BAF IN THE NEWS:
Human Events: THE OBVIOUS SOLUTION TO THE TRANSPORTATION FUNDING CRISIS
http://www.humanevents.com/2013/08/16/the-obvious-solution-to-the-transportation-funding-crisis/
Congress adjourned for the summer with neither the House nor the Senate passing Fiscal Year 2014 appropriations for transportation. The House bill ($44 billion) lacked the votes to pass it because some fiscally conservative Republicans abstained, feeling that the cuts weren’t deep enough. The Senate bill ($54 billion) failed to obtain the necessary 60 votes because it exceeded the Budget Control Act levels — the legislation that put in place the sequester cuts and requires Congress to meet previously agreed-upon spending levels.
RP Online: Popular anger at traffic problems
http://nachrichten.rp-online.de/auto/volkszorn-bei-verkehrsproblemen-1.3610668
Who is in the U.S. in traffic, can now complain by app at his deputy. The smartphone program, "I'm stuck" ("I'm stuck") sends an e-mail to the responsible representatives of the people in the Senate or House of Representatives. The initiators of the lobby group "Building America's Future" want to ensure that more money is invested in the infrastructure of the country. The members include New York's outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
New York Times: Before and After Bloomberg
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/18/nyregion/before-and-after-bloomberg.html
New York City experienced a major transformation during Michael R. Bloomberg’s three terms as mayor.
Huffington Post: Sustainable Consumption and the Technology of Sustainability
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/sustainable-consumption-a_b_3779108.html
One of the consistent themes of many environmentalists is that we must reduce consumption and live more modest lives in tune with nature, if we are to promote a sustainable economic future. I do not believe that a frugal sustainability is either feasible or necessary. It's not feasible because with over seven billion people on the planet and a growing majority of them living in cities, it is too late to get back to the land and live as one with nature. There's too many of us, and not enough "nature" to go around. Sitting alone in the dark and eating bread and water doesn't sound too desirable either. I am not arguing that our goal should be excessive consumption and wanton waste, but that it's too late to turn back the clock and live without technology.
WNYC Transportation Nation: Obama Task Force Reports on Sandy Rebuild
http://www.wnyc.org/articles/new-jersey-news/2013/aug/19/obama-task-force-reports-sandy-rebuild/
A task force appointed by President Obama is expected to release its report Monday on the post-Sandy rebuilding, which could guide the storm recovery process.
NATIONAL NEWS:
Urban Land Institute: Revitalization Outlook: What Strategies Can Help Make Urban Cores More Vibrant?
http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2013/Aug/NyrenRevitalizationOutlook
Members of ULI’s Urban Revitalization Council discuss ways to catalyze investment and development in the urban core, the demographic factors influencing the popularity of urban living, and how different sectors of the real estate market are faring in the urban core.
Atlantic Cities: The Case for Letting Nonprofits Run Public Transit
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/08/case-letting-nonprofits-run-public-transit/6563/
Even a popular public transportation service can struggle to cover its expenses. Take the recent case of Caltrain, the commuter line that links San Francisco and San Jose. Ridership is up 38 percent since 2010. Still, this past May, the agency announced an expected budget shortfall for 2015. You wouldn't think that could be the case, but across the American transit landscape, it's actually the norm.
Washington Post: AP: Superstorm task force says as coasts rebuild, they should prep for rising seas, future floods
NEW YORK — A presidential task force charged with developing a strategy for rebuilding areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy has issued a report recommending 69 policy initiatives, most focused on a simple warning: Plan for future storms in an age of climate change and rising sea levels.
Washington Post: AP: Caribbean’s largest marina to get $450M renovation in northeast Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Caribbean’s largest marina is getting a $450 million makeover.
New York Times: Most of U.S. Is Wired, but Millions Aren’t Plugged In
The Obama administration has poured billions of dollars into expanding the reach of the Internet, and nearly 98 percent of American homes now have access to some form of high-speed broadband. But tens of millions of people are still on the sidelines of the digital revolution.
