BAF IN THE NEWS:
The Patriot-News: Governor lauds Democratic help in passing $2.5B transportation bill
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/11/gov_corbett_lauds_democrats_wh.html
Gov. Tom Corbett went out of his way to put a bipartisan face on his signature first term legislative accomplishment Thursday evening after the state House hurdled the final step to pass a $2.5 billion transportation package. Standing with a potpourri of legislative, labor and industry leaders, Corbett – a Republican – made a point of thanking a host of Democrats, including: former Gov. Ed Rendell…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Transportation bill gets final OK, heads to Corbett
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2013/11/22/Transportation-bill-gets-final-OK-heads-to-Corbett/stories/201311220120
HARRISBURG -- From highway interchanges in Erie, to repairs of Pittsburgh's Liberty Bridge, to additional funds for Port Authority buses and mass transit in Philadelphia, all corners of the state will share in the $2.3 billion transportation package approved this week by the Legislature, Gov. Tom Corbett said Thursday night… Mr. Fitzgerald had lobbied hard for the measure and was thanked personally by the governor Thursday; he also thanked former governor Ed Rendell, several other former governors and unions who had supported the bill, despite changes opposed by some labor groups.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Road crew: Most lawmakers voted in favor of Pennsylvania
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2013/11/22/Road-crew/stories/201311220042
It was a long time coming, but after years of study and discussion, the state House and Senate did the right thing this week in mustering enough votes to pass a major transportation funding package. Democratic and Republican leaders, from Gov. Tom Corbett to former Gov. Ed Rendell, from Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to former Executive Jim Roddey, put pressure on the Legislature to invest in road maintenance, safe bridges and effective transit.
NATIONAL NEWS:
Chicago Magazine: The Future of Cities, as Gabe Klein Sees It
In 2011, Gabe Klein came into town after a short stint as D.C.’s transportation head, with an unusual background for a transportation commissioner in Chicago—lots of private sector experience in startups, including a stint at ZipCar, and virtually none with the city itself. A couple years later he’s stepping down, heading back to D.C. and into the private sector.
Next City: Private Rail Projects Show Promise, Though Not All Will Succeed
http://nextcity.org/theworks/entry/private-rail-projects-show-promise-though-not-all-will-succeed
Private and profitable rail is blossoming across the land, and Rail magazine has a feature on some U.S. projects, both established and expected, in its summer-fall issue. But while a few promising railways make the list, reading between the lines illustrates the pitfalls of trying to make a buck off a traditionally money-losing industry.
The Washington Post: Driving the economy forward with infrastructure investment
Washington has gotten so used to political theater that many here have lost the ability to spot real chances to do the right thing. The budget conference is an opportunity for Congress to craft a bipartisan compromise that serves the common good. Despite low expectations, the conference should be taken seriously.
STATE NEWS:
Streets Blog: It Could Cost More to Shut Down Cincy Streetcar Than Finish It
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/11/21/it-could-cost-more-to-shut-down-cincy-streetcar-than-finish-it/
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is frustrated that all his work to bring the streetcar to fruition might be for naught, now that anti-streetcar John Cranley has been elected to take his place. “I’m from the tough part of town,” Mallory joked. “I will take the guy in a dark alley. I’m not afraid to use the threat of physical violence.”
The New Mexican: Sangre de Cristo Chronicle: Martinez: Amtrak shouldn’t stick state with big tab
http://www.sangrechronicle.com/articles/2013/11/22/raton_comet/doc528d55c5ab2cf451434216.txt
SANTA FE — Gov. Susana Martinez is not enthusiastic about a plan that would require the state of New Mexico to pay $4 million a year for 10 years to help fund upgrades and maintenance of railroad tracks used by Amtrak’s Southwest Chief.
Los Angeles Times: Two busy Amtrak train lines set ridership records in California
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-amtrak-train-record-20131121,0,3697662.story#axzz2lIDXcTwO
Amtrak-California set ridership records last year on two of its busiest long distance lines in the state — the Pacific Surfliner along the coast and the San Joaquin through the Central Valley.
Sun Sentinel: Rail company unveils plans for downtown Lauderdale station
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-all-aboard-lauderdale-station-20131122,0,2083396.story
A largely ignored area at the north edge of downtown could be transformed into anewcity center, with housing and retail rising around a landmark rail station that connects people to trains, buses and streetcars.
