Infrastructure in the News: April 24, 2015
BAF IN THE NEWS
Bloomberg: Fed Meeting, GDP, Abe, Apple, Buffett: Week Ahead April 25-May 2
-U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx are among participants in the “America on the Move: Investing in U.S. Infrastructure” panel, hosted by Bloomberg Government in partnership with the Building America’s Future bipartisan coalition. 08:00 in Washington.
Billy Penn: Philly roads: Car commuters will lose three days of their lives to traffic every year
Ed Rendell, the former Pennsylvania governor who is now the co-chair of Building America’s Future, wants to start charging tolls on I-95 in Pennsylvania, noting neighboring states like Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland have I-95 tolls. At the transportation rally this month, he even tried to lead a chant about adding tolls to I-95 (it didn’t go over so well). Of course, Rendell didn’t say raising tolls was making the public pay more. He said, “Let’s pass revenue.”
WFAE: NC Officials Warn Of Lost Federal Transportation Funds
http://wfae.org/post/nc-officials-warn-lost-federal-transportation-funds
Caygle says the parties are already meeting about another short-term patch to keep federal transportation dollars flowing. Former Obama Administration transportation secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican, is skeptical.
“I think it’s very unlikely. I really do,” says LaHood.
He says the biggest problem is that the federal gas tax is too low, forcing Congress to keep finding other funding.
“The big pot of money that built America that built our interstate systems that run all throughout this region was built with the Highway Trust Fund. That’s funded through the gas tax that people pay when they buy a gallon of gasoline,” LaHood says. “Hasn’t been raised for 20 years. You can’t think of anything that hasn’t been raised in 20 years.”
NATIONAL NEWS
Equipment World: There are 90 transportation funding bills awaiting action across the U.S.
The American Road & Transportation Builder’s Association, through its Transportation Investment Advocacy Center (TIAC), reports that 26 state legislatures have a total of 90 introduced measures between them that would offer transportation project funding.
Thrillist: THE 9 WORST-DESIGNED CITIES IN THE WORLD
From sky-scraping metropoles to up-and-coming centers breaking the "large town" mold, cities come in all shapes and sizes. But with that diversity comes one simple truth: no city is perfect. They constantly evolve, much like living beings, but sometimes, their systems break down, too. Just ask anybody who's sat in a traffic jam or stood on an overloaded subway car.
New York Times: Families Ditch Cars for Cargo Bikes
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/style/families-ditch-cars-for-cargo-bikes.html?_r=1
When Dave Hoverman, 38, a business strategy consultant in Berkeley, Calif., goes to Costco on the weekends, he ditches his Audi Q7 and instead loads his four children into a Cetma cargo bike with a trailer hitched to the rear.
The American Conservative: Cities for People—or Cars?
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/cities-for-people-or-cars/
One hot summer day I walked through an old, neglected neighborhood, the kind of place where feral cats stalk mice in the weeds near cracked foundations. I carried a tape measure and clipboard, for measuring the width of the sidewalks, the spacing between trees, the length from the back of the curb to the front of the houses. I was channeling my inner New Urbanist, my desire to practice a primitive form of urban archaeology. I was attempting to discover deeper truths about what makes a city successful.
STATE NEWS
AP: Boston transit agency offers free rides because of snow woes
BOSTON — Boston’s embattled public transit agency is letting people ride for free for a day as a goodwill gesture following a winter of disastrous breakdowns.
Washington Post: Virginians near I-66 see the state’s plan for HOT lanes as a threat
The state of Virginia has different plans for adding high-occupancy toll lanes to Interstate 66 inside and outside the Capital Beltway. But this much is consistent: It must make a very convincing case that its congestion solutions aren’t just about charging tolls.
Gulf Live: Tampa bicycle laws: Feds to investigate why majority of bike tickets go to black residents
http://www.gulflive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/04/tampa_bicycle_laws_feds_to_inv.html
The U.S. Department of Justice will investigate why 79 percent of those ticketed for bicycle law violations in Tampa are black, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Washington Post: Maryland’s top highway, transit officials resign
Melinda Peters, the Maryland highway official who spearheaded construction of the Intercounty Connector, resigned Thursday from the state’s top highway post.