STATE NEWS:
Streetsblog: Atlanta’s Big Bike Push
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/08/15/atlantas-big-bike-push/#.UhGVJKylHpA.twitter
What would it take to change Atlanta into a place that values and celebrates healthy, active transportation? We just may see, in short order.
WAMU: Over 4,000 Taxicabs Request 30-Day Extension On Credit Card Mandate By: Martin Austermuhle
http://wamu.org/news/13/08/16/over_4000_taxicabs_request_30_day_extension_on_credit_card_mandate
Over 4,000 of D.C.'s 6,500 taxicabs have applied for a 30-day extension on the requirement that they accept credit cards by Sept. 1, again delaying the rollout of the long-awaited and much-demanded payment option.
Washington Post: Legal challenge launched against new Northern Virginia transportation spending
In a bid to spur a legal reckoning with its critics, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority essentially sued itself last month and a court set Aug. 16 as the deadline for potential opponents to come forward and file motions in the case.
Washington Post: Commentary: The case for a Purple Line public-private partnership
Occasionally, we publish blog posts, speech transcripts and other commentaries of interest to the Washington business community. Here’s an excerpt from a fact sheet issued by the Maryland Transit Administration outlining why Gov. Martin O’Malley is pursuing a public-private partnership, or P3, to build and run a light rail line connecting Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
Washington Post: AP: VDOT awards $16M contract to W.Va. company to replace bridge near Abingdon
ABINGDON, Va. — The Virginia Department of Transportation has awarded a $16.2 million contract to a West Virginia company to replace a truss bridge near Abingdon.
Boston Globe: A snarl in Seaport District’s success story
A few months ago, the good people of the Seaport District began noticing something on their streets they never imagined: gridlock.
San Francisco Chronicle: AP: Big setback for California high-speed rail project
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Big-setback-for-California-high-speed-rail-project-4739710.php
Dealing a major blow to California's high-speed rail project, a Sacramento County judge ruled Friday that the agency overseeing the bullet train failed to comply with the financial and environmental promises made to voters when they approved initial funding for the project five years ago.
Politico Morning Transportation
By Adam Snider | 8/19/13 5:30 AM EDT
Featuring Kevin Robillard and Kathryn A. Wolfe
HERSMAN: SEQUESTER HURTS SAFETY: The looming round of automatic budget cuts is threatening the NTSB’s safety mission, Chairwoman DebbieHersman said Sunday. In an interview on “Capitol Gains,” Hersman said a hiring freeze, limiting overtime and cuts in training are hurting the agency as it deals with a record number of accident investigations. “We are making do with what we have,” she said, “but I will say we’re getting very stretched.” With 95 percent of the board’s budget dedicated to salaries, Hersman said it would be difficult to protect her employees. “I think if we continue to face additional cuts that the traveling public will not be served and safety will not be served,” she said. “We are going to have to let some things go. We can’t do it all, and we can’t do it with less money, and we can’t do it with fewer people.” Kevin has more in his story for Pros: http://politico.pro/16mVyOC
Transcribed: Check out the full transcript of her interview: http://politico.pro/1djV9jY
GOLDEN STATE DRAMA — High-speed rail: There’s a pair of big transportation stories brewing in California. Up first: A judge has issued a scathing ruling against the California High-Speed Rail Authority, saying it violated state law by not securing the needed funds or environmental permits. But Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny didn’t halt the project. There will be another hearing — not yet scheduled — to determine the next steps. Read the ruling (http://bit.ly/15XeaRD) and the Chronicle has more: http://bit.ly/15XIUCf
Redo: Project critic and House T&I Railroads Chairman Jeff Denham: “The high-speed rail numbers have grown wildly out of control and the scope of the project has changed significantly. It’s time to suspend the project and go back to voters for approval.”
Transit grants: In the other big Golden State story to watch, the Department of Labor is putting off a ruling on grants to some transit agencies. Gov. Jerry Brown’s office will continue talks with the feds in an effort to resolve the conflict between federal law and a new state pension law. The Modesto Bee has more: http://bit.ly/13KBkvc
MONDAY, AUGUST 19. Thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes and automobiles, where today we’re celebrating the 104th anniversary of Louis Schwitzer winning a five-mile, two-lap race — the first ever held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: http://bit.ly/13KcYBy. Please do be in touch: asnider@politico.com. And follow on Twitter: @AdamKSnider and @POLITICOPro.
