BAF IN THE NEWS
Chicago Magazine: A complete Q&A with Ray Lahood
Ray LaHood, the Republican congressman from Peoria turned cabinet secretary is now out to make some money—after “35 years in public service” and four childrens’ college tuitions. The announcement that he was joining law firm DLA Piper as a senior policy adviser came a few days after I talked to him by telephone from Washington.
The Hill: Finding funds to improve US infrastructure
Transportation advocates are hoping President Obama brings a sense of urgency to discussions about boosting infrastructure spending in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
Atlantic Cities: How one conservative mayor sold his suburban community on a more urban future
MESA, Ariz.—Scott Smith isn't going to be mayor of this city for much longer. In early January, ending months of speculation, he officially announced he's running for governor of Arizona. State election law will force him to resign from his current position by spring.
NATIONAL NEWS
The Hill: Obama: Pass infrastructure bills soon
President Obama pushed lawmakers to approve new funding bills for the nation’s roads and ports by “this summer” during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
The Hill: No high-speed rail in State of the Union
President Obama neglected to mention high-speed rail in his State of the Union address, four years after he used the occasion to call for a new nationwide network of fast trains.
Switchboard: The top 10 US cities for public transportation
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/the_top_10_us_cities_for_publi.html
The folks who have brought us the wonderful app Walk Score and who also generate “transit scores” for neighborhoods and cities have just issued new rankings of the best cities in the US for taking public transportation. In particular, they have produced a Transit Score for each of 316 cities and almost 7,000 neighborhoods.
STATE NEWS
(1/2) Philadelphia Inquirer: $3M damage estimate from water-main break at shopping center
http://articles.philly.com/2014-01-15/business/46188720_1_shopping-center-shoprite-tenants
Damage was estimated in the millions of dollars Monday after the weekend break of a century-old water main flooded a $58 million shopping center near East Falls that opened only a few months ago.
(2/2) CBS Philadelphia: Trash truck ends up in sinkhole caused by water main break in south Philly [VIDEO]
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A trash truck ended up in a sinkhole that was created by a water main break in a Philadelphia neighborhood Monday.
Associated Press: ‘I’m walkin’ here!’: NYC takes aim at jaywalking
NEW YORK — For many New Yorkers, crossing the street in the middle of the block or against the light is a way of life, part of an attitude that tells everybody, “I’m walkin’ here!”
Los Angeles Times: Taking California’s bullet train to a greener future
California's high-speed rail is one of the largest public works projects anywhere in the world. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Area Rapid Transit, Interstate 5 and the California Aqueduct before it, high-speed rail has engendered opposition, consternation and litigation. Every bold, transformative vision faces that litany
Washington Post: Fairfax approves $1.4 billion to improve roads, build sidewalks
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $1.4 billion transportation package that, over the next six years, will pay for wider roads, highway interchanges and new sidewalks across the county.
Miami Herald: Light rail service from Miami to Miami Beach under discussion again
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/28/3899000/light-rail-service-from-miami.html
Transportation planners have unveiled potential routes for a light rail link between Miami and Miami Beach with one line crossing Biscayne Bay over the MacArthur Causeway and another via the Julia Tuttle Causeway.
Associated Press: Markell to discuss infrastructure plan
DOVER, Del. — Gov. Jack Markell is set to provide more details on his proposal to spend an additional $500 million to improve roads and bridges in Delaware.
WNYC: Special election in Arlington prompts debate over streetcar plan
http://www.wnyc.org/story/special-election-arlington-prompts-debate-over-streetcar-plan/
In their final debate before two upcoming caucus votes this week, the three Democratic candidates running for their party’s nomination to fill a vacant seat on the Arlington County board laid out their positions on one of the most divisive issues in the race: the future of the $300 million Columbia Pike streetcar project.
WFAE Charlotte: City spends $12 million in hunt for streetcar grant
http://wfae.org/post/city-spends-12-million-hunt-streetcar-grant
The quest for a cross-town streetcar continues. The Charlotte city council approved spending $12 million last night to pursue a federal grant to fund build-out of the streetcar.
Creative Loafing Atlanta: Atlanta’s proposed bike share program gets first look by City Council this week
Your dreams of checking out a bike near your Midtown office and pedaling to Broad Street for lunch are quickly becoming a reality.
Associated Press: Verizon available in 35 NYC subway stations
(AP) -- Verizon Wireless customers can now use their cellphones in 35 of New York City's underground subway stations.