The Advocate: Streetcar line along Nicholson Drive corridor to get federal technical assistance
http://theadvocate.com/news/12187152-123/streetcar-line-along-nicholson-drive
Baton Rouge has been selected for a federal transportation department pilot program that will provide technical assistance in the development of the proposed streetcar line in the Nicholson Drive corridor.
WNYC: Audit: A Third of City's Express Buses Are Tardy
http://www.wnyc.org/story/audit-third-citys-express-buses-arent-time/
City comptroller Scott Stringer says express bus service isn't living up to its name.
Houston Public Media: TXDOT Releases Plans On Major Redesign Of I-45 In Downtown Houston
A series of public meetings begins Thursday night on plans to redesign I-45 between Beltway 8 North and downtown Houston. The biggest changes are planned for downtown Houston, where TxDOT is considering tearing down the Pierce Elevated and realigning the freeway.
NBC 10: Philadelphia's Bike Share Program Gets Going
Philadelphia's bike share program is finally rolling.
Mayor Michael Nutter launched the Indego system Thursday with a ceremonial ride in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Washington Post: Here’s what people want in a new Metro GM
The Metro board’s governance committee is receiving a report Thursday on what government and community leaders, along with riders and other interested parties, had to say about the type of general manager they want the transit authority to pick.
Washington Post: Metro announces 4 safety improvements after fatal tunnel incident
Metro said Thursday it will take several steps to improve safety in its rail system after a Jan. 12 electrical malfunction filled a subway tunnel with noxious fumes, sickening scores of passengers, one of whom died of smoke inhalation.
Washington Post: D.C. to retime hundreds of traffic signals
The District Department of Transportation plans to begin a month-long program aimed at one of drivers’ top complaints: the timing of traffic signals.
Washington Post: Hogan will sign body camera bill, remains noncommittal on Purple Line
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Thursday that he plans to sign a bill to establish policies for jurisdictions where police officers wear body camerasand another measure to study the number of standardized tests that students are required to take.
POLITICO MORNING TRANSPORTATION
By Jennifer Scholtes | 4/24/15 5:43 AM EDT
With help from Heather Caygle.
DOT DETAILS NEW SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: Rejoice — the name of DOT’s latest program is only half-caps. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has just laid out the department’s new LadderSTEP program to help seven cities “foster sustainable economic development related to planned transportation projects.” Through the new pilot program, DOT will provide Atlanta, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Phoenix and Richmond with technical assistance “to help promote thoughtful planning and economic growth.” Check out the list of organizations interested in helping: http://1.usa.gov/1PrMRIX.
SHUSTER IN THE CLEAR WITH GOP LEADERS?: It doesn’t appear House T&I Chairman Bill Shuster will have to worry about the wrath of the GOP’s head honchos in carrying on his romantic relationship with a top lobbyist. Speaker John Boehner kept his lips zipped this week about the chairman’s relationship but expressed confidence in the steps Shuster has taken to ensure he isn’t breaking any lobbying laws by dating Shelley Rubino, vice president for global government affairs at Airlines for America, a group that spends millions of dollars trying to influence his panel’s legislative work. “I’m not going to discuss Mr. Shuster’s relationship with anyone,” Boehner said. “But I’m also very comfortable that the proper procedures were put in place to avoid a public professional conflict of interest.” That story from POLITICO’s Jake Sherman: http://politi.co/1yTldAh. A refresher on the chairman’s complicated romance: http://politi.co/1b7skL1.
I’M FRIDAY — WANNA COME OVER SATURDAY AND HAVE A SUNDAY? Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Keeping us amused this week, one MT reader writes: “I love that Sen. [Martin] Heinrich rides the Metro to work like a regular guy. And nobody bothers him. Is that a sign he’s a first-term senator in minority?” Mind you, this is the same lawmaker who just this month decided to repay nearly $2,000 he’d expensed for taxi or ride-share costs that, at second glance, “could not be definitively identified as … for official purposes.” USA Today’s Paul Singer scored that scoop last week: http://usat.ly/1aDCgdW
Reach out: @jascholtes or jscholtes@politico.com.