Indianapolis Star: Lawmakers endorse transit proposal, tax plan
http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2013/11/21/lawmakers-endorse-transit-proposal-tax-plan/3662973/
Key lawmakers endorsed a Central Indiana mass transit proposal Thursday that could lower the proposed cost of expanding mass transit and shift a portion of those costs from the shoulders of income tax payers to businesses and transit riders.
The Bergen Record: NJ Assembly committee seeks Port Authority testimony on lane closures at George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee
Top Port Authority executives have been asked to testify before a state Assembly committee on Monday about lane closures at the George Washington Bridge that caused massive traffic jams for four days in September, the chairman of the state’s Assembly Transportation Committee said Thursday night.
KUHF: Metro Says Getting More People To Ride The Bus Is Its Top Goal
Metro board members have taken a crucial first step in the transit agency's efforts to "re-imagine" Houston's bus system. It's all part of an effort to boost sagging ridership by providing quicker service.
The Washington Post: Streetcar service by early February, Gray now pledges
After blowing an earlier self-imposed deadline, Mayor Vincent C. Gray is back with a new prediction for the debut of streetcar service along H Street and Benning Road NE.
Associated Press: The Washington Post: State commits $50 million for new Nice Bridge
BALTIMORE — The Maryland Transportation Authority board has approved spending $50 million on preliminary work toward replacing the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge.
Politico Morning Transportation
By Adam Snider | 11/22/13
Featuring Kathryn A. Wolfe and Kevin Robillard
MAYBE THE CLOGGED EARS ARE A GOOD THING: On the heels of airlines letting fliers use their phones during takeoff and landing, another move to expand phone use in planes has people looking to the skies as one of the last safe havens in a tech-saturated and noisy world. The new FCC head wants to let fliers talk on phones above 10,000 feet — the proposal is slated for a Dec. 12 vote. But as Kathryn, Kevin and Pro Tech’s Brooks Boliek explain, it’s far from a done deal: “The idea has already drawn staunch opposition. At least one member of Congress is crying foul, one of the nation’s major airlines says it won’t change its policy and a major air employee union is calling the idea ‘unsafe.’” Full story on POLITICO: http://politi.co/1c8mVNX
DeFazi-NO: Rep. Peter DeFazio has authored bills to ban cell phone chats on planes — and he might do the same thing again this year, he told Kathryn. “I don’t know what nonexistent problem they’re addressing,” he said. “Imagine being in the middle seat trapped between two idiots yabbering on about their love life or whatever else, or how important they are for five hours on a transcontinental flight — it’s going to be chaos. If that’s what they’re thinking about, they’re out of school here.”
Airlines: Delta Airlines said it would not allow cellphone calls on planes even if the FCC approves it, citing customer surveys showing strong opposition. A JetBlue spokesman said the carrier “would certainly welcome the opportunity to explore” the idea, but noted that “customer feedback indicates people may not want that policy but of course tastes and desires change.”
FUNDING HOT POTATO: Top transportation lawmakers and DOT are playing hot potato with the issue of how to pay for next year’s highway and transit bill. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says it’s up to Congress to come up with some viable ideas. But just a few weeks before that, a congressional freight panel said DOT should go first. Senate EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer is talking about a plan to replace the gas tax with a sales tax, but House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster doesn’t even want to talk about funding yet. “It’s not just hot potato — it’s bad,” Sen. Jim Inhofe told MT of the situation. “Somebody has to blink here,” Foxx’s DOT predecessor, Ray LaHood, said in an interview. “If I had my preference here, it would be the president.” The backdrop to it all is pretty grim: The Highway Trust Fund has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for several years and will run dry in a year’s time. There’s more from Foxx, Shuster, Boxer and LaHood in my story: http://politico.pro/1bWbA5B
Bonus: Check out video excerpts of the speeches from Shuster (http://bit.ly/17RTu06), who said he wants the transport bill ready in spring or early summer, and Boxer (http://bit.ly/I6s3Js).
