Infrastructure in the News: May 4, 2015
NATIONAL NEWS
The Hill: Clock ticks on highway funding deadline
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/240762-clock-ticks-on-highway-bill-deadline
Congress has 30 days to refill the federal government’s fund for transportation projects before it goes broke.
AP: Survey: States spent heavily to clear winter snow and ice
BOSTON — Winter’s full fury arrived late in much of the country but once it did it was relentless, quickly exhausting snow removal budgets and pushing the resources of state transportation agencies to their limit as they fought to keep highways safe and passable, according to a first-of-its-kind survey.
AP: Summary of winter highway maintenance expenses
A look at approximate winter maintenance costs from October-March in some of the hardest hit U.S. states. Note some figures would likely increase due to additional late-season storms or as new totals are calculated. Twenty three states responded to a survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
STATE NEWS
Washington Post: A blow to Metro’s funding
AFTER YEARS of pushing by the Washington region’s bipartisan representatives on Capitol Hill, Congress, stunned by the death and destruction in Metro’s Red Line accident in 2009, finally agreed to a long-term financial aid package to help lift the transit system from penury. Under the terms of the deal agreed to six years ago, the federal government would furnish Metro with $150 million annually for 10 years, a $1.5 billion shot in the arm to modernize and maintain the system, to be matched each year by an identical amount from Metro’s three main funding partners: the District, Maryland and Virginia.
The Tennessean: Nashville can learn from Salt Lake's transit success
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes is a conservative lawmaker who saw public transit as an over-subsidized social service. Given the building costs, he thought the state would be better off buying people cars.
Orlando Sentinel: What you like and don't like as SunRail turns 1-year-old
SunRail is turning 1-year-old today. On behalf of the I-4 hostages who were freed from the shackles of our highway commute, allow me to say happy birthday, and many more.
Pilot Online: Va. Beach vote on light rail far from a done deal
http://hamptonroads.com/2015/05/beach-vote-light-rail-far-done-deal
A battle is brewing over the city's spending plan for next year and how much money - if any - it should provide for light rail.
Next City: Tampa Mayor Wants to Fix the Streetcar He Once Voted Against
http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/tampa-streetcar-saved-trolley-caps
Like San Francisco’s trollies and Seattle’s monorail, Tampa’s heritage streetcar was built for tourists, not residents.
Chicago Tribune: South Shore expansion, RDA win support from Indiana lawmakers
The Regional Development Authority and the proposed South Shore commuter rail extension emerged from the 2015 Indiana legislative session with a clear message: full steam ahead.
MPR News: What's next for the Southwest light rail project?
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/05/01/southwest-lrt
Now what?
With news that the Southwest Corridor light rail project is now expected to cost $2 billion, officials are scrambling to bring down costs and make the project more palatable.
Sacramento Bee: Payoff from streetcar line is worth a little risk
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article20071875.html
We’d feel far more comfortable if officials were further along in firming up plans for the proposed Sacramento-West Sacramento streetcar line – especially in outlining how operating deficits would be covered.
Journal Star: Peoria transit service celebrates 45 years of growth, but proposed cuts loom
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150503/NEWS/150509778
PEORIA — The area’s public transit service has grown up a lot since it started 45 years ago, but Greater Peoria Mass Transit District officials hope that growth won’t get slowed down by state budget cuts.
Main Line: SEPTA sustainability report includes cycle-transit plan
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2015/05/03/region/doc5540d57bd2c75850421002.txt
Philadelphia >> SEPTA recently released its annual sustainability report, which included a cycle-transit plan for bicyclists.
POLITICO MORNING TRANSPORTATION
By Jennifer Scholtes and Heather Caygle| 5/4/15 5:44 AM EDT
With help from Heather Caygle, Shaun Waterman and Elana Schor.
LOOKING TO BEEF UP CRUDE-BY-RAIL RULES: Now that the Obama administration’s regulations are on the table for flammable oil trains, lawmakers looking for tougher standards are weighing their options for imposing more rules through legislative action. Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on Energy and Natural Resources, says she is eyeing the upcoming passenger rail authorization bill and appropriations proposals as vehicles for more crude-by-rail mandates. Several lawmakers have criticized DOT for not getting the most dangerous tank cars off the tracks more quickly, not requiring oil companies to make their fuel less prone to explosions and not forcing the railroads to give more information to emergency responders.
