BAF IN THE NEWS:
Former Governor Rendell Live On Good Day
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/23045169/former-governor#ixzz2bx00Eueu
Sick of getting stuck on the Schuylkill? There's now an app for that, and its free!
NATIONAL NEWS:
Washington Post: ‘There is no redeeming feature of the Hyperloop.’
In a post yesterday, I was mildly skeptical of the Hyperloop — Elon Musk’s wild proposal for public transportation that involves shooting people through tubes at high speeds. Musk claims the system could replace California’s proposed high-speed rail line for a tenth the cost, or just $6 billion. That seemed unlikely, for a variety of reasons.
CNN: Hyperloop isn't the only transportation idea out there
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/12/travel/transportation-ideas-of-the-future
(CNN) -- With his Hyperloop proposal, Elon Musk isn't the only entrepreneur proposing ways to rev up American transportation.
DOT Fast Lane: FRA Issues RFP for American-made Locomotives
http://www.dot.gov/fastlane/FRA%20Issues%20RFP%20for%20American-made%20Locomotives
In May, Nippon Sharyo expanded its railcar assembly plant in Rochelle, Illinois by 330,000 square-feet creating 80 new jobs in the process, on top of the 250 created when the plant opened less than a year earlier.
NPR: 10 Years After The Blackout, How Has The Power Grid Changed?
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/14/210620446/10-years-after-the-blackout-how-has-the-power-grid-changed
Ten years ago a sagging power line hit a tree near Cleveland, tripping some circuit breakers. To compensate, power was rerouted to a nearby line, which began to overheat and sink down into another tree, tripping another circuit. The resulting cascade created a massive blackout in the Northeast U.S., affecting power in eight states and part of Canada.
Bloomberg: North Dakota Oil Boom Seen Adding Costs for Rail Safety
Crude oil shipped by railroad from North Dakota is drawing fresh scrutiny from regulators concerned that the cargo is adding environmental and safety hazards, something that analysts say could raise costs.
Governing: Amtrak Sets Monthly Ridership Record
http://www.governing.com/blogs/fedwatch/gov-amtrak-sets-monthly-ridership-record.html
Amtrak officials announced today that it set an all-time monthly ridership record in July, with more than 2.9 million passengers riding its trains.
Oil Price: Trucks, Trains, or Pipelines – The Best Way to Transport Petroleum
The U.S. is the most fully developed petroleum transport nation – we have crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel and jet fuel in transit 24/7/365 – mostly in pipelines. Lives lost are rare and environmental damage while awful at leak locations is a tiny amount of the total product moved.
Railway Age: STB schedules hearing on mandatory competitive switching
The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled an Oct. 22, 2013 public hearing to explore issues surrounding the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) petition to modify the Board’s standards for mandatory competitive switching.
BLOOMBERG: Canada Suspends License of Railroad in Quebec Disaster
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., whose runaway oil train exploded and killed 47 people in a Quebec town last month, had its operating certificate suspended by Canada’s transportation regulator.
REUTERS: Canada to shut down rail firm involved in Quebec town disaster
http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCABRE97C0JW20130813?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will shut down the rail operator whose tanker train blew up in a Quebec town last month, killing 47 people, because the firm does not have enough insurance to pay clean-up costs and other damages, a government regulator said on Tuesday.
ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE: Schumer, Richards: Obama could learn a few things in Rochester
President Barack Obama may skip Rochester when he tours upstate New York later this month, but at least one influential federal official thinks a visit to the city would be worth his time.
Citizens for Modern Transit: Riding Public Transportation Saves Individual s $9,743 a Year According to Most Recent APTA Report
Bike and BusAPTA’s June Transit Savings Report shows that individuals who take public transportation rather than driving can save, on average, more than $812 this month, and $9,743 over the course of a year.
Washington Post: LaHood lands post-Cabinet gig
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2013/08/13/lahood-lands-post-cabinet-gig/
For a guy who knows roads, former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood isn’t taking Easy Street on his first job since leaving the Cabinet.
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Your daily jolt: Spending debate has 'gummed up' U.S. transportation, says secretary
Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx on Monday encouraged Congress to take up President Barack Obama’s offer to trade corporate tax reform for increased spending on the nation’s infrastructure as a means of juicing the economy.
STATE NEWS:
Washington Post: AP: Report: New Yorkers have longest commute in country, 13 minutes longer than national average
NEW YORK — New Yorkers have the longest commute in the nation.
