BAF IN THE NEWS:
Baltimore Sun: Miller proposes local gas tax, leasing ICC
Baltimore and Maryland's counties could impose their own 5-cents-a-gallon tax on gas to pay for local roads and buses under a proposal by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.
Capital New York: Bloomberg announces a car-free, all-weather ‘Super Bowl Boulevard’
Back when Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a young man, he used to go to football games in Yankee Stadium. It was always cold, and he liked it fine.
NATIONAL NEWS:
USA Today: Time to tweak gas taxes? States weigh options
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/24/gas-tax-tweak-options/1862221/
A great tax debate is breaking out in state capitals from Vermont to Texas: How do we maintain and expand our vital-but-aging networks of roads, bridges and urban transit systems?
MarketWatch: Snagging tax-saving transportation benefits; Employers can set aside more pre-tax dollars for commuters
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sign-up-for-tax-saving-transportation-benefits-2013-01-24
Our friends in Congress have granted some nice tax breaks for transportation-related employee fringe benefits. Several of these breaks are intended to encourage us to give up our evil, gas-guzzling, pollution-spewing vehicles when commuting to work. If your employer offers these tax-favored benefits, you should probably take advantage of them by signing up. What you need to know:
NPR: Will Obama Administration Clear Keystone XL Pipeline?
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/24/170184509/will-obama-administration-clear-keystone-xl-pipeline
The future of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline is in the hands of the State Department. President Obama rejected a similar pipeline proposal last year, but now that Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has approved an alternative route through his state, the approval process is back on track.
FastLane: High Speed Rail kicks off 2013 with Key Milestones
http://fastlane.dot.gov/2013/01/high-speed-rail-crosses-key-milestones.html#.UQFfvx1EHjs
Last week, even before President Obama reminded us in his inaugural address of the importance of railroads to the American economy, two events marked a significant step forward in U.S. high-speed rail.
FastLane: Hazmat emergency? There’s an app for that; PHMSA makes first responders’ Emergency Response Guidebook available as free mobile app
When we think about transportation, many of us think about the passenger vehicles we ride in— buses, cars, airplanes, and trains. But at the Department of Transportation, we also oversee the safe shipment of important goods like gasoline and diesel, hazardous materials that travel across the country in a network of pipelines before powering the vehicles we use to get where we need to go.
Reason Foundation: Enterprising Roads: Improving the Governance of America's Highways
http://reason.org/news/show/enterprising-roads-improving-the-go
Most roads in the United States are owned and managed directly by government, with funding for construction and maintenance derived primarily from taxes on gas. For many decades, this system worked well enough, despite widespread problems with congestion and road quality. Recently, however, rising maintenance costs and falling fuel tax receipts have begun to call into question the sustainability of this model.
STATE NEWS:
New York Times: As California Bounces Back, Governor Calls For Lofty Goals
SACRAMENTO — Emboldened by a brighter fiscal horizon, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday recommitted himself to two ambitious projects, a high-speed rail line and a huge water tunnel system, in an optimistic State of the State speech that sought to secure California’s long-term future as well as the three-term governor’s legacy.
Los Angeles Times: In pitch for bullet train, Jerry Brown cites children's story
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2013/01/brown-railroad-california.html
Gov. Jerry Brown is known for liberally quoting famous texts, writers and philosophers in his public remarks, and his State of the State speech was no different.
Streetsblog: Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett: We Have to Build This City For People
Pounds lost and population gained: Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett's prescription for a healthy city begins with a pedestrian-friendly environment. Photo: Brett Deering, Governing
In 2008 Mick Cornett, the Republican mayor of Oklahoma City — ranked as one of the fattest cities in the country – stood in front of the elephants at the zoo and announced he was going on a diet, and taking the rest of the city with him. Oklahoma City lost a million pounds, 37 of which were his.
Streetsblog: PA Gov Tom Corbett’s Transpo Funding Fix: A Tax on Fossil Fuel
http://streetsblog.net/2013/01/24/pa-gov-tom-corbetts-transpo-spending-fix-a-tax-on-fossil-fuel/
Recently we’ve seen Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell propose eliminating his state’s gas tax and replacing it with a sales tax, while Deval Patrick in Massachusetts went the more moderate but still disappointing route of calling for an income tax hike to pay for transportation.