“I just want to ride your train one time before you go …” http://bit.ly/19lKpir
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE UPS CARGO CRASH: The plane had its autopilot and autothrottle engaged leading up to the crash and the pilots got two “sink rate” warnings, the NTSB said in Friday and Saturday briefings. The first of two sink rate warnings came 16 seconds before the end of the cockpit voice recording. The pilots seem to have been taking advantage of the plane’s automation, but the flight data recorder stopped logging information sooner than the cockpit voice recorder, so it's possible that the pilots took control sometime before impact. Kathryn has more: http://politico.pro/14YQVdS
What we don’t know: There might have been an error with the plane's autopilot or other navigational aids, or perhaps the pilots incorrectly programmed or understood the plane’s automated systems. The NTSB also was mum on whether there were any signs the pilots knew they were in trouble. “That is exactly what we will be doing during this investigation, to understand what the crew was doing and what they knew,” board member Robert Sumwalt said.
About the pilots: UPS offered some info on the two pilots, Captain Cerea Beal, Jr. and First Officer Shanda Fanning. “Captain Beal, a resident of Matthews, N.C., was 58 years old. He has been with UPS since 1990. Capt. Beal served more than six years in the Marines as a heavy lift helicopter pilot. First Officer Fanning, a resident of Lynchburg, Tenn., was 37 years old. She has been with UPS since 2006. First Officer Fanning was active and well-known in the community of Lynchburg. She was known for being an aviation enthusiast.”
**A message from POWERJobs: New jobs on our radar this week: Manager/Director of Government Affairs at American Land Title Association, Senior Legislative Counsel at Human Rights Campaign and Software Engineer at The Boeing Company. Interested? Apply to these jobs and more at POWERJobs.com; finally, a career site made for YOU!**
GETTING FRISKY: “Stop and frisk.” Some joke it’s the TSA’s screening policy. But one-liners aside, it’s a real-world New York City initiative that’s come under heavy fire from civil liberty groups. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has gone through a PR wringer defending the searches in the wake of a court striking down the policy. Kelly’s name was an early favorite in speculation over who will be the next DHS secretary — but he is he in the race despite all the “stop and frisk” furor? Kevin takes a look at what it all means: http://politi.co/14Ud7c0
FAA EXPANDS HONEYWELL INSPECTIONS: The agency is expanding an inspection mandate for the company’s transmitters following a directive from Transport Canada. Previously, international regulators — including the FAA — had required only that airlines inspect the Honeywell ELT on board Boeing 787 Dreamliners after a fire on one at London's Heathrow Airport. But the same ELT model is installed in many different planes, and the FAA had previously hinted that it may expand its directive. “The FAA intends to follow the Transport Canada Civil Aviation AD with an FAA AD requiring those same actions for U.S. operators of airplanes with those fixed Honeywell ELTs installed,” the agency said in a statement.
HARBORCOAT: The harbor tax overhaul bill from Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell is getting some serious love from the state’s businesses. Last week a group of business and port leaders wrote in support of the bill, saying current policy is “generating an inequitable return” for the Evergreen State. Read the letter: http://bit.ly/1cXRKIY
Praise: “For states like Washington — where more than 40 percent of all jobs are tied to international trade — we cannot afford to sit idly by while our navigation channels, rail systems and multi-modal infrastructure suffers from underinvestment,” Eric Schinfeld, president of the Washington Council on International Trade, told MT.
Scorn: Sen. Mary Landrieu isn’t a fan of how the bill targets oil and gas tax breaks to boost port spending. “While I agree that the dollars in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund need to be used for the intended purpose of investing in our ports, the oil and gas companies that support nine million good-paying jobs in this country are not ATMs for Congress to run to every time there is a need for additional revenue,” she said in a statement.
