it is inadequate and unbalanced, reflecting the grip that anti-tax ideologues continue to exert over Mr. McDonnell and Republican Party stalwarts in Richmond.
The Star-Ledger: Gov. Christie pledges devotion to Hurricane Sandy recovery in State of the State address
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/01/gov_christie_pledges_devotion.html
TRENTON — In a New Jersey comeback of an entirely different sort, Gov. Chris Christie today pledged in his annual State of the State address to devote the final year of his first term to rebuilding and reinvigorating areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy, particularly the iconic Jersey Shore.
Reuters: New Jersey Gov. Christie renews call for federal Sandy relief
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/usa-newjersey-state-idUSL1E9C7AMQ20130108
Jan 8 (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie renewed his calls to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday to quickly pass the full $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy relief package, saying victims in New Jersey had been short-changed.
The Plain-Dealer (Bloomberg Re-Print): Drought-lowered Mississippi threatens shipping, barge operations
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2013/01/drought-lowered_mississippi_th.html
THEBES, Ill. -- Barge operators on the Mississippi River say the worst drought in 80 years may put at risk gains from emergency dredging and rock removal aimed at keeping the nation's busiest waterway open at least for this month.
Transportation Nation: Draft Report: To Withstand Storms, Build a Bigger Bus System
To better survive the economic impact of big storms like Sandy, New York needs a “world class” bus rapid transit system. That’s one of the major recommendations in a report commissioned by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on how to rebuild New York infrastructure post-Sandy.
Transportation Nation: Fairfax Board To Vote On Tysons Tax Hike
(Washington, D.C. – WAMU) More than two years after adopting a plan to modernize Tysons Corner, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will decide Tuesday night whether to raise real estate taxes to help pay for the area’s new transportation grid.
Detroit Free-Press: Plan to save Detroit unveiled: Vision for a smaller, stronger Motor City
Some of Detroit’s most vibrant areas would get an infusion of cash and other new services, such as transit and work force training, and other districts now mostly vacant and abandoned would be turned into farms, forests and other landscape uses under the long-awaited Detroit Future City strategy document that is to be released Wednesday.
WNYC: Cuomo To Outline Gun Restrictions and Post-Sandy Vision in Annual Albany Address
Governor Andrew Cuomo will lay out his agenda for his third year in office this week when he delivers his State of the State address on Wednesday. More gun restrictions and the governor’s vision for post-Sandy New York are likely to top his updated his priority list.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Legislature not likely to do much for transit
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/legislature-not-likely-to-do-much-for-transit/nTqxX/
For metro Atlanta transit passengers and drivers, hopes are low that the Legislature will offer much help funding additional rides or roads when it comes into session in January.
Boston Globe: Are your town's zoning laws hurting America?
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2013/01/wealthy_connect.html
We hear a lot about income inequality between the richest and poorest Americans, but what about inequality between the richest and poorest states? The gap is big there, too, with well-heeled Connecticuters earning close to twice as much on average as folks down in Mississippi.
New York Times: Texas Budget Surplus Proves as Contentious as a Previous Shortfall
AUSTIN, Tex. — The last time Texas lawmakers began a legislative session, a cost-cutting fervor filled the marble hallways of the Capitol in January 2011 as the state faced a budget shortfall of as much as $27 billion. Legislators warned of sparing nothing and no one from deep cutbacks — from highways, to prisons, to health care for the poor, to programs for preschool children.
McDonnell: Dump gas tax, hike sales tax
By Burgess Everett
1/8/13
If Gov. Bob McDonnell gets his way, Virginia will become a pioneer in state transportation funding by eliminating its state gasoline tax.
McDonnell pitched an ambitious proposal Wednesday afternoon to kill the 17.5 cents per gallon gas tax, stagnant since 1986, and replace it with a sales tax dedicated to transportation improvements. The plan would raise $3.1 billion over five years, he predicted. Virginia would be the first state without a state gasoline tax, but would keep a state diesel tax.
The sales tax in Virginia would rise from 5 percent to 5.8 percent, with the increase going to transportation. In addition, the portion of the existing sales tax devoted to transportation would rise to 0.75 percent of the purchase price, up from 0.5 percent.
Combined, the two changes would result in a quarter of state sales tax revenues going to roads, bridges and rails.
McDonnell also wants to raise vehicle registration fees by $15 per year and apply $100 annual fees to Virginia’s 91,000 vehicles that use alternative fuels, seeking to collect revenue from cars and trucks that currently don’t pay into state or federal transportation funds. All that money would go to passenger rail and transit.
