Infrastructure in the News: January 9, 2015
BAF IN THE NEWS
PR Newswire: Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Joins Lincoln Institute Board
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a leading advocate for infrastructure investment as co-chair of Building America's Future, and Mimi Brown, until last year the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation for the Government of Hong Kong, have joined the Board of Directors for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
NATIONAL NEWS
The Hill: Momentum builds in Congress for raising the federal gas tax
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/228986-momentum-seen-in-push-for-gas-tax-hike
Record-low gas prices across the U.S. have given rise to fresh talk in Washington of raising the federal gas tax for the first time in over 20 years, with leading Republicans now saying a hike must not be ruled out.
Huffington Post: Lower Gas Prices Mean More Deaths On The Road
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/gas-prices-fatalities_n_6425170.html
As motorists rejoice low gas prices, one researcher has found a sobering link between cheap gasoline and an increase in highway deaths.
Washington Post: Is there any chance of a deal on infrastructure spending?
We keep hearing that there are three areas of potential compromise between the new GOP Congressional majority and Democrats, President Obama included: Trade, tax reform, and infrastructure. The first appears real; the second less so.
Greater Greater Washington: Public-private partnerships work for some infrastructure, just not all
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are an increasingly common way to fund new construction. But what are they, exactly, and in what circumstances are they appropriate?
AP: TSA Announces New Security Measures for Airport Workers
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/08/us/ap-us-airport-security-.html
ATLANTA — Federal officials say the Transportation Security Administration is implementing additional security measures for airport and airline employees nationwide.
Reuters: U.S. Gasoline Tax Hike Talk Increases in Congress
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/01/08/us/politics/08reuters-usa-taxes-gasoline.html
WASHINGTON — The possibility of a gasoline tax increase to help pay for federal highway improvements was attracting increased attention in the U.S. Congress as a prominent conservative Republican on Thursday said he was willing to consider the move.
Reuters: House Speaker Boehner Douses Gas Tax Hopes
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/01/08/us/politics/08reuters-usa-congress-gastax-boehner.html
WASHINGTON — House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday he doubted there were enough votes in the new Republican-majority Congress to raise gasoline taxes.
New York Times: Gun-Running in the Jet Age (Editorial)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/opinion/gun-running-in-the-jet-age.html?_r=0
Anyone who has spent time waiting shoeless on an airport check-in line — in fact, anyone who flies — should pay serious attention to the recent revelation that an airline baggage handler was allegedly able to smuggle 153 firearms in an accomplice’s carry-on bag on 17 Delta flights from Atlanta to New York during a seven-month period. The reason, shocking in its simplicity, is that most back-room airport workers are not required to pass through metal detectors on the way to the job.
STATE NEWS
Boston Globe: Boston is the US choice for the Olympic bid. Now what?
The US Olympic Committee has picked Boston as the official nominee for the 2024 Summer Olympics. But don’t get too ready to welcome the Games; it’s still a long road to opening ceremonies.
New York Times: U.S.O.C. Chooses Boston as Candidate for 2024 Summer Olympics
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/sports/olympics/boston-to-be-us-bid-city-for-2024-olympics.html
Boston, which stages a celebrated marathon and has a rich history of professional championships in basketball, football, baseball and hockey, will now swing for the fences in international sport as it seeks to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
LA Times: Why you should embrace the $68-billion California bullet train project (Opinion)
It felt as if it was never going to happen. But California's long-awaited bullet train project finally broke ground this month. The initial leg is to carry passengers from the Central Valley to Los Angeles County, with an ultimate goal of connecting the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
AJC: Study: Black Atlantans prefer suburbs, whites moving to city 'core'
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/study-black-atlantans-prefer-suburbs-white-residen/njjRc/
According to a new migration study of the Atlanta area, people from out of state prefer to move to the city's "core," while core residents head for the suburbs, and people living in the suburbs head for other parts of Georgia.
LA Curbed: 24 Private Companies Want to Run the Downtown LA Streetcar
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/24_private_companies_want_to_run_the_downtown_la_streetcar.php
The Downtown streetcar, which would run along parts of First, Broadway, Eleventh, Figueroa, Seventh, and Hill, continues to roll along—figuratively, not literally. Back in September, news hit that the city was interested in hooking up with a private partner to help pay for the project, which it turns out will be a lot more expensive than originally thought. Turns out the feeling was mutual. Councilmember José Huizar announced today that the city's received 24 responses to the Request for Information it put out in September. The responses came from business firms based in 19 cities in four different countries.
MinnPost: Pressure on Minneapolis Park Board mounts over Southwest light rail
Pressure is being applied from several directions on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to halt its path toward a legal challenge to the approved route for the Southwest light rail transit project.
Cincinnati Business Courier: EXCLUSIVE: Cincinnati company takes on Uber... by driving you in a Tesla
I test drove a Tesla luxury electric car once. I even got to blog about it. Bottom line: it was super smooth, super nice and something nobody of my net worth would ever be able to afford.
AP: Hassan urges need to bring rail from Boston to NH
http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_27283463/hassan-urges-need-bring-rail-from-boston-nh#ixzz3OKiR5h00
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Gov. Maggie Hassan says expanding commuter rail from Boston into New Hampshire is critical for the state's economic growth.
Reuters: New York, New Jersey Lawmakers Revive Port Authority Reform Bills
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/01/08/us/politics/08reuters-usa-new-jersey-portauthority.html
(Reuters) - New York and New Jersey lawmakers want to revive legislation that would reform the transportation agency that was embroiled in controversy with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration over a major bridge traffic jam.
