NATIONAL NEWS
The New York Times (AP): Computers, Not Humans to Scan Carry-On Bags in TSA Test
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/07/05/us/ap-us-speeding-up-airport-screening.html
Federal officials said Tuesday that they are expanding tests to speed up airport lines and improve security.
Bloomberg BNA: Clinton Likes Ike as Model for Infrastructure Plan
http://www.bna.com/clinton-likes-ike-n57982076487/
Hillary Clinton's Democratic Party proposes to put millions of Americans to work with the “most ambitious investment in American infrastructure” since the interstate highway system was created.
Frontier Group: Who Likes the Gas Tax? The Young, the Low-Income and People Who Don't Drive
For the last seven years, researchers at the Mineta Transportation Institute have asked Americans what they think about the gas tax and other sources of funding for transportation. The results have been fairly consistent: Americans dislike the idea of hiking the gas tax by even a dime a gallon and dislike some of the widely discussed alternatives (like VMT fees) even more, but are willing to soften their opposition when the hike is tied to a specific transportation outcome.
STATE NEWS
USA Today: Train cracks mean headaches for Philly commuters
Philadelphia commuters scrambled for transportation Tuesday after rail car defects forced the transit authority to sideline one-third of its regional rail fleet.
E&E (California): Gas stations to slap cap-and-trade 'cost' labels on pumps
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060039717
Gas pumps in California could soon feature signs telling drivers they're paying more per gallon because of the state's cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions.
The News & Observer: Now that NC lawmakers have blocked light rail, get on the bus
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article87827882.html
The General Assembly has again blocked the light-rail system between Durham and Chapel Hill by placing a 10 percent cap on state investments and a two- to three-year wait for the project. Like the more obvious $500,000 cap in 2015, lawmakers accomplished the same thing: They made the project financially unfeasible.
The Washington Post: Virginia gets federal grant to uncork I-95 corridor
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced Tuesday that Virginia was awarded a federal grant of $165 million for its Atlantic Gateway program, a set of rail, highway and bridge projects meant to ease some of the worst travel bottlenecks on the East Coast.
The New York Times: Already Hectic Commute Could Get Worse With Trains Sidelined
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/07/06/us/ap-us-rail-cars-defect.html?_r=0
PHILADELPHIA — With one-third of its rail fleet out of service, Philadelphia's main transit agency predicts Wednesday's commute could be even more hectic with more people returning to work following the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Newsplex (Charlottesville, VA): 60 years later, Interstates face big infrastructure challenges
When President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway and Defense Act into law on June 29, 1956, he had a vision that the United States of America would be prepared for the worst.
Politico Morning Transportation
By Jennifer Scholtes and Lauren Gardner | 07/06/2016 05:38 AM EDT
With help from Brianna Gurciullo and Kathryn A. Wolfe
LEADERS TO DIVULGE FAA PATCH DEETS: Expect the details of the impending FAA reauthorization to start leaking out today, as House transportation leaders plan to brief lawmakers and aides in the coming hours on what they've settled on. Our Lauren Gardner swoops in with the scoop , reporting that lawmakers have confirmed the extension will in fact run through September of next year and is expected to hit the House floor on Thursday or Friday.
'Til it shines: Rep. Rodney Davis told Lauren that lawmakers were putting the "finishing touches" on the bill Tuesday night. And it better be a picture of bipartisan and bicameral perfection because there's little time for disagreements to snag this thing, considering both the House and Senate want to adjourn next week until September and FAA authority expires on July 15 (the day legislators are set to leave).
IT'S WEDNESDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
MT's resident beagle enthusiast is loving Miley Cyrus' new sharp-nosed canine friend, Barbie. MT's mascot, Barkley, is a huge fan as well. Reach out with tips, scoops, concerns and puppy pics: lgardner@politico.com or @Gardner_LM, jscholtes@politico.com or @JAScholtes and bgurciullo@politico.com or @brigurciullo.
"Window seat, thirty-thousand feet above the ground. Blue moonbeams on silver wings, brings me down."
DOJ TRIGGERS PUBLIC WEIGH-IN ON VW DEAL: The Justice Department's proposed settlement with Volkswagen makes its way into the Federal Register today, kicking off a 30-day public comment period on the emissions scandal deal.
Dieselgate drama abroad: While U.S. regulators have closed in on settlement terms, their European peers are still struggling to scrounge up information to explain just how the automaker's deception went undetected. As POLITICO Europe's Anca Gurzu reports, European Parliament members are accusing the European Commission of purposely withholding internal documents they say are essential to the committee that's tasked with looking into the scandal. Anca explains that "the committee is investigating possible failings by the Commission and national oversight authorities in preventing cheating on emissions tests."