POLITICO MORNING TRANSPORTATION
By Adam Snider | 1/29/14 5:37 AM EST
Featuring Kathryn A. Wolfe and Kevin Robillard
SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING: That’s the post-State of the Union consensus from some of the major transportation groups that are nervously watching as the Highway Trust Fund veers toward bankruptcy this fall. President Barack Obama made a few vague transportation references in last night’s speech — in the process drawing plenty of praise for simply talking about the issue — but he didn’t offer a new plan (or even a hint at things to come) for how to raise the tens of billions of dollars needed just to maintain current spending levels. AAA was first out of the gate, with President and CEO Robert Darbelnet saying before the speech was even over that the president’s renewed call for corporate tax reform was “well intentioned but falls short of what is required because it does not provide a sustainable funding solution for the nation’s transportation problems.” Several other groups with a strong lobbying presence — ATA and ARTBA — had similar takes. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, however, said corporate taxes as a pay-for “can and should be done on a bipartisan basis.” Kathryn has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/1csYJZS
The pertinent part: “Moreover, we can take the money we save from this transition to tax reform to create jobs rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports, unclogging our commutes — because in today’s global economy, first-class jobs gravitate to first-class infrastructure. We’ll need Congress to protect more than 3 million jobs by finishing transportation and waterways bills this summer. That can happen.” See the full speech transcript via the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1a0xHtm
WHAT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THINK — Peter DeFazio: The Oregonian, a top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, praised Obama for mentioning the surface transportation bill. But past that, the outspoken DeFazio wanted more: “It’s a start but nowhere near a comprehensive, hard-hitting push.”
James Lankford: “He talked just briefly about the highway bill, talked just briefly about WRRDA, and then just dropped it,” the former T&I member and current member of GOP leadership told MT after the speech. Lankford said “everyone agrees” that the country needs better infrastructure, so it doesn’t mean much to have the president just mention it. The big unresolved questions are how to pay for it and whether it should be the feds or states in control, according to Lankford, who didn’t hear an answer to either question in the speech. What would have helped, then? “If he had a new set of ideas,” Lankford said.
Janice Hahn: The T&I Democrat latched onto one particular word the president said: “I’m always excited when the president actually says the word ‘port’ in a State of the Union speech. It seems like he talked about why it’s important to invest in our infrastructure,” Hahn told MT. In contrast to DeFazio, Hahn said she got more transportation talk than she had hoped: “I was happy. He said more than I thought he would. He covered so many topics, so I was excited to see him spend that much time on our infrastructure.”
A kiss and a ports reference: Hahn, who got a prime seat in the House chamber and a kiss on the cheek from the president as he entered, later camped out in a hallway just off the House floor for Obama’s exit. As he made his way out of the chamber after the speech, Hahn said she shook his hand thanked him for “mentioning our nation’s ports.” Obama’s reply, as relayed to MT by Hahn: “Absolutely, Janice!”
GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING. Hope your State of the Union hangover isn’t too bad. Thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports, where there are not one but two notable baseball anniversaries today. The eight-team American League started in Philadelphia on this day in 1900, and the Hall of Fame announced its first five members (Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner) on this day in 1936. Please be in touch: asnider@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter: @AdamKSnider.
“The dashboard melted but we still have the radio…” http://bit.ly/14IMUg2
**A message from POWERJobs: Jobs on our radar this week: Military Police at Metro, Director of Communications at Air Line Pilots Association, and Transportation Planner at Accenture. Interested? Apply to these jobs and more at www.POWERJobs.com; finally, a career site made for YOU!**
Q&A WITH LaHOOD: Chicago mag has a fun interview with former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. You should read the whole thing yourself, but two things caught MT’s eye. LaHood was quizzed about what he wanted to get done at DOT but couldn’t: “The rear visibility rule; a rule that was mandated by Congress for all autos to have back-up cameras to prevent children and other people getting killed and injured.” On the lighter side, he flip-flopped a bit on whether or not he used to tell Rahm Emanuel to “go to hell” once a week: “I love Rahm Emanuel, okay? I’ll leave it at that. I love the guy.” Asked against about sparring with the famously short-tempered former White House chief of staff, LaHood said only that “Rahm and I never had a cross word.” http://chi.mg/1jGm128
SHUSTER HAS ANOTHER BLOCKBU$TER QUARTER: House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster raised $550,000 in the fourth quarter last year, according to CQ Roll Call. It marks another huge haul for Shuster, who’s facing tea party candidate Art Halvorson (who raised only several thousand dollars in the same quarter). Shuster’s official report is due to the FEC by month’s end. http://bit.ly/1aFNsXc
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH WRRDA? Two key lawmakers involved in the House-Senate conference on a water bill were largely mum when MT asked about any progress. “I have not heard anything. There have been no meetings of the conference committee,” said Tim Bishop, the top Democrat on the House’s water resources panel. The talks of late are limited to T&I Chairman Bill Shuster and EPW Chair Barbara Boxer, Bishop said. Water panel Chair Robert Gibbs took a similarly generic stance: “I hope they can get their differences resolved and that’s all I can say. … I think there’s just a couple things they need to work out.” Bishop is undeterred despite the apparent slowdown. When MT asked if it would get done, his response was emphatic: “Oh, absolutely. I definitely do. Yes. It’s just taking longer than we thought.” T&I Committee spokesman Jim Billimoria declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of the negotiations.