TURKEY TIME COUNTDOWN: T-MINUS SIX DAYS. Thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports, where you probably know about the anniversary of JFK’s assassination — but did you know it’s also that on this day in history, the English pirate Blackbeard was killed off the coast of Virginia (1718) and the Beatles’ self-titled “white album” was released (1968). Please send me your tips, news and insights: asnider@politico.com. And follow me on Twitter: @AdamKSnider.
“My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea …” http://bit.ly/1aJtTK0
FIRST LOOK — Play some slots: Top transportation brass want to let all carriers bid on gates being divested as part of the American Airlines-US Airways merger, not just low cost carriers, according to a new letter Kathryn got her hands on. Delta Airlines has been pressing for all carriers to get a crack, not just the LCCs preferred by the new American and the DOJ. The letter, signed by Commerce Chair Jay Rockefeller, T&I Chair Shuster, and their respective ranking counterparts John Thune and Nick Rahall, says “to be clear, we fully anticipate that many of the slots and gates will ultimately be awarded to LCCs; we just believe the process should be open to all carriers.” They also ask DOJ to appoint a “managing trustee” to oversee the divestitures. Pros get the letter: http://politico.pro/1aUsnl0
HERE WE GO AGAIN: The sleep apnea issue just can’t be put to bed. First the FMCSA with truckers, now the FAA with pilots and eventually air traffic controllers. Top T&I aviation lawmakers Frank LoBiondo and Rick Larsen joined T&I members Larry Bucshon, Daniel Lipinski and Sam Graves to introduce a bill to ensure that the FAA uses a formal rulemaking with a public comment period if it addresses sleep apnea in pilots. Like the truck bill, it doesn’t ban a ruling but simply states it should be through a rulemaking. Bucshon helped shepherd a similar bill for truck drivers through Congress is near-record time — it was signed 33 days after being introduced, even though FMCSA had announced it would do a rule. Pros get the bill text: http://politico.pro/1ekWkiO
LAWSUITS COMING OVER TSA EXIT LANE CHANGE: Kathryn has the story for Pros: “Airports are readying a lawsuit against the TSA for setting in motion a plan that would shift responsibility away from the agency for policing airport exit lanes. Mark Reis, chairman of Airports Council International — North America and director of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, told POLITICO that ACI, as well as probably the American Association of Airport Executives and some individual airports, will bring suit to block TSA from imposing the change.” More: http://politico.pro/1baPMEQ
PROFIT$ VS. REINVE$TMENT: Just as MT promised, yesterday Senate Commerce Chair Jay Rockefeller put out a report on how profitable the rail industry is — and he didn’t dance around the subject of what he wants to do next. “It is not any secret that I think that — more than three decades after the Staggers Act — the STB needs to change its perspective,” he said at a hearing on several nominations, including former Kansas Transportation Secretary Debra Miller to be on the STB. “The evidence is overwhelming at this point that the four dominant freight railroads are financially strong. It’s time for the STB to re-focus its mission on supporting the businesses and people who use the rail network,” Rockefeller said.
**A message from POWERJobs: New jobs on our radar this week: Press Secretary at Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Assistant Director of Strategic Initiatives at APHSA and VP, Federal Affairs at AHIP. Interested? Apply to these jobs and more at www.POWERJobs.com; finally, a career site made for YOU!**
Counterpoint: The Association of American Railroads doesn’t agree with that “evidence.” Here’s part of a long statement from AAR head Edward Hamberger: “Unfortunately the Committee’s updated report ignores that the rail industry’s return to financial health has resulted in record private investments — not taxpayer dollars — being plowed back into the nation’s rail network that serves the needs of diverse freight shippers and passengers alike. … There is nothing wrong with success.”
YOUR WEEKEND ON METRO: The Red and Orange lines have trains less often but no stations are closed. http://bit.ly/1e69zTQ
More Metro news: The agency is also moving ahead with swapping out the dingy carpet in rail cars for new “slip-resistant resilient flooring.” The new 7000-series cars coming out soon will have them, and Metro hopes to it in all 5000- and 6000-series cars over the next two years (http://bit.ly/1dmR94S). And Metro also said all underground stations will get new lighting by 2015 — five have already been upgraded, L’Enfant is in progress and 41 remain (http://bit.ly/1aLa0lV).