Streetsblog: Confronted With Congestion Pricing, People Clamor for Transit, Gas Tax
Three scenarios for congestion pricing: 1) priced lanes on all major highways, 2) a mileage charge levied on all roads and streets, and 3) priced zones. Image: MWCOG/Brookings
Could a congestion pricing program work in the DC region? Maybe. But first, officials would need to get the public on board — no easy task. A report on the conclusions from five public forums, held in the region between October 2011 and January 2012, suggest that more and better transportation options need to be in place before a congestion charge is levied, so that commuters feel they have options.
WAMU: Virginia Faces Challenges On Funding For Transportation Maintenance http://wamu.org/news/13/01/25/virginia_faces_challenges_on_funding_for_transportation_maintenance
There are about 21,000 bridges in Virginia. Less than 8 percent of them — roughly 1,600 — are considered structurally deficient, according to the state. That does not mean they are unsafe. It means they are aging and need repairs. And Virginia is not alone in this.
WAMU: Gas Tax Headlines Proposals Out Of Maryland Senate
http://wamu.org/news/13/01/23/gas_tax_headlines_proposals_out_of_maryland_senate
A slew of bills were introduced in the Maryland Senate today, but it's a measure that could come later this week that will get the biggest reaction from lawmakers.
The Transportationist: Metro strategic plan 2013-2025
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/levin031/transportationist/2013/01/metro-strategic-plan-2013-2025.html
Several comments from a preliminary reading: 1. Metro benefits are presented in terms of reduced car use (p.10). This is the wrong way of looking at the benefits. The main benefits of Metro are the service to riders (more trips, faster trips, higher quality trips), not the reduction in congestion for non-riders. Who knows how many auto trips there would be instead? If Metro were closed for a day, everyone would work from home. If it were a month, people would carpool. If it were a few years, jobs would relocate. The ridiculous assumption that everyone would drive instead, and need to park in garages filling all of the central area are self-negating.
Miami Herald: Transit hub and affordable homes to revitalize Miami’s Liberty City
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/24/3199218/transit-hub-and-affordable-homes.html
Rocked by scandal and delayed for more than a decade, the construction of a long-sought Liberty City transit hub that will also offer shopping and affordable housing is finally under way.
WTOP (The Associated Press Reprint): Va. Gov. McDonnell touts transportation proposal
http://www.wtop.com/120/3204687/Va-Gov-McDonnell-touts-transportation-proposal-
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - Gov. Bob McDonnell made a direct appeal on Thursday to residents in some of the state's most congested regions to ask their lawmakers to support his transportation funding proposal.
Indy Star: Senate leader warming up to expanding mass transit
Erika D. Smith: Transit supporters find their voice at Statehouse Wednesday
Plans to upgrade mass transit in Central Indiana have stalled in the state legislature for years, but now the way ahead seems clearer than ever.
Washington Post (Associated Press Reprint): Va. Gov. McDonnell touts transportation proposal in some of state’s most congested areas
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Gov. Bob McDonnell made a direct appeal on Thursday to residents in some of the state’s most congested regions to ask their lawmakers to support his transportation funding proposal.
Wall Street Journal: PATH's Road Back Is Rocky
By TED MANN
January 24, 2013
The pink, rectangular icon on the computer screen representing the progress of PATH train 5780 blinked, as the cars rolled out on the westbound tracks from the World Trade Center station. Then, just at the mouth of the tunnel under the Hudson River, the pink rectangle disappeared.
To dispatchers in Lower Manhattan, that is the most obvious sign that all is still not well with PATH, a vital link for New Jersey commuters that still isn't back to full operation nearly three months after superstorm Sandy.
On one section of the system, restoring even limited service has required workers to reach back in time, using a system to move trains that dates to the age of the telegraph.
Like its much larger counterpart at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the subway system run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was inundated by superstorm Sandy. The corrosion from brackish floodwaters ruined hundreds of pieces of vital equipment, including electromechanical relays, motors and switches.
But while most of the MTA's subway service has been restored—albeit at limited capacity—major sections of the PATH are still out. Twenty-four hour service has resumed between West 33rd Street and Hoboken and Jersey City. But the connection from Hoboken down to the World Trade Center tunnels is still severed, as the railroad awaits delivery of a replacement track switch.
One reason the PATH has been so much slower to recover than the New York City subway is the relatively greater expanse of track area that was subjected to coastal flooding in the storm, said Stephen Kingsberry, the acting director of the PATH, on a recent visit to Exchange Place in Jersey City.
Some areas of the New York subway remain out of service, notably South Ferry station in Manhattan and the A train to the Rockaway peninsula, but miles of track were never touched by the flood.