TAKE THAT, LONG TSA LINES: The Fourth of July has come and gone. And TSA lines were actually pretty short for most travelers. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said this week that his department is "not declaring victory." But the statement did indeed seem like a victory lap - albeit a cautious one.
Stopwatch: TSA screened 10.7 million travelers from June 30 to July 4, fielding the highest traveler volume since 2007 on some of those days. Still, the average checkpoint wait time was less than 10 minutes, while those in TSA PreCheck lines waited less than five minutes on average, according to DHS.
Out in force: More than 100 TSA screeners and volunteers transferred to busier airports over the weekend to ramp up staffing at the nation's seven busiest airports. "TSA's success this weekend is a testament to the hard work of the men and women of the agency - both its leadership and, more importantly, those on the front lines at the airports," Johnson said. "We plan to do more. The summer travel season continues, followed by holiday travel in the fall and winter."
STOPGAP SPENDING TALK: Next week is the House's last workweek before a nearly two-month hiatus from legislative business, meaning there are really only five weeks of work left until the end of the fiscal year. While a few more spending bills might see floor action before money stops flowing on Sept. 30, most won't. So leaders are again eyeing a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at current levels beyond September.
Debating length: Pro Budget and Appropriations authors Ben Weyl and Matthew Nussbaum report that "internal debate has already begun over how long a spending stopgap should last. ... Senior appropriators, like Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), are pushing to have any continuing resolution end by December, to allow Congress to pass an omnibus and finish the appropriations work by the end of the year. Some conservatives hope to have a continuing resolution stretch all the way to March, to avoid any action in a lame-duck session. November's election results are sure to play a major role in whatever lawmakers decide."
QUASI-GOVERNMENTAL AIRLINE OR QUASI-CORPORATE GOVERNMENT?: Who needs federal funding when you can get big businesses to fork over for government equipment? As we reported for Pros, American Airlines is buying passenger screening technology and then gifting it to TSA. What the airline gets for its donation is faster passenger screening at its main hubs - an estimated 30 percent faster, in fact.
The goods: On the airline's shopping list: bigger X-ray bins, equipment that returns those containers to the start of screening lines, technology that uses radio frequency identification to ensure the containers are accounted for, cameras that photograph the outside of carry-on luggage to link X-ray images to each bag's contents and equipment that diverts items that need further screening so the bins behind them aren't held up.
ENOUGH ABOUT AIRPORTS. WHAT ABOUT SEAPORTS?: Nearly 50 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle sent off a letter this month asking the DHS secretary to pay a little attention to Customs and Border Protection staffing shortages at maritime ports. The legislators note that while the agency was funded to hire 2,000 workers in fiscal 2015, fewer than 20 of those officer positions were assigned to seaports. "We cannot let this disproportionate approach to security continue," the letter reads. "Annual increases in volume and periodic surges in ship traffic, paired with a muted response from the department, have led to repeated dock-side delays in inspecting and clearing cargo, creating a ripple effect throughout our economy and supply chain."
NO PASSPORTS FOR TERRORISTS: The House is expected to vote this week on a counterterrorism bill (H.R. 5611) that's getting most attention for GOP-crafted gun control language Democrats say is too weak. The measure has some travel-related provisions, too, though. The 24-page bill would bar the State Department from issuing passports to members of foreign terrorist organizations or people who have helped a terrorist group. And it would force the department to revoke passports given to folks who meet that description.
GOOGLE SHARES THE ROAD: Google released its monthly update this week on the tech giant's self-driving car project, highlighting the technology's adaptive respect for cyclists on the road. The company has trained its software to detect bikes of all sizes, to predict a cyclist's course and to recognize common biker behavior. "Our sensors can detect a cyclist's hand signals as an indication of an intention to make a turn or shift over," Google wrote. "Cyclists often make hand signals far in advance of a turn, and our software is designed to remember previous signals from a rider so it can better anticipate a rider's turn down the road."
Scrapes, no bruises: Two of Google's self-driving vehicles got into minor collisions on public roads in Austin, Texas, last month, the company reported. The cars were traveling in autonomous mode when they were tapped by other vehicles in two separate cases, but no injuries were reported at the scene of the accidents.
COCKPIT FIRE FOR EGYPTAIR: The cockpit voice recorder from the doomed EgyptAir flight that crashed over the Mediterranean in May suggests the crew was trying to put out a fire on board the plane just before it crashed, according to anonymous sourcescited by Reuters . This fits with earlier data the plane transmitted just before it crashed showing systems had detected problems with some cockpit windows, as well as smoke in the lavatory and in some of its avionics near the cockpit. What might have caused a fire remains unknown.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN SETTLES WITH LABOR: Norfolk Southern Corp. will pay almost $500,000 in back pay and interest to over 2,000 African-American job applicants so the company can settle allegations of hiring discrimination, the Labor Department announced Tuesday. Norfolk Southern - which did not admit liability - has landed contracts with the FHA, Navy, Air Force and Fish and Wildlife Service, Pro Labor and Employment's Marianne LeVine reports. The department found that Maintenance of Way #34, which services Virginia's rail tracks, had failed to give "a fair shot" to the people who applied for certain laborer positions at Norfolk Southern's facility in Roanoke.