Transportation Nation: D.C. Taxi Regulators Vs. Uber — Again!
http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transportation-nation/2013/aug/13/dc-regulators-vs-uber-again/
In Washington, D.C. Uber livery cabs have been a separate category from regular, metered taxi cabs. That has changed. And it is sparking a new round of regulatory showdowns.
The Post-Standard: Schumer to DOT: Take flawed oil tanker cars off Syracuse freight rail lines
Washington - In a sweep across Upstate New York today, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer joined local officials in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo to call attention to railroad tanker cars that he says are prone to hazardous spills.
Progressive Railroading: Key freight access project under way at Washington state port; rail volume spike overwhelms Virginia port
The Port of Vancouver USA recently announced that the second phase, or "crown jewel," of the West Vancouver Freight Access (WVFA) project is under way in Vancouver, Wash.
Progressive Railroading: Congress signs off on $189 million for Houston light-rail expansion
Congress has appropriated $189 million for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County's METRORail expansion projects in Houston, authority officials announced yesterday.
Transportation Issues Daily: Seattle Airport Project Will Eliminate Emissions of 8000 Cars. Annually.
Sea-Tac Airport is changing how it cools and heats planes at the gate, which will reduce emissions and fuel use. The Seattle area airport will deliver Pre-Conditioned Air (PC Air) through a centralized plant to aircraft during boarding and deplaning. No longer will planes have to use their auxiliary power, which emit CO2 gases and other emissions and add to airline fuel costs. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
Politico Morning Transportation
By Paige Winfield Cunningham | 8/14/13 5:50 AM EDT
Featuring Kevin Robillard
BLOWUP: DOJ’s lawsuit to block the American Airlines-US Airways merger has turned what once was viewed as a reasonably sure thing into a question mark. The complaint spends some time on competitiveness issues with the merged entity’s route networks, but the most striking part of the suit is just how much it focuses on the macro effects of one more merger on the airline industry — something Democrats have practically begged the agency to do with other airline mergers with no luck. I drill down into the details and blow up the history for Pros, here (http://politico.pro/16JhwdN). Also, take a gander at the DOJ’s complaint (http://politico.pro/19fXF89) and a partial transcript of a DOJ conference call with reporters to discuss the suit (http://1.usa.gov/1d4oxdL).
LITTLE AIRPORT, BIG FIGHT: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which seems to make a cameo in almost every major aviation fight with some policy implication, is held out in the suit as an example of what DOJ says is the extreme market dominance the merged entities would have. Kevin has much more in his story for Pros: http://politico.pro/1a2Bkhe
GRIZZLE TO EXIT: Say hasta la vista to David Grizzle, the COO of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization. Grizzle’s leaving the FAA for the private sector. But dry your eyes — he won’t be gone until December. We wish Grizzle all the best.
WELCOME WEDNESDAY. Thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes and automobiles. Today’s my last day as your MT ice cream woman, so please scoop all your sweetest tips and news into Adam’s inbox once more, starting now. Email him at asnider@politico.com; follow him at @AdamKSnider or @POLITICOPro. I’m still on the job, though, so reach out any time — I'm always good for coffee: kwolfe@politico.com.
“I killed all my nerves (my nerves). What swerves? I can’t drive so steady …” http://bit.ly/19fFuzq
A CASE OF THE RECESS: Hill reaction to the AMR-US Airways merger lawsuit has been muted so far, no doubt because everyone is on vacation. Those who did speak up mostly have confined their comments to declarations of vigilantly watching what happens. That includes Rep. Frank LoBiondo (he says DOJ’s concerns “must be thoroughly addressed”) and Sen. Mike Lee (he says “by focusing its case on the effect of the transaction on competition and consumers, the Department is applying the proper criteria”). Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s staff pointed me back to a statement he gave in conjunction with a June hearing (http://1.usa.gov/19r1OcZ); Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee that oversees antitrust matters, also recounted a hearing her subcommittee held.
HILL TAKEAWAY: It seems unlikely that lawmakers will try to legislate on the topic while a court case is pending, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be watching closely and making their feelings known.
PILOTS UPSET: The Allied Pilots Association and the Air Line Pilots Association were a lot more exercised about the DOJ’s bombshell — not surprising, considering that organized labor is arrayed in favor of the merger. ALPA President Lee Moak told me that ALPA will “aggressively support” the merger on the Hill and in the courts.
WALL STREET UNSETTLED: News of trouble with the merger sent stocks for the two airlines plummeting, with American taking the brunt of the punishment. American’s stock closed down 45 percent for the day, and US Airways’ was down by 13 percent.