MERGE WITH CAUTION: Fitch says blocking the American-US Airways merger could have a “marginally positive impact” on airports. “If this move signals the end of the consolidation trend in the airline business, airports will generally benefit as more carriers (and competition) increase the routes and require more services.” And Roll Call takes a look at all the lobbying contracts — and there’s a slew of them — for the two airlines: http://bit.ly/14bg8lq
Teamsters bows out: The union ended a year-long campaign to represent mechanics and others and American because the pending merger “places the workers at American Airlines in significant turmoil,” Teamsters spokesman Bret Caldwell said. “This is not a time for workers to fight among themselves.”
PI THEFT — LUXURY AVIATION COMPANY INKS A LOBBYIST: Talon Air has brought on LHD & Associates to lobby for FAA approval of its special airport needs. The luxury aviation company bills itself as a high-end charter service, willing to do “anything that is safe and legal” to satisfy a customer’s private jet charter needs. It was started in 2001, when its founder and CEO, Adam Katz, purchased a fleet of planes from Raytheon to provide “consistency and flexibility” to the discerning and knowledgeable traveler. Today, it has a fleet of for-hire jets and helicopters that fly into any city a client requests, including Reagan National Airport. Former senior FAA official Linda Daschle will work on the account as Talon Air’s first lobbying hire.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)
- Sen. Robert Menendez wants DOT to look at the safety of jitney buses following fatal accident in New Jersey. NJ.com: http://bit.ly/14MZEvt
- Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation issues Draft Performance-Based Operating Assistance Allocation Methodology Report for public comment. http://1.usa.gov/19Cp3ko
- Shot in the butt, robbed at knifepoint. A bad week for bikers. DCist: http://bit.ly/1bK3EmD
- Rich Juliano, ARTBA’s senior vice president for strategic initiatives, will lead the group’s new P3 Division. http://bit.ly/19CrMua
- Monmouth University poll shows 83 percent support for drones for search and rescue and 62 percent support for border patrol. Government Security News: http://bit.ly/17WCaWK
THE DAY AHEAD: All day — The 2013 North American Inspectors Championship, hosted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and held in conjunction with the American Trucking Associations’ National Truck Driving Championships. Salt Lake City.
THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding and passenger rail policy both run out in 43 days. Surface transportation policy is up in 408 days and FAA policy in 773 days. The mid-term elections are in 452 days.
CABOOSE — Purple cities: This color-coded map of daily traffic volumes on U.S. Interstates is a fun one, from the purple of busy cities to the green of Montana’s sparsely-used roads. Give it a look: http://bit.ly/13xKVdL
**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, The Boeing Company, Visa and AARP. 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: Hersman: Sequester threatens safety
By Kevin Robillard | 8/16/13 1:56 PM EDT
Mandatory federal budget cuts are threatening the mission of the NTSB, Chairwoman Debbie Hersman said in an interview scheduled to air Sunday, warning that “safety will not be served” if they continue.
In the interview with Bloomberg Government’s “Capitol Gains,” Hersman said a hiring freeze, limiting overtime and cuts in training are hurting the agency as it deals with a record number of accident investigations.
“We are making due with what we have,” Hersman said, according to a transcript. “But I will say we’re getting very stretched.”
Sequestration, which kicked in March 1, included deep cuts to domestic agencies like the NTSB. Hersman said in February that the agency was preparing for the cuts by delaying some equipment purchases and renegotiating contracts. But with 95 percent of the board’s budget dedicated to salaries, Hersman said it would be difficult to protect her employees.
President Barack Obama’s administration has asked Congress to overturn the cuts, which will total $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Republicans have so far resisted his calls and have accused the administration of exaggerating sequestration’s impact.
Hersman said further slashes would strike at the core of the NTSB’s mission.
“I think if we continue to face additional cuts that the traveling public will not be served and safety will not be served,” she said. “We are going to have to let some things go. We can’t do it all, and we can’t do it with less money, and we can’t do it with fewer people.”
Hersman said the sequester is already hurting the NTSB’s ability to “launch,” or immediately respond to accidents. In one week in July, the D.C.-based NTSB had to send employees to both San Francisco, where Asiana Flight 214 had crashed, and Alaska, where a small plane went down.