MAKING MOVES: In case you missed it, Michele Gilliam and Lori D'Orazio were hired as deputy labor campaign directors for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Gilliam was a TWU Local 100 political organizer and New York political director for Bernie Sanders. D'Orazio previously worked for the AFL-CIO and UAW. TWU International President Harry Lombardo and Vice President and Transit Division Director Jerome Lafragola met with Gilliam and D'Orazio last week to talk about funding, Amtrak and airline contracts.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
- Elon Musk says autopilot death 'not material' to Tesla shareholders. Fortune.
- No charges against Edsel Ford II. Detroit Free Press.
- SafeTrack pushes Metro riders to try new commutes, form new habits. WAMU.
- Thieves go high-tech to steal cars. The Wall Street Journal.
- Philadelphia rail traffic disrupted by cracks in new trains. The New York Times.
- This cruise line is turning to God for survival. Bloomberg.
THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 88 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 10 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 125 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,550 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
12 p.m. - The CDC holds a conference call on a new report comparing U.S. crash death rates with other countries. For more information, call (404) 639-3286.
3 p.m. - The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International hosts a webinar on driverless cars.
Did we miss an event? Let MT know at transpocalendar@politicopro.com.
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/tipsheets/morning-transportation/2016/07/leaders-to-divulge-faa-patch-deets-018126
Stories from POLITICO Pro
Lawmakers nearing action on FAA extension Back
By Lauren Gardner | 07/05/2016 07:39 PM EDT
Lawmakers are nearing agreement on a bipartisan FAA extension that will keep the agency running through September 2017, members told POLITICO this evening.
Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington said minority staff will be briefed on the legislation on Wednesday, and GOP staff will brief Transportation Committee Republicans. The bill is expected on the floor Thursday or Friday.
GOP Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois said lawmakers were putting the "finishing touches" on the bill tonight.
Lawmakers eye omnibus as spending bills lag Back
By Ben Weyl and Matthew Nussbaum | 07/05/2016 05:06 AM EDT
As Congress prepares to hightail it out of here until September, lawmakers are set to leave their most fundamental constitutional duty - funding the government - almost entirely unfinished.
Officially, the House and Senate are still plowing through appropriations bills, and a few more might even get passed before Congress recesses next week. But the legislative window is closing rapidly, and most of the 12 spending measures will not have reached the floor of either chamber. The beginning of the end of this year's appropriations process has arrived.
"It's slowly grinding to a halt," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Lawmakers are now looking toward the same result that has existed for decades: a continuing resolution to keep the government afloat past the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 and another hated omnibus to fund the government in a single, $1 trillion bill.
Internal debate has already begun over how long a spending stopgap should last. Senior appropriators, like Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), are pushing to have any continuing resolution end by December, to allow Congress to pass an omnibus and finish the appropriations work by the end of the year. Some conservatives hope to have a continuing resolution stretch all the way to March, to avoid any action in a lame duck session. November's election results are sure to play a major role in whatever lawmakers decide.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment for those hoping for a successful appropriations process this year is that all the pieces were seemingly in place. Last year's bipartisan budget law established total spending levels, letting appropriators get to work writing bills even though Congress skipped passing a budget. There was also leadership buy-in, with both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan vowing to make passing spending bills a priority and evidence of the GOP's ability to govern.
But partisan clashes and a crowded calendar have led to the seemingly inevitable omnibus, with 12 bills wrapped into one. "Looking at history, there's probably a good chance, don't you think?" said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a longtime appropriator.
Many members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees try to look at the bright side, and said there was some real reason to cheer.
The Senate committee approved its twelfth and final bill last week, the fastest it has done so since 1988. Nearly all were approved on 30-0 votes - a testament to the committee's bipartisan nature, even in a sharply polarized moment. It's the second straight year, under Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), that the panel approved all 12 bills.
Things have also gone pretty smoothly in the House committee, which has moved 10 spending bills so far. The last two measures, to fund the State Department and the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education departments, are likely to be approved this month. That would be a nice going away present for Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), who is set to leave his post at the end of the year because of party term limits.
Shepherding appropriations bills through the floor, however, has been a far rockier experience.