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)
- A great account of how a Boeing plane landed at the wrong airport with a too-small runway. http://bit.ly/17O4bGh
- White House to nominate Richard A. Kennedy to be on the MWAA board of directors.
- Massachusetts and New Jersey legislatures act on “right to repair” bills about how much diagnostic data automakers have to share with repair shops. Tire Business: http://bit.ly/IjkBdu
- Amtrak head Joe Boardman, a Vietnam War vet, does extended interview with American Dream, a radio show aired on American Forces Radio. Listen: http://bit.ly/I6iSsz
- MIT study says Tesla cars catch fire after collisions more often than gas-powered cars, rebutting Elon Musk’s claims otherwise. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1elq7I7
- BART officials insist on contract without FMLA language they say was mistakenly included. AP: http://abcn.ws/17O4HE0
- DDOT’s master plan has 70 miles of cycle track. Check out the maps on GGW: http://bit.ly/1elqlPF
- Rep. John Delaney writes that his infrastructure bank bill should be part of a budget deal. Op-ed in WaPo: http://wapo.st/1bWAYZ1
THE DAY AHEAD: 10 a.m. — Panel discussion on “transportation infrastructure” at the Caribbean-Central American Action’s 37th annual conference titled “Advancing a Shared Agenda.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H St. NW.
THE COUNTDOWN: Surface transportation policy is up in 313 days and FAA policy in 678 days. The mid-term elections are in 347 days. DOT appropriations run out in 55 days.
CABOOSE — British baby billboard: British Airways has a cool new electronic billboard in Piccadilly Circus and Chiswick in London; it uses plane tracking tech to scan the skies for one of the airline’s flights. When one goes overhead, a small child gets up and points to it, and the screen displays the flight number and where it’s headed. Check out video of it in action: http://bit.ly/17O515L
**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 U.S. Department of Transportation, SAIC, METRO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 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
Washington plays hot potato on plans to find highway funds
TSA’s shift on exit lanes may bring suits from airports
Washington plays hot potato on plans to find highway funds
By Adam Snider | 11/21/13
Top transportation lawmakers and the Department of Transportation are playing hot potato with the issue of how to pay for next year’s highway and transit bill.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says it’s up to Congress to come up with some viable ideas. But just a few weeks before that, a congressional freight panel said DOT should go first.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is shopping around a plan to replace the gas tax with a sales tax, but House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) doesn’t even want to talk about funding yet.
The stakes are dire: The Highway Trust Fund has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy for several years. The federal government could start cutting its payments to states in a year if Congress doesn’t find billions of dollars before then.
“It’s not just hot potato — it’s bad,” Sen. Jim Inhofe told POLITICO. Inhofe, who was the EPW Committee’s top Republican during the work on last year’s transportation bill, called infrastructure and defense “my two big passions.”
Foxx told reporters earlier this week that the administration is waiting to hear from Congress about “where the yes point is on transportation.” He bemoaned the “one-sided” talks about funding so far, and quipped that “you can’t push rope.”
But in October, the House Transportation Committee’s special freight panel recommended that DOT take the lead on funding.
“Somebody has to blink here,” Foxx’s DOT predecessor, Ray LaHood, said in an interview. “If I had my preference here, it would be the president.”
LaHood, an Illinois Republican who spent 14 years in the House, knows all too well the perils of a lack of funding: An ambitious $500 billion measure from former Transportation Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) never made it to the floor in the face of administration opposition to the gas tax increase necessary to fund it.
But first, LaHood said, the president has to do some damage control: “Obviously, he has to get this health care website up and running,” he said. “But I think once that’s over — I know the president is interested in climate change — but my personal feeling is he’s very interested in infrastructure and at some point, he will step up and say something very significant.”
President Barack Obama has made a few infrastructure funding proposals over the years, but none have gained serious traction in Congress.
Boxer has been floating the idea of replacing the per-gallon gas tax with a percentage sales tax and other fees, as Maryland and Virginia have recently done. But she’s not too optimistic about the idea.
“Whether we get this through, I don’t know,” she said Thursday at an infrastructure financing event.
Her counterpart in the House, Shuster, doesn’t even want to talk about funding yet — a sentiment echoed by a number of infrastructure advocates POLITICO has talked to. Doing so turns the public against the idea of higher taxes or user fees, even if they go toward the improved infrastructure that Americans overwhelmingly support.