“Or caught in morning traffic when you’ve really gotta go? — Oh no!” http://bit.ly/1OiUkwN
T&I LEADERS INTRODUCE COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION: House T&I leaders introduced their biannual Coast Guard authorization bill Thursday, aiming to require the service to get another icebreaker on the water and prepare to use the C-27J aircraft the agency inherited from the Air Force. The measure would entitle the Coast Guard’s ranks to the same benefits as its DOD counterparts and align the agency’s leadership structure with that of the military branches, in an effort to improve coordination among the services. It would also ramp up requirements that cargo financed by the federal government be shipped on U.S.-flagged vessels.
Congress just passed its last Coast Guard authorization in December after lawmakers came to agreement on a Senate amendment that would extend for three years a moratorium on discharge permits for fishing vessels.
Hard-up icebreakers: The lawmakers are again calling on the Coast Guard to assess whether it makes sense to revive one of its nearly 40-year-old icebreakers, since the service doesn’t have the money to build a brand new vessel and has only two operational icebreakers that are capable of sailing in the Arctic and Antarctic right now. The ship in question — the Polar Sea — suffered critical engine failure in 2010, and the Coast Guard stripped the cutter of parts to rebuild its sister ship, the Polar Star.
The bill: http://1.usa.gov/1Oj1YXP. Legislative summary: http://1.usa.gov/1Jzuhun.
BLUMENTHAL PROPOSES TAXING ADD-ON AIRLINE FEES: Sen. Richard Blumenthal wants to tax the add-on fees airlines charge -- for things like checked bags or food -- to raise money for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Not collecting those taxes, he said Thursday, “means that the federal government is in effect losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that could go to our airports and improving their economic contribution to the nation.” Our Kathryn A. Wolfe describes the spat Blumenthal prompted between those representing the airlines and those who back the airports: http://politico.pro/1OMrAY3.
HOUSE ADDS PORTS ASSESSMENT TO CYBER BILL: In passing cybersecurity legislation out ofthe House on Thursday, lawmakers also signed off on an additional requirement that the Department of Homeland Security pinpoint cybersecurity vulnerabilities at the nation’s most at-risk ports. The amendment, offered by Rep. Janice Hahn, was adopted by voice vote. “The threat of a cyberattack on the networks that manage the flow of U.S. commerce at our ports is real,” Hahn said in a statement following passage of the bill. “I know that a significant disruption at our ports cripples our economy.”
More from Pro’s Tal Kopan on the cybersecurity bill’s prospects: http://politico.pro/1Oj3Ks7. The bill: http://1.usa.gov/1JzFbQL. The ports amendment: http://1.usa.gov/1JzF4EV.
METRO TAKES NEW SAFETY STEPS: Metro has decided to change a few of its safety protocols following the deadly smoke incident earlier this year, looking into the process for testing ventilation systems, creating a new maintenance crew to keep trash out of passageways and ensuring tunnel lights get fixed or replaced. More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1zSrEyK.
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED: Some are questioning the generosity of Southwest Airlines in its commitment to working with the Project for Public Spaces to hand out grants to help six U.S. cities recreate public spaces. In Milwaukee, the airline and the nonprofit group are providing $200,000 to redesign a downtown parking lot. And the local newspaper there, the Daily Reporter, reports that “at the same time, a public interest group is questioning whether closing tax loopholes used legally by the airline and other companies would offer a better way of paying for public spaces. … In two out of the past six years, the company has found ways to ‘zero out’ its federal income taxes.” More from the Daily Reporter: http://bit.ly/1QqdUFH.
MT MAILBAG: Seven unions that represent pieces of the FAA’s workforce have written to leaders of House T&I and its Aviation Subcommittee asking them not to privatize the agency or move its air traffic control functions to another entity. “We do not agree that a massive change to the FAA’s structure is the solution to the funding problem,” they write. “Instead, we urge lawmakers to develop a plan that addresses the FAA’s need for stable funding free of the threat of sequestration.” Read the letter for yourself: http://politico.pro/1JiBHWm.