TSA’S PAYROLL MISTAKE: The TSA has been potentially overpaying dozens of its criminal investigators, an official with DHS's inspector general said at a hearing yesterday (http://1.usa.gov/1k2V5Hw). But no intentional wrongdoing was discovered and TSA has already taken steps to fix the problem. While the agency’s 100 investigators are supposed to be given premium law enforcement pay only if they spend a majority of their time on long-term investigations of federal law-breaking, the IG’s office found TSA wasn't tracking how these employees spent their time before handing out the additional pay. Most spent their time on other duties. The IG estimates the misclassifications will cost taxpayers at least $17.5 million over the next five years.
MT READS THE FEDERAL REGISTER SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO: Two branches of the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service are merging, according to an entry publishing today. The Aircraft Engineering Division and the Production and Airworthiness Division are joining forces; the new unit will be divided into five branches. http://1.usa.gov/1fk7Uwa
SAFETY COSTS MONEY: That’s the message three safety groups sent to lawmakers during a House Transportation subcommittee hearing. But money will be in short supply in a deficit-focused but tax-averse Congress. Kathryn has more on the hearing for Pros (http://politico.pro/1ndJ0Sk) or you can read the testimonies and watch the hearing right here: http://1.usa.gov/1evivAm
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)
- The NTSB is investigating the crash of a Customs and Border Protection drone. NTSB on Twitter: http://bit.ly/LlODzu
- A fun look at seven-year NYC transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. Capital: http://bit.ly/1dN04Gy
- The Columbia Pike streetcar shows differences between three Dems running for the Arlington County board. WAMU: http://bit.ly/L6zxwU
- Airfare in the 3rd quarter of 2013 was up over 5 percent from the year before. RITA: http://1.usa.gov/1aFawFx
- And American Airlines ticket sales are up, leading to a 4Q profit after losing money the year before. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1k2irNJ
- “A businessman, an environmentalist and a tea-party member walk into a bar ... er, a press conference …” Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://bit.ly/Mr4pd5
- How to turn an airplane ticket into free meals for a year (in China). Gizmodo: http://bit.ly/1f9B4f7
THE DAY AHEAD: All day — The Washington Auto Show. Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW.
8 a.m. — POLITICO's Post State of the Union Conversation. Capital Hilton, 1001 16th St NW.
10 a.m. — The American Highway Users Alliance holds a news conference on the importance and benefits of safe winter road operations. National Press Club, 14th and F Streets NW, Murrow Room.
TBA — Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to vote on several nominations, including Steven Anthony to be a member of the Railroad Retirement Board. Location TBA off the Senate floor during votes.
THE COUNTDOWN: MAP-21 expires and DOT funding runs out in 245 days. FAA policy is up in 610 days. The mid-term elections are in 279 days and the 2016 presidential election is in 1,014 days.
CABOOSE — Big Boy: One of the largest locomotives ever made, Big Boy No. 4014, is on the move from the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in southern California to Cheyenne, Wyo. — a trip of 1,000 miles. The L.A. Times has the story on the move for the historic engine (http://lat.ms/MqypWE) and check out a video of it moving for the first time in about half a century: http://bit.ly/19ZpA0i (h/t Marshall Macomber)
**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 The American Waterways Opertators, SAIC, Deloitte and AIPAC. 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 www.POWERJobs.com, the site for Washington’s top talent.**
Stories from POLITICO Pro
Obama infrastructure funding call falls flat with transpo groups
Safety groups press House panel to fix transpo funding
Obama infrastructure funding call falls flat with transpo groups
By Kathryn A. Wolfe | 1/28/14 11:36 PM EST
President Barack Obama talked infrastructure funding in Tuesday’s State of the Union address — but not in the way that most transportation watchers most desperately want.
On virtually every major transportation interest group’s SOTU wish list this year was one thing: hearing Obama say he has a plan to fix the Highway Trust Fund’s looming insolvency.
But that’s not what they heard on Tuesday night when Obama took the dais for his 2014 address to the nation. And it was not music to their ears.
Instead of offering a long-term funding solution, Obama doubled down on a proposal, first rolled out last summer, to boost infrastructure investments by using money gleaned from an overhaul of the corporate tax system. Documents accompanying the speech also generically called for increasing private sector investment in infrastructure.