The plan would also provide $300 million in the next three years to Metro’s Silver Line extension in Northern Virginia, which could help tamp down Dulles Toll Road fees.
McDonnell has long sought to solve the problems posed by flat gas tax revenues, population growth and the need to shift money intended for new construction into maintenance work — a difficult proposition for a Republican thought to have national political ambitions. Fully aware of the possibility he will be seen as a tax-hiking governor during the last year of his term, McDonnell called the plan “approximately revenue neutral.”
Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist has written state legislators urging them to oppose indexing the gas tax, a proposal McDonnell floated but has now backed away from. His new plan has the backing of Virginia’s House speaker, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and rank-and-file state legislators, most of whom endorsed the plan as “conservative,” as did McDonnell.
“This bill is a conservative bill. It relies on growth,” McDonnell said. “It will solve this maintenance deficit in five years.”
McDonnell also pitched the plan as key to Virginia’s business-friendly reputation and predicted motorists would benefit immediately from the death of the gas tax.
“If we pass this, Virginia will have the lowest gas prices, I think, on the East Coast,” McDonnell said.
With funding from Congress flat for at least the next two years and Washington wary of raising the federal gas tax, responsibilities for roads and rails are increasingly falling on the states. McDonnell said Tuesday that Virginia isn’t waiting on Capitol Hill.
“Every year we kick the can to Washington,” he said. “That’s not the Virginia way.”
Politico Pro: 'Cargo carve out’ opponents face headwinds
By Burgess Everett
1/8/13
A bipartisan push to set a single safety standard for both cargo and passenger pilots looks to be headed for heavy turbulence in the new Congress.
The Department of Transportation’s pilot fatigue rules are set to go into effect in a year, and pilot unions have held out hope that lawmakers on Capitol Hill would end the "cargo carve out" exemption that would allow the cargo aviation industry to avoid more stringent regulations.
Boosters of that effort were heartened when Reps. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) reintroduced a bill last week that would apply 10-hour minimum rest periods and eight- or nine-hour daily flight-time caps for cargo pilots, bringing them in line with the rules for passenger pilots.
But it’s going to be a tough sell. Airlines for America wasted no time in bashing the bipartisan House bill, calling it “ill-advised with no basis in science or relevant data.”
They may not have much to worry about. Without backing from new Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the bill stands almost no chance of making it through the Republican-controlled House. And Shuster has said he currently does not support efforts to overturn that carve out.
“Cargo operations are very different. And I know that [former Rep.] Chip Cravaack said to me, ‘fatigue is fatigue.’ Which, I get that,” Shuster said in a recent interview. “I’ve been to those facilities. They’ve got dormitory-like places where pilots can go and sleep.”
Shuster said those cargo pilot accommodations go beyond what passenger airlines often provide.
The new bill is a retread of Bishop and Cravaack’s legislation from 2012, which failed to make it out of committee. And it isn’t necessarily a partisan issue, since more than 40 lawmakers signed on as co-sponsors, from deep blue Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) to conservative Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.).
Cravaack, a Minnesota Republican, was a strong supporter of last year’s effort by groups such as the Independent Pilots Association to eliminate the cargo exception. But the former pilot, union official and key aviation lawmaker exited Congress earlier this month.
“It should be one rule for all pilots or basically you are getting into splitting hairs,” he said shortly before his term expired, describing exemption as a surprise to those who follow pilot safety issues closely.
With Cravaack gone and Shuster opposing the bill, the onus to move any legislation will fall on the Senate, where things have become more complicated this year.
Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) helped write legislation in 2010 that directed the FAA to issue the new flight fatigue rules, but his committee did not take up a bill from Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) that would have ended the exemption. Boxer has yet to reintroduce that bill, and now with Snowe out Congress, she must find another supporter from the GOP ranks if the measure is to advance. Snowe was the only Republican to sign on as a co-sponsor.
The administration reexamined its analysis after errors were found in the original study, and air safety groups were heartened that the fatigue rules for passenger pilots were affirmed in a supplemental study.
But they were dismayed to see that the original cost-benefit analysis actually underestimated the cost of applying the rules to cargo pilots. According to the FAA, costs of applying rest rules to cargo pilots would outweigh the benefits by more than $500 million over a 12-year period.
Still, lobbying efforts will continue on the Hill, led this session by the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, which is just beginning to devise its legislative strategy.