MOVING ON UP: Eric Beightel has just left his post as a senior environmental policy adviser at DOT to join Parsons Brinckerhoff. At the engineering and design firm, he will be associate director of the federal environmental policy practice, advising clients on federal environmental review for transportation infrastructure development. Before his last job with DOT, Beightel was a policy adviser at OMB and an environmental protection specialist at the Federal Highway Administration.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Study: Self-driving 'taxibots' could replace 9 in 10 cars. AP: http://abcn.ws/1GnZ4tM
— A poet’s take on NYC’s MTA funding shortfall. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1DoY859
— Illness on flight diverted to New York “a big mystery.” AP: http://yhoo.it/1bz4WX5
— Speed cameras may be hated by drivers, but reduced ticket revenue is a sign they’re working. Route Fifty: http://bit.ly/1yUFZ2z
— How do we protect New York City’s pedestrians? The New York Times Magazine: http://nyti.ms/1Evw06a
— Christie's bridge scandal campaign debt nears $900,000. National Journal: http://bit.ly/1DoZnRD
— General Motors’ recalls last year won’t soon be forgotten, especially with the company’s first-quarter report containing a by-the-numbers breakdown. AP: http://bit.ly/1PpEGN2
— Trek Bicycle Corp. has recalled approximately 1 million bikes after reports of rider injuries, and one rider who was paralyzed. NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/1Gn0nMw
— A guide-dog discrimination lawsuit against Uber will move forward. CityLab: http://bit.ly/1GnCFNo
— Trucking company involved in fatal Georgia crash has dozens of citations. WSB-TV Atlanta: http://bit.ly/1EwBkpN
— Whether or not millennials are buying cars is beside the point. CityLab: http://bit.ly/1GmEDxn
— Union Pacific earnings rise, cargo volume drops. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1ExbQIS
— Maryland’s top highway, transit officials resign. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1JzZyxs
— The perennial debate over how much federal funding should go to mass transit is raging again. CityLab: http://bit.ly/1OKM2IV
— Oregon bill would let motorcyclists drive between cars during jams. AP: http://bit.ly/1GoA88e
— Southwest earnings surge on higher demand, low fuel prices. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1Ojk2RE
— What people want in a new Metro general manager. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1zSQ6zZ
— Union Pacific earnings rise, cargo volume drops. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1ExbQIS
— Southwest earnings surge on higher demand, low fuel prices. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1Ojk2RE
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 37 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 159 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 565 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
9 a.m. — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration holds a meeting on minimum training requirements for entry-level drivers of commercial motor vehicles. 800 Independence Ave. SW.
9:30 a.m. — The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board holds a meeting of the Rail Vehicles Access Advisory Committee on revising and updating accessibility guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act for transportation vehicles that operate on fixed guideway systems. 1331 F St. NW.
11 a.m. — The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International hosts a teleconference to discuss its comments on the FAA’s proposed rulemaking on small unmanned aircraft systems. Teleconference dial-in: 844-808-4692. Conference ID: 34478982.
SATURDAY:
7:30 a.m. — The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and The Arc of Northern Virginia join with airport partners to simulate a typical airport travel experience for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Dulles Airport, ticketing level.
Have a great weekend.
Stories from POLITICO Pro
House passes info sharing bill, ball in Senate court
House passes info sharing bill, ball in Senate court back
By Tal Kopan | 4/23/15 7:04 PM EDT
The House passed cybersecurity legislation Thursday — for the second Congress in a row sending the Senate a clear message: Your move.
The difference? House GOP leadership can’t blame Democrats if the bill stalls again.
Instead, this go around will be the first attempt in three Congresses to pass major cybersecurity legislation with Republican leadership in the Senate as well as the House.
House Republican leaders have been taking a victory lap on the bills all week, even before their ultimate passage Wednesday and Thursday. Both House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy put out statements praising their body for bringing bipartisan cyberthreat information sharing legislation to the floor, both iterations of the bill passing by wide margins.
“Republicans have led efforts to bolster America’s cybersecurity while protecting citizens’ privacy,” Boehner wrote at the start of the week, referring to House cyber efforts dating back to when he took the gavel in 2011. “Unfortunately, Senate Democrats did nothing,” he added.
But despite pledges from Senate leaders, the timeline for bringing information sharing to the upper chamber continues to slip.