A refresher on the new regulations: http://politico.pro/1KFWosV. The rule itself: http://1.usa.gov/1JGxnQQ.
‘Status quo’: After DOT released its rule on Friday, Cantwell called the new regulations “more of a status quo rule than the real safety changes needed to protect the public and first responders.” And she told POLITICO that, if she had her druthers, she’d “appoint a czar from the outside who knew this subject well and say ‘Make emergency recommendations and let’s get this volatility issue addressed.’” Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Chuck Schumer also joined in raising concern about the scope of the new rules. http://politico.pro/1zraUnl
Lawsuit time? Those in the railroad industry have been slamming the department’s decision to require tank cars carrying crude oil to use electronically controlled pneumatic brakes by 2021 if there are more than 69 of them hauling the fuel and the train is traveling more than 30 mph. The Railway Supply Institute’s Committee on Tank Cars joined in trashing the braking rules, saying that the data the group gave the administration shows that the brakes are not significantly safer during derailments compared to other systems already being used. And the freight rail industry’s major trade group says it’s not ruling out some legal challenge to the braking rules. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says, though, that he believes “strongly” that the regulations will stand up in court.
Railroad industry criticism: http://politico.pro/1br0ngx. RSI perspective: http://politico.pro/1DYpuiN. Legal challenge consideration: http://politico.pro/1KG0wZW. Foxx’s forecast: http://politico.pro/1K5HmvF.
Oil sands exception: Noticeably absent in the regulations is language allowing older DOT-111 tank cars to be repurposed for carrying heavy Canadian oil sands. Pro’s Elana Schor explains that “the change in DOT’s regulatory reasoning came after both the oil industry and environmentalists noted that DOT-111s could not carry the heavy fuel without retrofits or additions to the tank cars.” http://politico.pro/1dGYjmh
THIS WEEK: House lawmakers are back in their districts this week, but senators keep on toiling here in the nation’s capital. A steady hum of low-key transportation events will play out over the next few days, beginning with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s speech Tuesday at a conference downtown on road safety and a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing that day on reauthorizing surface transportation programs, which expire at month’s end.
Monday — Down in Atlanta, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International kicks off its four-day drone conference, hosted by the chief revenue officer of 3D Robotics: http://bit.ly/1Fz0H8W.
IT’S MONDAY: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Reach out: jscholtes@politico.com or @jascholtes.
“We’re driving down the Interstate, you’re feeling great…” (h/t Adam Snider) http://bit.ly/1I3QGmt
THE REST OF THE WEEK:
Tuesday — Foxx and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration deputy David Friedman speak at a conference hosted by Safe Kids Worldwide, in celebration of the U.N.’s Global Road Safety week. Officials from the World Bank and New York City’s Department of Transportation are also set to speak. Summit agenda: http://bit.ly/1dBpY8a.
The Senate Commerce panel holds a subcommittee hearing on reauthorizing surface transportation programs: http://1.usa.gov/1IwFjmj.
Drone enthusiasts meet again for the Unmanned Systems conference, with talks by Google’s head of Project Wing, CNN’s senior vice president of legal and the CEO of CyPhy Works, a company that creates aerial robots. The EPA subcommittee that gives advice on vehicle air pollution and motor fuel meets to talk about the projects being carried out by the agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. The State Department’s Shipping Coordinating Committee meets in D.C. to prep for the upcoming session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee in London.
Wednesday — Rep. Frank LoBiondo will be a long way from the Jersey Shore, speaking to the drone crowd at the Unmanned Systems conference in Atlanta, along with Hugh Herr, who heads the Biomechatronics research group at the MIT Media Lab.
The Senate Commerce Committee vets Daniel Elliott for his nomination to be reappointed to the STB, as well as Mario Cordero for his nomination to be reappointed to the Federal Maritime Commission: http://1.usa.gov/1EWtYMu. And the FAA’s Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics holds a special committee meeting on portable electronic devices.
Thursday — DOT’s chief data officer, Daniel Morgan, speaks at a FedScoop event on data innovation: http://bit.ly/1c3XDqy. The Unmanned Systems conference wraps up in Atlanta. The FAA’s Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics holds another meeting on portable electronic devices. And the Bipartisan Policy Center launches its Executive Council on Infrastructure, a group of business executives looking for ways to encourage private investment in the nation’s critical infrastructure.