“We can take the money we save with this transition to tax reform to create jobs rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports, unclogging our commutes — because in today’s global economy, first-class jobs gravitate to first-class infrastructure,” he said.
While most infrastructure boosters will most likely see money from a tax overhaul as better than nothing, what Obama envisions would mean just a one-time infusion of funding, and at best will simply postpone the seemingly intractable fight over how to deal with the Highway Trust Fund’s structural insolvency for another day.
AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet was quick out of the gate with a denunciation, saying before Obama had even concluded his remarks that the corporate tax pay-for is “well intentioned but falls short of what is required because it does not provide a sustainable funding solution for the nation’s transportation problems.”
AAA went on to throw its support behind a bill by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) that would raise the federal gas tax by fifteen cents per gallon.
And American Trucking Associations Chairman Phil Byrd said while it was an honor to attend the speech, it was “sorely lacking in details and comes up short of what the nation needs to maintain our economic competitiveness.”
For all the disappointment the corporate tax pay-for may be met with in the absence of the long-term solution most seem to want, it will no doubt be taken more seriously than the pay-for proposed during last year’s speech and in other venues — the so-called peace dividend, which Congress has repeatedly rejected as a solution.
Also absent was any iteration of the $50 billion in “frontloaded” spending on transportation priorities, which he modified slightly during last year’s speech by suggesting $40 billion of that sum should be used for fixing existing problems, not building new projects.
Obama also asked Congress to finish both a MAP-21 replacement and to reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act “this summer.” But in any case, Obama said, he plans to take more executive actions to speed up permits and reviews for infrastructure projects. This follows on an August 2011 presidential memorandum also intended to speed up permitting and review for infrastructure projects as well as gathering best practices. According to documents distributed by the White House, Obama will “publish a plan to institutionalize these best practices” in “the coming weeks.”
“I will act on my own to slash bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process for key projects, so we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible,” he said.
His speech and documents accompanying it also were heavy on alternative fuels, particularly as they apply to transportation. He called for new incentives for medium- and heavy-duty trucks to run on natural gas or other alternative fuels, and new and expanded tax incentives for accelerating alternative fueled vehicle adoption as well as for building out the infrastructure necessary to support them.
Documents distributed by the White House also again called for an Energy Security Trust Fund capitalized with $2 billion and tasked with researching advanced vehicle technologies focused on “shifting our cars and trucks off oil.”
Safety groups press House panel to fix transpo funding
By Kathryn A. Wolfe | 1/28/14 10:14 AM EST
Safety groups have a message for House lawmakers as they begin crafting a new transportation bill: Improving safety costs money.
Like virtually every other group with a stake in transportation, three safety groups — the American Traffic Safety Services Association, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Governors Highway Safety Association — will call for a stabilized Highway Trust Fund or a timely replacement of MAP-21, according to prepared testimony obtained by POLITICO, which they will deliver at a House Transportation committee hearing Tuesday.
Douglas Danko, chairman of ATSSA, will kick off his testimony at the hearing on improving federal transportation safety grants by citing the oft-mentioned American Society of Civil Engineers report card and its poor grades for U.S. infrastructure.
If the country wants to continue to move toward reducing traffic fatalities and improving other safety items, Danko’s testimony says, “the fiscal situation of the Highway Trust Fund must be addressed and made sustainable.”
“As an association and an industry, we believe that all funding options should be on the table,” Danko will say.
And Thomas Fuller, president of the CVSA, will echo a similar theme. He will ask lawmakers to ensure that the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, which gives grants to states to administer crash reduction programs, receives adequate funding.
CVSA recognizes that the issue of funding is a “complicated one, with no easy solutions,” Fuller says in the prepared remarks, but funding for the program is “directly tied to the long-term solvency” of the HTF.
“CVSA supports ongoing efforts to identify sustainable, long-term revenue sources to address the Highway Trust Fund solvency, in order to ensure stability for the MCSAP,” Fuller will say.
And Kendall Poole, chairman of GHSA, will press lawmakers to enact a replacement for MAP-21, and hint that something longer than two years would be preferable.
“MAP-21 was only authorized for a period of two years, and it is difficult for states to adequately plan and forecast future needs as well as attain their performance targets with such uncertainty in funding,” he will say.
BAF IN THE NEWS
Chicago Magazine: A complete Q&A with Ray Lahood
Ray LaHood, the Republican congressman from Peoria turned cabinet secretary is now out to make some money—after “35 years in public service” and four childrens’ college tuitions. The announcement that he was joining law firm DLA Piper as a senior policy adviser came a few days after I talked to him by telephone from Washington.