"If I had parts of system that were not affected, yeah, it'd be easier to bring those back, but virtually all of my system was damaged," Mr. Kingsberry said.
Getting replacement equipment also takes time. The machinery for track switches and motors on subway systems is often many decades old, and replacements aren't readily available when stores of backup parts have been used up—as PATH's was after the storm.
A PATH spokesman said the system was waiting for a third-party vendor, Ansaldo STS, STS.MI +0.14% to deliver switch components that will enable the relaunch of Hoboken to World Trade Center service.
PATH has leaned on its neighbors for help, too. The railroad borrowed heavy duty equipment from the MTA and NJ Transit to get some sections of track back in service.
Meanwhile, in the two under-river tubes that cross between Exchange Place and the World Trade Center, PATH workers have jury-rigged a system of walkie-talkies and train-spotting staffers to get service there running at all.
The so-called manual-block system takes the place of a dozen separate signals that help drivers adjust their speed and avoid colliding with other trains in the dark tunnels.
As each eastbound train arrived at the front of the platform at Exchange Place last week, a PATH worker, Raishea Haines wrote down the number of the lead car. Then she radioed to a dispatcher, who called another worker on the platform at World Trade Center, to alert her that a new train was about to make the trip under the river.
Only when the World Trade Center staff member has radioed back can the railroad and its workers be sure that each train has cleared the tunnel, and that there is no risk of a collision.
The system allows one train at a time to use the tunnel, in contrast to the several that normally use it at rush hour.
Trains are run on a similar, manual-block fashion on long, unsignaled sections of freight and passenger railroad in the country, so-called dark territory. But it is a major impediment to a rapid-transit line like PATH. The MTA briefly used a similar strategy when it first restored service on the G train after the storm.
And it has required all hands on deck, said Kevin Lejda, assistant superintendent of the transportation division, who helped develop the plan to restore service using the manual block. On the eve of Thanksgiving, several days before the World Trade Center line reopened, Mr. Lejda and a colleague walked through the river tube, he said, hanging up speed limit signs in the tunnels, since the train operators would be without the lighted signals that usually signal when and where to slow down.
"A hundred years ago, that's the way it was done," said Mr. Kingsberry. The system usually moves 50,000 passengers per day through the tunnels to the World Trade Center, he said. Using the manual block, PATH is only serving about 30,000 customers, Mr. Kingsberry said.
And unlike its two midtown tunnels, the Lower Manhattan connection is shut down every night, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., so workers can fan out to continue repairing and replacing the damaged signal equipment.
"Some people have chosen to live in Jersey City because of its proximity to New York," said Steven Fulop, a Jersey City councilman and mayoral candidate. "If you eliminate the access to New York, there are people who have said they're going to reconsider their decision to live in Jersey City."
In Hoboken, Mayor Dawn Zimmer said businesses and commuters alike were struggling with the broken link to the World Trade Center. Port Authority officials have said they hoped to restore that link by the end of next month.
But there are signs of progress. Sitting in the control tower on a recent weekday, Ron Anderson, the dispatcher, and Pete Falotico, the tower operator, pointed to a screen that showed blinking, malfunctioning symbols indicating where damaged signals in the station and the river tunnels were slowly sputtering back to life—a few more after each overnight shift of repair work.
Politico: Morning Transportation
By Adam Snider and Burgess Everett Featuring Kathryn A. Wolfe and Scott Wong
1/25/13
SANDY SAGA NEARING ITS END: Almost exactly three months after Hurricane Sandy hit the United States, the Senate will vote on a $50 billion spending package that includes $13 billion in transportation funds. The upper chamber locked in a Monday vote a Mike Lee amendment to offset the bill’s cost, followed by a vote on final passage. It hasn’t been an easy path for the measure: Work on it spanned two Congresses, it ping-ponged between the two chambers and was split into two pieces. But the story doesn’t end there — it’s still subject to the looming sequester, which could mean a cut of $2.5 billion in aid for the storm-damaged Northeast. David Rogers has more: http://politi.co/10VjXLu
MORAN’S NO GROVER FAN: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration went on a barnstorming tour of the state to sell his ambitious plan to replace the gas tax with a sales tax hike and several other new fees that would be dedicated to transport projects. But Northern Virginia Rep. Jim Moran doesn’t think it will make it into law, though his anger is leveled squarely at Grover Norquist, who said McDonnell’s proposal is “a massive tax increase,” not a transportation plan. “Grover is typically full of s — t,” Moran told MT. “It is a transportation plan.” Moran thinks it would take a hard sell to convince the public to move away from a user fee that’s been in place for years: “I think the gas tax is seen more as a user fee and is more defensible. I don’t think that it’s actually going to be implemented, I’d be surprised if it is.” Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton seemed open to tweaking the plan a bit to satisfy concerns in the state legislature, but Moran doesn’t think that will be enough. Asked if some variation of the plan could pass, Moran replied: “Maybe, but I think the governor has a lot of problems with this legislature. He wants a positive legacy and I think they’re going to leave him with a negative one.”