“We’re having to scale down the sizes of our launches, the types of tests that we want to conduct,” she said. “We’re having to right-size those based on our budget. And so it is a challenge.”
Hersman, whom Obama recently renominated for another two-year stint at the head of the NTSB, also addressed a wave of airplane accidents in recent months, including Asiana’s and the fatal crash of a UPS plane in Alabama earlier this week. She said the airline industry’s sterling safety record in recent years could lead to some complacency.
“We always have to worry about complacency in any area, and so I think that’s one of the things that’s the bigger risk then,” she said. “A safety record is so good that people take their eye off the ball sometimes. And so I think if nothing else, what these accidents remind us is that just because there’s a lack of accidents doesn’t mean that everything is safe. You have to pay attention every day, every flight, every takeoff and every landing.”
Politico Pro: UPS pilots heard rate-of-descent warning before crash
By Kathryn A. Wolfe | 8/16/13 7:04 PM EDT
The pilots aboard the UPS cargo plane that crashed in Alabama this week had just gotten an automated warning that their aircraft was descending too fast, according to evidence the NTSB made public late Friday.
The cockpit voice recorder captured an audible alert about “sink rate,” which triggers when the plane is approaching the ground at a rate that could be dangerous, the agency told reporters in a daily briefing about Wednesday’s fatal crash.
NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said the first of two audible warnings — “sink rate, sink rate” — could be heard 16 seconds before the end of the recording.
He said that 13 seconds before the recording ended, a crew member acknowledged that the runway was in sight. Then, nine seconds before the end, the recorder picked up “sounds that are consistent with impact.” However, Sumwalt said investigators are not yet sure whether the noise was captured when the plane hit trees or when it hit the ground.
Sumwalt said an air traffic controller saw the accident and reported a “bright spark flash which he equated to what it would look like if a power line broke.” Then he said he no longer saw the aircraft’s landing lights, followed by a “bright orange flash” and then a “red glow.”
The Airbus A300 crashed on approach to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, which Sumwalt said is equipped with a “Minimum Safe Altitude Warning” intended to offer an alert when a plane is approaching too low. But in this case, the warning did not trigger.
“What we want to understand is should it have alerted, and if it should’ve, why didn’t it,” Sumwalt said. He said low cloud cover has kept the FAA from testing whether the runway’s navigational aids are functioning properly.
He also suggested that the two pilots’ flight into Birmingham was toward the end of their work day and that they were working an overnight shift, raising questions about potential fatigue.
He said the crew had begun their work day on Tuesday evening, when they were scheduled to take off at 9:30 p.m. from Rockport, Ill., bound for Peoria. They then were scheduled to fly from Peoria to Louisville, Ky. From there they flew to Birmingham.
The pilots, who both died in the crash, were experienced aviators. The captain, who was at the controls when the plane crashed, had 8,600 hours of flight time, including 3,200 hours in the A300, while the first officer had about 6,500 hours.
Both were type-rated for the A300, meaning they had an endorsement on their pilots’ licenses saying they had trained specifically for the aircraft they were flying.
Sumwalt did not provide any data from the flight data recorder but said data from that piece of equipment was “of good quality.” After investigators spent hours digging the charred “black boxes” from the rubble on Thursday, Sumwalt said he “breathed a huge sigh of relief once I knew that we had good data.”
BAF IN THE NEWS:
Human Events: THE OBVIOUS SOLUTION TO THE TRANSPORTATION FUNDING CRISIS
http://www.humanevents.com/2013/08/16/the-obvious-solution-to-the-transportation-funding-crisis/
Congress adjourned for the summer with neither the House nor the Senate passing Fiscal Year 2014 appropriations for transportation. The House bill ($44 billion) lacked the votes to pass it because some fiscally conservative Republicans abstained, feeling that the cuts weren’t deep enough. The Senate bill ($54 billion) failed to obtain the necessary 60 votes because it exceeded the Budget Control Act levels — the legislation that put in place the sequester cuts and requires Congress to meet previously agreed-upon spending levels.