The Airline Pilots Association expects to join that effort, and President Capt. Lee Moak praised Grimm and Bishop on Tuesday. “Current science leaves no doubt that airline pilots don’t experience fatigue differently based on whether they fly passengers or cargo in their aircraft,” he said.
Cravaack said convincing lawmakers was more about education than lobbying. A good approximation for what cargo pilots experience could be recreated by driving a car for 12 hours a day, eight days straight, he said.
“Then you tell me how you feel,” he said. “See if you’re up to speed.”
Politico Pro: McDonnell: Dump gas tax, hike sales tax
By Burgess Everett
1/8/13
If Gov. Bob McDonnell gets his way, Virginia will become a pioneer in state transportation funding by eliminating its state gasoline tax.
McDonnell pitched an ambitious proposal Wednesday afternoon to kill the 17.5 cents per gallon gas tax, stagnant since 1986, and replace it with a sales tax dedicated to transportation improvements. The plan would raise $3.1 billion over five years, he predicted. Virginia would be the first state without a state gasoline tax, but would keep a state diesel tax.
The sales tax in Virginia would rise from 5 percent to 5.8 percent, with the increase going to transportation. In addition, the portion of the existing sales tax devoted to transportation would rise to 0.75 percent of the purchase price, up from 0.5 percent.
Combined, the two changes would result in a quarter of state sales tax revenues going to roads, bridges and rails.
McDonnell also wants to raise vehicle registration fees by $15 per year and apply $100 annual fees to Virginia’s 91,000 vehicles that use alternative fuels, seeking to collect revenue from cars and trucks that currently don’t pay into state or federal transportation funds. All that money would go to passenger rail and transit.
The plan would also provide $300 million in the next three years to Metro’s Silver Line extension in Northern Virginia, which could help tamp down Dulles Toll Road fees.
McDonnell has long sought to solve the problems posed by flat gas tax revenues, population growth and the need to shift money intended for new construction into maintenance work — a difficult proposition for a Republican thought to have national political ambitions. Fully aware of the possibility he will be seen as a tax-hiking governor during the last year of his term, McDonnell called the plan “approximately revenue neutral.”
Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist has written state legislators urging them to oppose indexing the gas tax, a proposal McDonnell floated but has now backed away from. His new plan has the backing of Virginia’s House speaker, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and rank-and-file state legislators, most of whom endorsed the plan as “conservative,” as did McDonnell.
“This bill is a conservative bill. It relies on growth,” McDonnell said. “It will solve this maintenance deficit in five years.”
McDonnell also pitched the plan as key to Virginia’s business-friendly reputation and predicted motorists would benefit immediately from the death of the gas tax.
“If we pass this, Virginia will have the lowest gas prices, I think, on the East Coast,” McDonnell said.
With funding from Congress flat for at least the next two years and Washington wary of raising the federal gas tax, responsibilities for roads and rails are increasingly falling on the states. McDonnell said Tuesday that Virginia isn’t waiting on Capitol Hill.
“Every year we kick the can to Washington,” he said. “That’s not the Virginia way.”
Politico: Morning Transportation
By Adam Snider and Burgess Everett, Featuring Kathryn A. Wolfe and Jessica Meyers
1/9/13
GET ‘EM IN THIS WEEK: The House Rules Committee has set a deadline of 4 p.m. Friday for amendments to the Hurricane Sandy storm aid bill that includes billions for transportation repairs. Taxpayers for Common Sense has also put together a handy side-by-side for the House proposals, the original Senate bill and the president’s initial request: http://bit.ly/WqU2D4 And here’s where the amendments will show up: http://1.usa.gov/VNeCPj
SHUSTER OPPOSES ENDING CARGO CARVEOUT: There was a bit of excitement among pilot safety advocates when Tim Bishop and Michael Grimm reintroduced a bill to end the exemption for cargo pilots from pilot fatigue rules. But introducing a bill and getting it through the Republican House are two different things, and new Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster told MT he’s not inclined to support efforts to end the cargo carveout. That shifts any effort over to the Senate, where Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe took the lead last year. But Snowe is now gone and Boxer hasn’t reintroduced the legislation, complicating the effort further.