ANOTHER MONTH, ANOTHER AMTRAK RECORD: That’s right — watch for Amtrak to announce record-breaking ridership numbers for July later this morning. Year-over-year ridership for July grew 4.8 percent to more than 2.9 million passengers. Amtrak is on pace to exceed its annual ridership from last year too, according to information provided to POLITICO.
** A message from POWERJobs: New jobs on our radar this week: Network Designer at The Boeing Company, Optical Sensor Modeling Engineer at TASC and Business Analyst at Evolver. Interested? Apply to these jobs and more at POWERJobs.com; finally, a career site made for YOU! **
OBERSTAR + FOXX: I caught up with former House T&I Chairman Jim Oberstar and asked if he’d had a chance to see Anthony Foxx at his new Navy Yard pad. “I thought about calling and saying ‘I’d like to talk to you,’ but — let him get on the ground, get his feet wet first, and then I’ll try to get together and share what my experiences have been, and see if there’s anything I can do to help,” Oberstar told me. Sounds like a date.
HOUSE THUD SCAN — Designees are A-OK: House appropriators use the THUD bill to come out strongly in favor of the FAA’s program that delegates aspects of aircraft certification to private sector reps, saying it’s “a longstanding and essential practice in aviation.” The FAA’s designee program has been in use for decades, and the administration supports its continuance — but it’s come in for a fair bit of scrutiny lately, following the 787 Dreamliner smoke and fire issues.
— Equipage: One of the problems associated with the transition to NextGen is the perception that airlines that equip their planes first with the avionics necessary to communicate with NextGen will end up at a competitive disadvantage compared to those who wait — it's been called the “last mover advantage.” That’s because until a certain percentage of the fleet has the equipment, airlines won’t see much of NextGen’s benefits, but they’ll certainly be out the equipment costs. The FAA is trying to entice airlines to equip early by saying those who are “best equipped” will get prioritized by air traffic control — but there are questions about what that means in practice. With that in mind, House appropriators are asking the FAA to pick up the pace on defining how “Best Equipped, Best Served” will work and to “clearly explain how users will receive measurable benefit” from early adoption.
— Revenue Diversions: Appropriators are also casting a gimlet eye on what the bill says is a “historical pattern” of airports diverting federal airport revenues for “non-airport purposes” — primarily siphoning the money off to boost municipal or county coffers. Appropriators want the FAA to “prioritize revenue diversion enforcement,” particularly at habitually offending airports.
THIS YEAR'S HOT CHRISTMAS PRESENT: ... is a drone test site, naturally. So far 24 states have submitted proposals to the FAA to have an Unmanned Aerial System test site in their states, hoping it will boost the local economy and help them get a toehold in what the UAS industry thinks will be the next big thing in aviation. The FAA will select just six test sites — the agency hopes to reveal which locations make the cut by year’s end. Leigh Munsil tackles the issue for Pros: http://politico.pro/123eWzl
HYPERLOOP VS. HSR: Critics of California’s high-speed rail plans seized on Elon Musk’s cutting remarks about the proposed rail line — made as part of Monday’s big Hyperloop reveal — to take their own potshots at the HSR. Chief among them is Rep. Jeff Denham, a sharp critic of California’s plans. “If Musk’s hyperloop technology works, it’ll be a vast improvement over the current high speed rail proposal in California,” Denham told POLITICO in a statement. Kevin outlines the push-pull for Pros: http://politico.pro/16atiyP
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)
- California pension changes may mean billions of federal transportation dollars lost. SacBee: http://bit.ly/167BOyo
- Cory Booker gets one step closer to the Senate seat left open by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Katie Glueck for POLITICO: http://politi.co/14vKquX
- Timeline shows NYC CitiBike’s bumpy start. WNYC: http://wny.cc/16Nkf7U
- “Hyperloop — a theoretical 760 mph transit system made of sun, air and magnets.” Ars Technica: http://ars.to/15zV9Vc
- Who needs a U-lock when you have a subterranean bike parking system? Watch how it works in Japan via PBH2: http://bit.ly/1bsKO33
THE DAY AHEAD: All day — Safe Routes to School conference. Sacramento, Calif.
3 p.m. — National Complete Streets coalition celebrates the adoption of the 500th Complete Streets policy in the United States. American Public Transportation Association, 1666 K St. NW; or view a webcast here: http://bit.ly/16gszP2
THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding and passenger rail policy both run out in 48 days. Surface transportation policy is up in 413 days and FAA policy in 778 days. The mid-term elections are in 457 days.