When the Senate bill, CISA, advanced from the Senate Intelligence Committee in March (before any House bills were marked up), Chairman Richard Burr said the goal was to have the bill on the floor after the Easter/Passover recess in mid-April. Now, insiders say the best case scenario for cyber is likely to be May.
“I think it’s one of those things where we probably will take up in the near future,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) told POLITICO. “We [confirmed Attorney General-designate Loretta] Lynch today, we’ll do Iran and we’ll do probably trade, and I would think [cyber]’s probably one of the candidates for being next in line.”
Senate leaders insist the issue will still be top of mind. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid predicted the Senate will take up the Intelligence Committee’s bill before Memorial Day, when Congress next takes a recess.
“We have a few things to do first. I think [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell wants to do it this work period and so do I,” Reid said, regarding information sharing. “We’re committed to doing [a bill].”
The House Intelligence and Homeland Security committees each drafted versions of cyberthreat information sharing bills that sailed through the body this week, 307-116 and 355-63, respectively. The debate was almost entirely laudatory and the limited amendments allowed for consideration sped through mostly on voice votes.
The vote total was even stronger than the April 2013 vote on the bills’ predecessor, CISPA, which passed 288-127 before the Edward Snowden revelations vaulted surveillance into Americans’ consciousness.
Democrats in the House were eager to point out that if this bill doesn’t succeed, no one can blame their party’s leadership in the Senate.
“When the shoe’s on the other foot, it’s an opportunity for those people who have been critical to demonstrate leadership,” said House Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). “This is an opportunity for Republican leadership in the Senate to take care of business, and if not, then it would be a failure on their part to do so.”
“I don’t think that problem was with the Democratic Senate in the last session, I think the problem was there were still significant privacy issues that had yet to be resolved, but we have largely resolved them,” said Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who voted against CISPA in 2013 but developed and strongly supported his committee’s bill. “I think we’re looking at a very likely passage and … I’m optimistic we’ll get to the goal line this year.”
But the calendar in the Senate is not information sharing’s friend. Lawmakers have to finish up a bill on the Iran nuclear deal, giving the president "fast-track" trade authority, reach a deal on the budget with the House, and then there are deadlines fast approaching like transportation policy authorization and perhaps the biggest wild card for information sharing: the sunset of the U.S.’s surveillance authorities at the end of May.
And the most determined opponent of the Senate information sharing bill written by the Intelligence Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), pledged Thursday that he would not let the bill sail through the upper chamber as easily as it did on the other side of the Capitol.
“When this bill comes to the floor of the U.S. Senate, this is going to be a robust debate,” Wyden pledged Thursday morning at an event put on by the Computer and Communications Industry Association. “And it is going to take a fair amount of time, this is not, on my watch, going to be a bill that flies through the United States Senate lickety-split.”
Wyden has major concerns with the privacy protections in the bill, which he calls a surveillance bill by another name. He said those reservations have only gotten stronger since he was the sole no vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s markup of CISA.
The PATRIOT Act and its surveillance authorities will expire June 1, already setting up a debate in Congress over surveillance. On Tuesday, McConnell introduced a bill to reauthorize the controversial act with no changes — angering privacy advocates and moderates who wanted a healthy debate over the provisions. That could help bring supporters on both sides of the aisle to Wyden’s cause, he acknowledged to POLITICO later Thursday.
“Given the fact that we came within three votes of major reform [last year], for the Senate Republican leadership to now say we’ll go backward and defend domestic surveillance as a simple reauthorization would do, that’s pretty jarring stuff,” Wyden said.
Already in the House, some Republicans joined Democrats’ concerns over the bill. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) took to the floor during Democrats’ time to debate the rule on the bills on Wednesday as one of only a handful of lawmakers who got to speak out against the bill.
On Thursday, he said it’s not surprising both support and opposition for the bill is bipartisan.
“The collection of data, your personal information, and the potential misuse by your government cross party lines,” Issa aid. “Some Democrats are willing to give up your privacy for security, some Republicans are willing to give up your privacy for security. … I’m hoping that the Senate will begin erring more toward protecting the American people’s privacy in a cyber world and not simply assume that because we cannot stop cyberattacks, there is no privacy.”