CAPA to take the lead in 113th: Supporters of overturning the rule exemption aren’t giving up, with ALPA putting out a statement supporting the Grimm-Bishop bill and the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations expected to take the lead this year on the lobbying effort. But former Rep. Chip Cravaack, who led the fight for one level of safety last year, is sick of waiting. A good approximation for what cargo pilots experience could be recreated by driving a car for 12 hours a day, eight days straight, he said. “Then you tell me how you feel,” he said. “See if you’re up to speed.” Burgess has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/XJRTcn
McDONNELL WANTS TO KILL Va. GAS TAX: Virginia’s governor wants his state to be the first in the country to do away with its state gas tax, replacing it with transportation funds raised off a revamped 5.8 percent state sales tax. About a quarter of the proceeds from that sales tax would go toward transportation and the state diesel tax would remain in place; vehicle registration would go up $15 and alternative fuel vehicles would pay $100 a year to fund transit and passenger rail. Bob McDonnell has the backing of the House speaker and his administration but he knows it’s a departure from the user-fee format preferred by many fellow national Republicans. “This bill is a conservative bill. It relies on growth,” McDonnell said during a Tuesday afternoon announcement. “It will solve this maintenance deficit in five years.” Burgess has more: http://politico.pro/VDrKXt
Tysons transpo tax: The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted last night to bump real estate taxes — on both residential and commercial properties — to fund transportation improvements in Tysons Corner. Approved on an 8-2 vote, the increase should raise $250 million over 40 years. The Washington Post has more: http://wapo.st/ZF3B8c
In related transpo financing news: User fees based on miles traveled could lead to “more equitable and efficient” use of roadways, the GAO said yesterday in a report (http://1.usa.gov/XJydVW). Researchers, who explored mileage fee initiatives in the U.S. and abroad, said a system that would collect fees from 230 million U.S. passenger vehicles would probably greatly exceed the costs of collecting gas taxes. To meet federal targets, drivers would pay $108 to $248 a year in mileage fees compared with the $96 currently paid for the gas tax. Initiatives in two states and abroad suggest that commercial driver fees pose fewer privacy and cost concerns. Many state DOTs would support consideration of mileage fees but probably wouldn’t introduce them this decade, according to the report, which also recommends that Congress consider a pilot program for commercial trucks and electric vehicles that tests these fees.
PLANNING AHEAD: The Secret Service has revealed where you can and cannot go on Inauguration Day, and it’s fairly extensive. Much of downtown D.C. will be inaccessible for drivers, so charge up your SmarTrip and pump up your Nikes. The map: http://1.usa.gov/ZyAbsz
Nice, if expected: No Metro fare hikes or service cuts are due this year, per Dana Hedgpeth. http://wapo.st/WqLgEV
REGULATORY AGENDA: DOT has issued its semiannual regulatory agenda (http://1.usa.gov/UGWYBl), which includes updated timetables for many pending rules on its docket, including some highly anticipated and delayed rulemakings. These include a June date for a proposed rule on drone integration, a controversial pilot training final rule set for May and a final rule on transporting lithium batteries due sometime this month.
BUSINESS CLASS: Spending on business travel is expected to rise 4.6 percent this year “provided there is continued political and economic clarity,” the Global Business Travel Association said yesterday. While the total number of trips is expected to fall 1.1 percent, “very modest price inflation” accounts for the higher spending level. But the outlook’s accuracy rests largely on major fiscal decisions coming out of Washington over the next few months. “Even with an agreement to avert the fiscal cliff in the near-term, there are still many issues that need to be addressed; however, companies should now have somewhat greater confidence in their spending decisions,” GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick said in a statement.
ALLISION, NOT COLLISION: The NTSB is investigating a Monday maritime incident that involved an oil tanker striking a support of San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The Coast Guard has classified the incident a “major maritime casualty” with more than $500,000 in damage to the bridge, whose replacement eastern span is currently in the final stages of construction. The ship’s pilot has been involved in at least three additional shipping accidents since 2009, according to the Mercury News. http://bit.ly/WpVnK9
Temperature's rising: NTSB says the auxiliary power unit battery suffered “severe fire damage” during Monday’s blaze aboard a Boeing 787 in Boston. The fire was discovered in the electronics and equipment bay and was extinguished about 40 minutes after responders arrived.
CABOOSE — Electric car synth: With the news that NHTSA is proposing that electric and hybrid cars have minimum sounds requirements, the administration brings you 14 (!) examples of what those might sound like. True MT heads will make a mix of these that they can fall asleep to. http://1.usa.gov/X4aNq5
- Sen. Mike Crapo officially gets the top GOP spot on the Banking Committee that has authority over transit issues. POLITICO: http://politi.co/REk7Sg
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Jules Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC Get The Facts
“If we do not have a world class infrastructure here in broadband for cutting-edge devices and services, the next generation of innovations, the next great companies…will start in another country and not here.”
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New Hampshire
Ray Burton
Executive Council Chair
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