MORE WARNINGS ABOUT NEXTGEN CYBERSECURITY: Our friends penning Morning Cyber (http://politi.co/1fs7E18) write that “the FAA isn’t taking the cybersecurity of the air traffic control system seriously enough as it develops the $40 billion NextGen overhaul, according to a committee empaneled by the National Research Council. NextGen has come under criticism before for lack of a comprehensive cybersecurity program — most recently by the GAO in a March report. Cybersecurity ‘has not been fully integrated into the agency’s thinking’ says this NRC committee, in a Friday report. The absence of an overarching program ‘leaves doubt about the exact security capabilities that NextGen will be able to achieve,’ it adds, noting that security can’t be achieved piecemeal nor added later.” The report: http://bit.ly/1KFmCMr.
REINVIGORATING RENTAL CAR SAFETY BILLS: Lawmakers in both chambers reintroduced bills on Friday that would force rental car companies to fix vehicles that have been subject to recalls before renting or selling them. Reps. Lois Capps, Walter Jones, G.K Butterfield and Jan Schakowsky are behind that legislation in the House. And in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer and Claire McCaskill are leading the charge. Bill info: http://1.usa.gov/1K5KEPN.
Administration’s stance: McCaskill publicly released a letter on Friday that she got from DOT back in November stating the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s opposition to the auto industry’s legislative proposal for curbing rental cars subject to safety recalls. The letter, signed by NHTSA Deputy Administrator David Friedman, says the proposal put forth by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers “is not a serious, comprehensive approach to redress the problem of defective rental vehicles on our nation's roads and highways,” and that the agency is concerned the plan would make consumers believe that defects are only dangerous if manufacturers issue “do not drive” warnings. The administration instead backs the lawmakers’ proposal. The letter: http://1.usa.gov/1Ph6TUz
RETHINKING LITHIUM BATTERY TRANSPORT STANDARDS: The UN agency that guides international aviation policies has agreed to work on new packaging standards for lithium batteries, amid increasing concerns about shipping those batteries in airport cargo holds. Our Kathryn A. Wolfe reports that “Last week, Rep. Peter DeFazio sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx noting that FAA tests conducted show that the uncontrollable nature of lithium battery fires can overwhelm current aircraft cargo suppression systems, and ‘can lead to a catastrophic failure of the airframe.’ … At least two U.S. airlines — Delta and United — have stopped transporting lithium batteries in bulk.” http://politico.pro/1DY7bKC
‘BRIDGEGATE’ INDICTMENT DETAILS SORDID PLOT: The indictment federal prosecutors have now released in the ‘Bridgegate’ case reads like the most fantastical of tabloid fiction, detailing text messages and emails between three of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s lieutenants, scheming and celebrating the gridlock caused by lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in 2013. The New York Times reports: “The fine-grained intricacies laid out in the legal papers show the three plotting like petulant and juvenile pranksters, using government resources, time and personnel to punish a public official whose sole offense was failing to endorse their political patron. The three were in constant contact, brazenly using government emails, their tone sometimes almost giddy. They even gave the increasingly desperate mayor of Fort Lee their own version of the silent treatment.” More from the Times: http://nyti.ms/1cb8OxJ. Christie ally’s guilty plea: http://politi.co/1JX6cxW.
Christie camp responds: A Christie adviser told Playbook that “What Christie said all along — that he had no knowledge — has been borne out today. In 15 months of investigation, it remained contained to the bad actors we learned at the outset. For the team, the news isn’t necessarily positive but given what could have occurred, it’s about the best that could have been expected ... It allows for us to plan for the future. ... No one’s doing backflips.” http://politi.co/18IzEdG
MOVING ON UP: Longtime transit consultant Jeff Boothe is launching his own firm today, branching out from his post as an equity partner at Holland and Knight. For a rundown of his experience — from his days as a Hill staffer to his latest work representing transportation clients — check out his LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/1Ph8HNc.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Boeing's Dreamliner has a bug that can make it lose power mid-air. Gizmodo: http://bit.ly/1KFEjvc
— Hands-free cars take wheel, and law isn’t stopping them. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1QdR9nz
— A solar-powered motorbike, to empower Afghans. LA Times: http://lat.ms/1R4pAyi
— Port truck drivers strike ends in southern California. Pro: http://politico.pro/1Azms33
— Oil slump tempers Bakken drillers' worries over new rail rules. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1JL0EK8
— Survey: States spent heavily to clear winter snow and ice. AP: http://abcn.ws/1QdQZN1
— Pilots brace for 5-day solar-powered flight from China to Hawaii. McClatchy: http://bit.ly/1I6gqyE
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 27 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 149 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 555 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
All Day — The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International begins its four-day drone conference: http://bit.ly/1Fz0H8W. 285 Andrew Young International Blvd. NW, Atlanta.