Opting out: MT also chatted with McDonnell’s predecessor, Sen. Tim Kaine. But the new senator didn’t really seem into armchair quarterbacking on the issue. “I think I’m going to probably stay out of it. I’ve kind of made it a point not to look over the shoulder of my successor and critique him, so it would be a rare issue on which I would,” he told MT.
Residents support: By a 33-percentage point margin, Virginians support McDonnell’s transportation proposal, according to a new Watson Center survey (http://politico.pro/YqeR8x). 63 percent of respondents said they support the plan, with only 30 percent opposed and 7 percent unsure. Respondents also said transportation funding should be a statewide issue, not a regional issue, even though congestion is heaviest in certain parts of the state. And in news that will make Ray LaHood proud, residents overwhelmingly support making texting while driving a reckless driving offense, with 82 percent in favor and 16 percent opposed. The survey of 1,015 Virginia residents, conducted Jan. 14-20, has a 3.1 percent margin of error.
TOOMEY, McCASKILL PITCH PERMANENT EARMARK BAN: The bipartisan duo have put up legislation (http://bit.ly/WiZFr4) that would cease those bridges to nowhere permanently. The Pennsylvania Republican and the Missouri Democrat said they’re hoping to attach the earmark ban to a future bill as an amendment, though Claire McCaskill admitted getting buy-in from her fellow Democrats will be tough. The reception thus far from them, she said, is “not warm and fuzzy.” But that’s not going to stop her and Pat Toomey. “I think it’s a gateway drug and I fear a relapse,” McCaskill said of the practice. “Many of our leaders are former appropriators and I am hearing rumors through the hallways that our leaders, Republican and Democrat, are trying to find a way to bring back earmarks.” And Toomey’s heard of that “formulaic earmark” practice you have been emailing MT about. “If someone is using a formulaic approach to ensure that they can single out and define a sole beneficiary, then it’s just an earmark. But if it’s a programmatic priority, that’s exactly what Congress is supposed to be doing,” he said. Burgess has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/Vw5Mqn
DAILY DREAMLINER UPDATE: Investigators looking into a battery fire on a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner don’t yet know what caused the problem, but are clear about one thing: It shouldn’t have happened. So far, the verdict is the plane’s lithium-ion battery experienced “thermal runaway,” which NTSB Chair Debbie Hersman described as an “uncontrolled chemical reaction.” She also said there was short-circuiting and, of course, a fire. But exactly what caused those three things, and in what sequence they occurred, is an open question: “These events should not happen. As far as design of the aircraft, there are multiple systems to protect against a battery event like this. Those systems did not work as intended. We need to understand why,” Hersman said. Kathryn takes it away for Pros: http://politico.pro/14aCrqf
Vote of confidence: The CEO of United says that customers will “flock back” the 787. CNN: http://cnnmon.ie/Y1pkn5
WRDA UP: David Vitter told our teammate Scott Wong that he and Barbara Boxer are working “very diligently” together on a new WRDA bill. “We’re trying to get a draft in early February, a true bipartisan draft in early February, and there will be a lot of elements of Corps reform and related things. It’s a work in progress. But I think you’ll see some very meaningful things,” Vitter said.