CABOOSE — With all the hyperventilating over Hyperloop, I couldn’t resist closing MT with The Onion’s take: a “superfast” tube-and-pod system powered by human screams. “’With zero negative effects on the environment, the Hyperloop could cut travel times in half, or even by two-thirds, depending on how loud passengers’ shrieks and pleas for help are,’ said Musk, adding that special turbines will convert the horrified screams of its riders into kinetic energy, which would then propel the capsule at record speeds toward its final destination.” The illustration to go with the story is almost as funny: http://onion.com/1a2LMoP
** A message from POWERJobs: Tap into the power of POWERJOBS for the newest job opportunities in the Washington area from the area’s top employers, including TASC, Visa, METRO and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Powered by names you trust — POLITICO, WTOP, WJLA/ABC-TV, NewsChannel 8 and Federal News Radio — POWERJOBS is the ultimate career site with more than 2 million job searches and nearly 17,000 applications submitted this year so far. Connect through Facebook or LinkedIn, search jobs by industry and set up job-specific email alerts using POWERJobs.com, the site for Washington’s top talent. **
Politico Pro: Could Musk throw high-speed rail for a Hyperloop?
By Kevin Robillard | 8/14/13 5:22 AM EDT
California’s high-speed rail project, already beset by delays, cost overruns and GOP criticism, has a new challenger: the Hyperloop.
For Republicans and interest groups looking to stop construction of the stimulus-funded project connecting San Diego and Sacramento, entrepreneur Elon Musk’s futuristic transportation vision is yet another reason to oppose high-speed rail.
Musk contends a Hyperloop could transport people from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes by shooting them through massive steel tubes at speeds exceeding 700 mph while they’re enclosed in aluminum pods — much faster and cheaper than the rail project. And while Musk doesn’t actually intend to build a Hyperloop anytime soon, the concept is intriguing to high-speed rail critics like California Rep. Jeff Denham.
“If Musk’s Hyperloop technology works, it’ll be a vast improvement over the current high-speed rail proposal in California, where costs have more than doubled, estimated travel speeds have slowed, and potential ridership numbers have decreased,” said Denham, the Republican chairman of the House Railroads Subcommittee, in a statement to POLITICO. “Musk has a track record of success with Tesla and seems to be doing great things with SpaceX. I wouldn’t want to be the one to bet against him.”
But supporters of high-speed rail argue that the PayPal and Tesla founder has drastically underestimated the ease and cost of constructing his sci-fi mass transit system.
Musk said the Hyperloop concept was born out of his frustration with California’s high-speed rail proposals.
“How could it be that the home of Silicon Valley and JPL — doing incredible things like indexing all the world’s knowledge and putting rovers on Mars — would build a bullet train that is both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world?” Musk wrote in a blog post Monday introducing details of his Hyperloop concept. In an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Musk added that California’s rail project would end up costing $100 billion and would take too long to construct.
According to Musk, the advantages of the Hyperloop compared with the rail project are almost limitless. It’s cheaper ($6 billion-$10 billion versus an estimated $70 billion) and faster (a 35-minute trip compared with a 150-minute one) and could be built more quickly. (Musk says the Hyperloop could be done in a decade. The final leg of the rail project is expected to be completed in 2029.)
While Musk says he’s plenty busy with his existing business ventures, and no government or private entity has publicly expressed interest in the Hyperloop, Musk has given high-speed rail opponents a theoretical alternative.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority welcomed Musk’s challenge, while noting his optimistic outlook on construction.
“California is the home to innovation, which is why people like Elon Musk start and build their companies here. New technology ideas are always worth consideration,” authority Chairman Dan Richard said in a statement. “The more green options Californians have for safe and speedy travel in the future, the better.”
He added, “If and when Mr. Musk pursues his Hyperloop technology, we’ll be happy to share our experience about what it really takes to build a project in California, across seismic zones, minimizing impacts on farms, businesses and communities and protecting sensitive environmental areas and species.”
High-speed rail’s defenders and Hyperloop skeptics have pointed out that Musk seems to be ignoring loads of potential problems. While Musk believes that building along the Interstate 5 corridor will minimize “not-in-my-backyard”-style local opposition, rail advocates also once counted on easily acquiring the land needed to build their project. And it’s unclear how Musk would manage to fit his elevated tracks into crowded city centers.
Musk also proposes carrying only about 15 million people a year. Even critics of the high-speed rail proposal estimate annual ridership will reach about 25 million people. The high end of the authority’s official estimate is closer to 100 million.
BAF IN THE NEWS:
Former Governor Rendell Live On Good Day
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/23045169/former-governor#ixzz2bx00Eueu
Sick of getting stuck on the Schuylkill? There's now an app for that, and its free!