Did we miss any events? Let MT know at transpocalendar@politicopro.com.
Stories from POLITICO Pro
DOT issues final rules on flammable oil trains
DOT issues final rules on flammable oil trains back
By Elana Schor | 5/1/15 10:33 AM EDT
The Obama administration imposed tougher safety regulations Friday for trains carrying crude oil, responding to growing alarm about a series of fiery derailments that killed dozens of people in a small Canadian town and have rattled U.S. communities from North Dakota to Alabama to Virginia.
Details of the rules provoked a furious rebuke from the railroad industry’s main lobbying group, which called DOT’s mandate for advanced brakes “a rash rush to judgment,” while oil refiners said its requirements for retrofitting tens of thousands of older tank cars by as early as 2018 are “unrealistic” and may disrupt commerce. On the other hand, the rules fall far short of some environmental groups’ call for banning oil train shipments altogether, and they don’t require oil companies to process their fuel to make it less volatile before shipping it.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the long-awaited regulations are meant to absorb the lessons of the oil train accidents of recent years, including the July 2013 derailment and explosion that incinerated 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. The rules are also a response to the huge surge in oil production that has taken root in heartland states like North Dakota, thanks to the shale revolution that has made the U.S. a growing oil and gas superpower.
“Since 2008, we have seen a staggering, staggering 4,000 percent increase in the transport of crude by rail,” said Foxx, who was accompanied by Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.
“The truth is, 99.9 percent of these shipments reached their destination safety,” Foxx said, quoting a statistic that the railroad industry likes to cite. But he added: “The accidents involving crude and ethanol that have occurred, though, have shown us that 99.9 percent isn’t enough. We have to strive for perfection.”
Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg dismissed the railroad industry’s objections to the newly required braking systems, which will have to be in place as early as 2021.
“We are not an agency with a goal of making things convenient or inexpensive for industry,” she said. “Our entire goal and mission is safety.”
Friday’s announcement came one day after the first anniversary of an oil train derailment and explosion in Lynchburg, Va., that dumped crude into the James River.
Last year saw an all-time record of 144 oil train incidents in the U.S. — up from just one in 2009 — causing a total of more than $7 million in damage. The trend has continued this year, including derailments and breaches in West Virginia, Ontario and Illinois, all of which involved a newer model of tank car that had been billed as more sturdy and puncture-proof.
While members of Congress largely welcomed the new rule, several faulted DOT for not getting the most dangerous tank cars off the tracks faster. They said the department should also require oil companies to make their fuel less prone to explosions and should force railroads to provide more information to state and local emergency responders.
“The new DOT rule is just like saying let the oil trains roll,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), whose state has seen protests against crude rail shipments. “It does nothing to address explosive volatility, very little to reduce the threat of rail car punctures, and is too slow on the removal of the most dangerous cars.”
Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she would look for legislative options to mandate even tougher standards, perhaps through the appropriations process or an upcoming passenger rail authorization.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) agreed that DOT needs to do more. “While I am glad that the administration is finally taking steps to protect our communities, I have serious concerns with these rules,” she said in a statement. “Inadequate tank cars will be allowed to continue carrying volatile crude oil until 2020, and in some cases indefinitely.”
“The good news is that the standards for tank cars are tough and provide certainty, but the phase-out timeline lets the railroads take too long to implement it,” said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.
In a more positive vein, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said the new tank car standards “appear to move in the right direction and should help prevent future tragedies.” And Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, said that “at first glance, this rule will provide certainty to manufacturers, shippers, and railroads and better protect the American public” — though he noted that “the National Transportation Safety Board first recommended replacing and retrofitting these cars more than 20 years ago.”
The Association of American Railroads would not rule out challenging the regulations in court, even though it welcomed the tank car requirements overall and noted that it had been advocating tougher standards for years. In particular, the group objected to DOT’s mandate for the oil-carrying trains to use electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, saying there’s no evidence they would reduce accidents.