FILIBUST A MOVE: The Senate passed two resolutions reforming filibuster rules — leaving much of the task of easing gridlock in the upper chamber to the two leaders, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell. If it works, it could lead to the Senate getting to bills and some nominations more quickly. Last year when the Senate passed the transportation bill, it took several weeks to fully get to the legislation and hold an amendment vote-a-rama, a scenario leaders hope the deal helps evade. The deal has more implications for Senate transpo-watchers: The chamber approved resolutions setting committee memberships for the 113th, so all our relevant panels can formally get to work. http://politi.co/UZvq6T
Looong day: Rules changes need to happen on the first day of a new Senate session. So ever since the body first met on Jan. 3, it’s been recessing each evening, not adjourning. That let the chamber continue the legislative day of Jan. 3 all the way through the calendar day of Jan. 24. It sure makes MT look productive: We put out 16 editions, all in one Senate day. http://politi.co/XAagdk
MOMENTUM FOR METRO: Our subway system wants to grow up and get some “Momentum.” That’s the name of WMATA $26 billion plan for Metro, which would dig new downtown tunnels to increase capacity, create new Rosslyn and Pentagon stations and add new pedestrian tunnels at the Farraguts and Metro Center/Chinatown. Metro’s board launched the forward-looking discussion in its Thursday meeting, and is on a timeline to officially adopt the plan by mid-year. Many of the largest improvements would be further out, by 2040, but new bus networks, pocket tracks and the uniform distribution of eight-car trains would come sooner, by 2025. If — and it’s a big if — Metro finds some more money. Read the plan: http://bit.ly/WXdUy2
AUDIT-BAG — NextGen: The DOT inspector general has started an audit of the FAA’s information security controls for ADS-B, a key technological part of the broad NextGen effort to improve efficiency and safety in U.S. airspace. The audit, which started this week, will “evaluate how security issues are being addressed in the overall design and implementation of the ADS-B system.” DOT IG: http://1.usa.gov/XCrFmj
CABOOSE — Why are the streets in Columbia Heights at a weird angle? The City Paper explains that you’ve got to go way back to the Civil War era — when D.C.’s Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods were subdivisions. Those neighborhoods developed around the hilly topography and weren’t subject to the grid used in the downtown core. The angled streets also cause major headaches at a few of the intersections; former Columbia Heights and current Mount Pleasant resident Adam has seen two separate wrecks and many more near-misses at 14th and Monroe over the years. http://bit.ly/Unlyoo
Politico Pro: McCaskill, Toomey push anti-earmark bill
By Burgess Everett
1/24/13
Sens. Claire McCaskill and Pat Toomey are taking another shot at permanently banning earmarks in a preemptive bid to stop the upper chamber from reinstating the once-common practice.
The pair filed legislation that would make permanent what has been a de facto earmark ban in the Senate since Republicans instituted a moratorium in 2011. The use of earmarks had drawn public ire after notorious examples such as Alaska’s Bridge to Nowhere and Florida’s Coconut Road.
The pro-earmark movement has been more evident in the House, where Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), a former transportation chairman, briefly suggested easing the ban before removing it from consideration earlier this year. House Speaker John Boehner lamented last spring that he had “no grease” to move bills, though the lower chamber kept its ban in place this Congress.
But McCaskill (D-Mo.) said she’s detecting rumblings on the north side of the Capitol that earmarks might come back and hopes to tack the bill on as an amendment to legislation that the Senate takes up this year.
“I think it’s a gateway drug and I fear a relapse,” McCaskill said of the practice. “Many of our leaders are former appropriators and I am hearing rumors through the hallways that our leaders, Republican and Democrat, are trying to find a way to bring back earmarks."
Toomey (R-Pa.) and McCaskill introduced similar legislation in 2011, and she said the reaction from fellow Democrats to their effort to permanently scrap the practice is “not warm and fuzzy.”
First-term Republican Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Kelly Ayotte (N.H.). have all signed on as co-sponsors, while the only Democratic co-sponsor is Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.).
McCaskill joined the Senate in 2007, when earmarks were at the height of popularity, but she says she has found the argument that good bills cannot pass without earmarks is bunk. Toomey cited the recent transportation bill, which broke a long freeze in long-term infrastructure legislation, as evidence of that.
“We were told many times that you just can’t pass a lot of legislation around here unless you have earmarks, the transportation bill being one such example. The only problem is, last Congress we did exactly that,” said Toomey, who voted against the bill.
The Senate too has recently bypassed the normal Appropriations process, which had often been used to pack bills with millions for bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure. And though the number of explicit earmarks went from more than 6,000 in the 2005 transportation bill to zero this time around, there are still rumblings that so-called formulaic earmarks, or “earmarks by another name,” are coming in vogue.
One example is millions in mass transit money for the Alaska Railroad in the 2012 transportation bill, a lightly used rural system. Toomey admitted it’s a gray area that legislators should pay more attention to.
“If someone is using a formulaic approach to ensure that they can single out and define a sole beneficiary, then it’s just an earmark. But if it’s a programmatic priority, that’s exactly what Congress is supposed to be doing,” he said.