Legislation to fund military construction and veterans programs passed the House only after GOP leadership convinced a handful of Republicans to switch their votes and oppose an amendment to protect LGBT employees of federal contractors from discrimination. "Shame! Shame!" Democrats shouted on the floor as the amendment went down. A week later, the amendment was adopted on a different bill funding energy and water programs - and then the bill was handily defeated as Republicans jumped ship.
To regain control and prevent Democrats from offering the same amendment to other spending bills, GOP leaders began restricting what amendments would see votes on the floor, a major reversal for Ryan, who had pledged to hold an open process on appropriations bills. The decision paved the way for passage of measures to fund the Pentagon and the legislative branch. House Republicans had hoped to pass the financial services appropriations bill last month, but postponed consideration after the Democrats seized the floor with a sit-in to protest the lack of action on gun control. The House could pass that bill this month, and perhaps the bill funding the Interior Department and EPA.
The Senate has largely avoided the chaos of the House, but it hasn't sent more bills to the finish line. The parties did work closely together to craft the dozen bills, adhering to the budget caps set last year and largely steering clear of conservative policy provisions that could draw Democratic filibusters.
The effort worked, for a while. The Senate passed three bills with strong bipartisan votes, to fund transportation and housing agencies; military construction and veterans programs; and energy and water programs. The bill to fund the Department of Justice also reached the floor, but it stalled over a heated fight over gun control, and McConnell sidelined it. Appropriations bills have also had to compete for floor time with other matters, including legislation to combat the Zika virus and to provide debt relief to Puerto Rico. One other spending bill that could still get passed before the Senate departs in mid-July is the Pentagon funding measure, which McConnell has moved to consider.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), another Appropriations Committee member, noted that the Senate didn't pass a single stand-alone appropriations bill last year, due to a Democratic blockade. "We're making progress," she said. "Not as much as I'd like."
Not a single appropriations bill has made it to President Barack Obama's desk. The only one that has a chance is the veterans funding measure, but that is attached to the Zika package, which has inflamed partisan divisions and will only consume more oxygen on Capitol Hill.
When lawmakers return after Labor Day, they will have less than four weeks before the fiscal year ends. That will not leave much time to pass other spending bills, though McConnell has said he would like to return to the appropriations process come September. Ryan, meanwhile, refuses to discuss the prospect of a continuing resolution, which will be necessary to avoid a government shutdown past Sept. 30.
"I don't want to start talking about CR's because then that means we're shortchanging the process," Ryan told reporters late last month, even as the process was running aground.
If Congress does pass an omnibus, the basis will be the 12 bills written by the House and Senate Committees, so all this year's work is not for naught.
But there's a growing sense that the entire system for funding the government - which was designed in the 1970s and has rarely worked as intended - needs an overhaul.
"I think we spend an awful lot of time sorting through a process that is by and large a fiction," Murphy said. "It might be better to admit that it is all in the service of an omnibus, rather than pretending like we're going to pass these bills."
American Airlines pays for faster TSA queues at hubs Back
By Jennifer Scholtes | 07/05/2016 12:31 PM EDT
American Airlines is footing the bill for new TSA equipment expected to speed checkpoint waits at its main hubs by automating some of the work security screeners now perform.
The agency announced the plan today as a "joint initiative" and told POLITICO that the airline will buy the technology and gift it to the federal government.
The purchase includes bigger x-ray bins, as well as equipment that returns those containers to the start of screening lines. The new equipment uses radio frequency identification to ensure the containers are accounted for, photographs the outside of carry-on luggage to link x-ray images to each bag's contents and diverts items that need further screening so the bins behind them aren't held up.
TSA says the equipment, which is already being used at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, is expected to speed checkpoint throughput by about 30 percent and will be set up this fall at Chicago O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Miami international airports.
The long-term goal, the agency says, is to use this kind of technology at all U.S. airports.
TSA Administrator Perter Neffenger said the agency's responsibility is to "keep passengers safe but also moving through security."
American Airlines and TSA also plan to do pilot testing of so-called "computed tomography" technology at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport by the end of the year to allow passengers to leave liquids and laptops in their bags.
Transportation company settles with Labor Department Back
By Marianne LeVine | 07/05/2016 04:07 PM EDT
Norfolk Southern Corp., a transportation company, has settled allegations of hiring discrimination against African-American job applicants within its engineering department, the Labor Department said today.
Norfolk Southern Corp. is a federal contractor. The company has had contracts with the Federal Highway Administration, the Navy, the Air Force and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Under an executive order issued by Lyndon B. Johnson, federal contractors may not discriminate against employees based on race or color.
To settle the Labor Department allegations, Norfolk Southern Corp. will pay close to $500,000 in back pay and interest to more than 2,000 African-American job applicants.
Norfolk Southern Corp. did not respond to a request for comment.