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said lawmakers intentionally moved cybersecurity quickly to the floor to avoid a surveillance proxy fight.
“The plan was we were going to do these on separate tracks, which is why we’re doing this now; [surveillance reform] comes later,” McCaul said. “I think we successfully persuaded the members that this [information sharing bill] is not a surveillance bill.”
And if the Senate doesn’t pass it, House Republicans can’t blame Democrats, he acknowledged.
“Then the Senate as an institution [will be] to blame, because it doesn’t work very quickly,” McCaul said. “I certainly hope they would at least pass our House Intel and Homeland Security bills, pass it through the Senate and send it to the White House, because I have assurances the White House will sign those into law.”back
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Airlines brush off taxing ancillary fees
4/23/15 1:26 PM EDT
The spat between airports and airlines over raising passenger facility charges spilled over into a separate talk about subjecting airlines’ ancillary fees to federal taxes, during a Senate Commerce hearing on airport financing and investment today.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked witnesses whether taxing airlines’ growing pot of revenues from ancillary fees would be a reasonable way to raise more money for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which is fueled primarily by excise taxes on aviation fuel and passengers’ tickets. The Treasury Department has ruled that add-on fees such as those for checked bags or food do not qualify as part of the “base price” of a ticket, and therefore is outside the scope of the tax.
That, Blumenthal said, “means that the federal government is in effect losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that could go to our airports and improving their economic contribution to the nation. Shouldn’t there be federal excise taxes on funds that are raised from bag checking and all these other ancillary fees?” he asked.
Todd Hauptli, president and CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives, was quick to answer, saying taxing those items has been his board’s position for the past two years. He said since 2008 airlines have collected $20 billion in baggage fees alone, which means foregone revenue for federal coffers of about $1.5 billion in the absence of taxation.
“I completely agree with you on that point,” Hauptli said.
Sharon Pinkerton, testifying for Airlines for America, responded by saying it’s “unfortunate that the airport community chooses to attack bag fees as opposed to talk about what we’re trying to talk about at this hearing.” She said airport revenues and trust fund revenues are at record levels and that “we don’t have a revenue problem fortunately.”
— Kathryn A. Wolfe
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52314
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Seven FAA unions write against privatizing air traffic control
4/23/15 11:39 AM EDT
Seven unions that represent pieces of the FAA’s workforce have written to House authorizers asking them not to privatize the agency or move its air traffic control functions to another entity.
The unions, which include the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, which represents air traffic control technicians and others, say they are opposed to privatization, either through a for-profit or not-for-profit company. However, they also write that they “recognize that FAA funding must be addressed and that this may involve some restructuring.” They also ask lawmakers to focus instead on ensuring a “stable and secure funding stream.”
The comments largely track with those made earlier this week by Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, who said NATCA would oppose “oppose any model that derives profit from air traffic control services.” But he also said the “status quo is unacceptable” and that the next FAA bill “must provide a predictable, stable funding stream” even if that means “consideration of structural changes for the FAA.”
The letter to the leadership of the House Transportation Committee and its aviation subcommittee is signed by the American Federation of Government Employees, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the National Association of Government Employees, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the Professional Association of Aeronautical Center Employees and Professional Aviation Safety Specialists.
— Kathryn A. Wolfe
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52291
POLITICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Metro announces new safety measures following January accident
4/23/15 10:42 AM EDT
Metro is implementing some new safety measures following an investigation into the deadly smoke incident in a L'Enfant Plaza tunnel earlier this year.
The new safety steps include a multiyear program to replace or rehabilitate all tunnel lights, auditing the process for testing ventilation systems and creating a new maintenance crew dedicated to keeping tunnel passageways unobstructed and clear of trash.
Metro Deputy General Manager Rob Troup said the safety actions resulted from the NTSB's ongoing investigation into the accident but were not formal recommendations from the safety agency.
"While we remain committed to taking any actions recommended by the NTSB in their final investigation report, we are not waiting to make safety improvements where we see opportunities," Troup said in a statement.
A preliminary NTSB report released shortly after the accident identified radio interoperability and ventilation problems within the L'Enfant Plaza tunnel as contributors to January's incident.
— Heather Caygle
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52279