“The DOT couldn’t make a safety case for ECP but forged ahead anyhow,” railroads association President Ed Hamberger said in a statement. “This is an imprudent decision made without supporting data or analysis. I have a hard time believing the determination to impose ECP brakes is anything but a rash rush to judgment.”
Foxx maintained that the brakes could prevent a repeat of incidents like a December 2013 collision in which an oil train slammed into a derailed grain train, setting off a series of explosions outside Casselton, N.D.
“ECP brakes can reduce how long it takes a train to stop,” Foxx said. “They can prevent cars from slamming into each other, they can decrease the number of cars that derail, they can greatly reduce the probability that tank cars will puncture. This is proven technology.”
Besides the brake provisions, the rules also include stiffer construction standards for rail tank cars made after Oct. 1 and permanent versions of the speed limits that DOT had previously announced.
The oil industry group American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers said it’s concerned that DOT’s “aggressive retrofit schedule is unrealistic and may be disruptive to transporting crude oil to markets across the country.” It also repeated its call for DOT to take on what it calls the “root causes of train derailments: track integrity and human error.”
Important aspects of the rules go beyond what the oil and railroad industries had suggested — for example, new tank cars designed to transport crude that are made after Oct. 1 will have to have steel walls that are 9/16th-inch thick, compared with the half-inch thickness both industries had jointly called for last fall. And the rule requires trains to use the advanced electronically controlled pneumatic brakes that they had aggressively fought against — within eight years at the most.
The rules also make permanent the provisions of an emergency order DOT issued last month that limits oil trains containing at least one older-model tank car to only 40 mph in “high-threat” urban areas. All crude-by-rail service would be restricted to 50 mph, in line with a voluntary speed limit that railroads adopted in 2013.
The regulations also include provisions affecting ethanol, another flammable liquid frequently shipped by rail.
DOT said the rules would impose $2.5 billion in costs from 2015 to 2034, while the benefits would range over the same period range from $912 million to $2.9 billion.
Timothy Butters, acting chief of DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said regulators are still looking at the issue of decreasing the volatility of the fuel before it can be shipped. “We need the science to drive that,” he said.
West Virginia’s two senators, Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Democrat Joe Manchin, urged Foxx and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in a letter Friday to move faster on studying oil volatility.
The rules came well beyond the date that Foxx originally promised lawmakers — he had said repeatedly in hearings last year that it would not be allowed to go into 2015. Friday’s announcement comes amid serious and growing pressure from lawmakers in both chambers to get a handle on the issue, especially against the backdrop of Canada’s own actions on oil trains, which at times seemed faster and more aggressive than DOT’s.
Congress attempted to prod DOT into action last year by setting a Jan. 15 deadline to complete the crude-by-rail regulations, but the administration blew past that deadline. While Democrats pressed DOT for the strongest possible rules, Republicans have amplified concerns from the oil industry and other shippers that an unattainable retrofitting timeline for tank cars could lead to further delays and congestion.
Last May, DOT issued a “safety advisory” asking — but not requiring — shippers of Bakken crude to discontinue using older DOT-111 models of tank cars and instead use newer cars with the model name CPC-1232. But weeks earlier, Canada had announced a series of mandates including the phase-out or retrofitting of DOT-111 tank cars in the next three years, prompting grousing among U.S. regulators.
“When can we expect the U.S. DOT to raise the bar, to up the ante?” asked NTSB member Robert Sumwalt during a safety forum around the time Canada acted.
“Right now in three years, those communities that live alongside railroad tracks that are transporting crude oil in Canada, those communities will ostensibly have a higher level of safety than will those communities here in the U.S.,” he added at the time. “So when is the DOT going to step up to the plate?”
Heather Caygle contributed to this report.back
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Port truck drivers strike ends
5/1/15 7:04 PM EDT
The port truck drivers strike came to an end as drivers working for Pacific 9 Transportation returned to work.
Earlier today, drivers working for Pacer Cartage, Intermodal Bridge Transport and Harbor Rail Transport went back to work.
The truck drivers, who serve the Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego ports, went on strike Monday over their classification as independent contractors instead of employees.
— Marianne LeVine
To view online:
https://www.politicopro.com/go/?wbid=52888