“If we lead talking about funding, I think that diminishes what we have,” Shuster said at the same event where Boxer spoke. The two exchanged a hug and short conversation between their speeches, and each had kind words about the other during in their remarks.
“I think that if we make the case to the American people, the funding will be a byproduct of that,” Shuster added.
Former Shuster aide Jeff Loveng is running a super PAC, America’s Infrastructure Alliance, intended to do just that. The coalition poured money into hyping the Water Resources Reform and Development Act and is poised to play a big role in the surface transportation debate as well.
Loveng said his group plans to “aggressively” work to educate the public about the case for a strong federal role in transportation. “We’ve got a credibility gap with the American people,” he said. AIA targeted 17 members during the WRRDA debate and Loveng expects that number to double for next year’s transportation bill.
For all the reluctance to embrace a single idea or set of solutions, it’s not as if Congress and the administration lack options for funding.
The CBO has said a 10 cent hike in the 18.4 cents per gallon fuel tax would keep the trust fund purring for the next decade. Various think tanks and congressionally chartered panels have said the country should begin moving toward a vehicle miles traveled fee. A recent study said adopting a nationwide electronic tolling system could fund most of the trust fund’s needs. And in recent years, states have adopted gas sales and wholesale taxes.
The problem isn’t a new one. As of September, the country had gone two decades without a fuel tax increase. While the first decline in driving since World War II has made the problem worse, most of the trust fund’s struggles have come from Congress’s decision not to raise the tax, which is eroded each year due to inflation.
— Kevin Robillard contributed to this report.
TSA’s shift on exit lanes may bring suits from airports
By Kathryn A. Wolfe | 11/21/13
Airports are readying a lawsuit against the TSA for setting in motion a plan that would shift responsibility away from the agency for policing airport exit lanes.
Mark Reis, chairman of Airports Council International — North America and director of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, told POLITICO that ACI, as well as probably the American Association of Airport Executives and some individual airports, will bring suit to block TSA from imposing the change.
Right now, the TSA staffs exit lanes — the areas where people getting off a plane can exit beyond security checkpoints. But Reis said the TSA has sent letters individually to 154 airports across the country, telling them they need to amend their airport security programs to account for staffing exit lanes themselves.
“TSA’s under some financial pressure just like a lot of federal agencies are, to do more or at least the same with less. And they have come up with a theory that they actually are not obligated to do staffing of the exit lanes,” Reis said.
Most of the airports have appealed, but Reis said he expects most if not all of those petitions will be denied “within days.” He said airports were supposed to have the plans done by Jan. 1, but airports that protested have been given until Feb. 1.
Reid said the complaint will make two points: One, that TSA has no authority to dump exit lane staffing in their laps, and two that even if the feds want to shed the responsibility, airports may not be the ones that should be assuming it.
“There’s nothing in the federal statute that actually allows you to do this, to give it to airports,” he said. “And if you want to claim, TSA, that this is not an obligation of the federal government, then it would revert actually to the airlines who had the responsibility before 9/11.”
A TSA representative said exit lane monitoring is an issue of access control, not screening. The agency noted that it does not fund exit lane staffing at more than 75 percent of federalized airports, “as it is not a screening function.”
The representative also said the proposal was first included in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget, giving airports more than eight months to prepare. Additionally, there may be a “technological solution” instead of or in addition to staffing that would allow airports to comply.
TSA estimates that the move would save the agency about $88.1 million in fiscal 2014. But airports say their cost of compliance would differ dramatically. In a survey of ACI’s members, the average cost estimate ran at about $150 million annually per airport.
BAF IN THE NEWS:
The Patriot-News: Governor lauds Democratic help in passing $2.5B transportation bill
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/11/gov_corbett_lauds_democrats_wh.html
Gov. Tom Corbett went out of his way to put a bipartisan face on his signature first term legislative accomplishment Thursday evening after the state House hurdled the final step to pass a $2.5 billion transportation package. Standing with a potpourri of legislative, labor and industry leaders, Corbett – a Republican – made a point of thanking a host of Democrats, including: former Gov. Ed Rendell…