POLITICO MORNING TRANSPORTATION
By Heather Caygle | 1/9/15 5:48 AM EST
With help from Kathryn A. Wolfe and Kevin Robillard
SHE’S OUTTA HERE, FOLKS: Although it’s been rumored for months, Sen. Barbara Boxer finally made the news official on Thursday that she won’t run for reelection in 2016. Boxer’s news will leave big holes to fill when Congress tees up another transportation bill and could even cast a shadow on current highway and transit negotiations. There's still plenty of time for Boxer to make her mark on the next surface transportation bill, which Congress has to enact in May. But if that bill ends up caught in a string of endless extensions, she may end up retiring before it's done — something transportation advocates desperately hope won't be the case. “I think a lot of folks would love to see [a bill] done while she’s still here for obvious reasons,” said AASHTO’s Jim Tymon, previously a senior House Transportation Committee staffer.
BOXER’S LEGACY: Boxer, the diminutive but fiery Democrat from California, is widely credited with quarterbacking MAP-21 into law. That includes having spent a significant amount of her personal political capital on buttonholing and cajoling reluctant members in both chambers, even when rhetoric took a nasty turn. “House conferees were accusing her of all sorts of stuff. And she took those shots and kept plodding away,” said Dave Bauer, a lobbyist for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Jack Basso, a transportation finance expert who is now a senior adviser at Parsons Brinckerhoff, described Boxer as “really the force that pushed [MAP-21] through, in my view, particularly in the Senate.” Kathryn brings you the full story: http://politico.pro/1zXRhNz
Transportation big shots all told MT the same thing: They are sad to see Boxer leave but are happy she’ll be around the next two years to try to push through another transportation reauthorization. “Senator Boxer has been a strong supporter of transportation, so her retirement in 2016 will be a real loss,” said Jack Schenendorf, former chief of staff for the House T&I Committee. Mort Downey, previously a long-time DOT deputy secretary, had similar comments. Downey told MT her departure is “a mix of sorrow that she will be leaving, but with the EPW Committee set to work on its part of the badly needed transportation bill, I’m happy that she will have the opportunity to focus full time over the next two years on what will be her legacy.”
GAS TAX TALK, TAKE TWO: Sens. John Thune, Orrin Hatch and Jim Inhofe have opened the door to a gas tax hike, but that doesn't mean the rest of Congress will walk through it. Kevin's story looks at the many, many obstacles to a hike, including opposition from swing-state GOP senators up for reelection in 2016 — "I'm opposed to hiking the gas tax," Sen. Kelly Ayotte bluntly said — and the skepticism of GOP leaders in both chambers.
— One encouraging sign for surface transportation advocates: It appears Thune, Hatch and Inhofe's timing wasn't accidental, with all three using similar language. Inhofe, Hatch and Sen. Bob Corker also all made sure to call it a "user fee" rather than a tax. "I would prefer not to increase taxes but to me, that’s a user fee,” Hatch told a group of reporters on Thursday. “People who use the highways ought to pay for them.”
— Boehner also didn't completely rule out a gas tax hike but said he didn't believe it was politically feasible. "When the Democrats had total control of the Congress, they couldn’t find the votes to raise the gas tax,” he said at a press conference Thursday. “It’s doubtful that the votes are here to raise the gas tax again.” Kevin's story has much more: http://politico.pro/1tOEafr
SZABO SAYS SAYONARA TO FRA: After nearly six years as head of the FRA, Joe Szabo is leaving Washington today to take a job at the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency. Before he left, Szabo sat down with MT to reflect on his tenure, the biggest challenges facing the industry, high-speed rail and advice for his successor. A few highlights:
His biggest frustration: Congress dragging its feet on the quickly approaching December 2015 deadline for railroads to implement the safety system known as positive train control. “I would say that really that’s been one of my biggest frustrations, has been the failure of Congress to act in that area. ... There’s no question the full deployment cannot and will not be achieved by December 2015, and that’s why it’s imperative that we be given the authority to make provisional certifications.”
High-speed rail development: “The groundwork that has been laid, it’s the kind of stuff that is not necessarily visible to the public. And it certainly isn’t the cool and exciting stuff, but it’s imperative. It’s the foundation,” Szabo said. “Being able to actually break ground in California and be a part of that historic day before leaving, the fact that I was lucky enough that that could occur in my final week, is incredibly rewarding.”
The industry’s biggest challenges: “Obviously implementing positive train control. I’m recused on the crude-by-rail stuff but clearly, implementing the appropriate safety regimes to control what is a growing area of risk. I see those as probably the two biggest challenges, combined with the need for additional capacity.” Pros get the full story: http://politico.pro/1IxTioe
WE MADE IT TO FRIDAY, Y’ALL. Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Want to chat? Send any scoops, tips, complaints, song lyrics or funny jokes tohcaygle@politico.com or send a tweet: @heatherscope. Please don’t forget to follow @Morning_Transpo and @POLITICOPro.
“I wish they would've let you on that Greyhound bus…” http://bit.ly/140Znfe (h/t Adam Snider)
NHTSA NOT PLAYING AROUND: Earlier this week, new NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind warned automakers that they better fall in line in terms of reporting, policing and correcting safety issues, and he’s not playing around. The safety administration said Thursday it’s hitting Honda with a $70 million fine for failing to properly report safety issues — the largest fine ever levied as a result of a NHTSA investigation. Late last year, Honda admitted it had failed to disclose more than 1,700 death and injury reports over the past decade, partially blaming the lack of disclosure on errors in data entry. The company will face the maximum $35 million fine for failing to comply with the TREAD Act and another $35 million fine for failing to report warranty claims to regulators. "Honda and all of the automakers have a safety responsibility they must live up to — no excuses,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on a conference call with reporters.
More to be done: The automaker also agreed to additional oversight from NHTSA on compliance with early warning reporting, personnel training and third-party auditing. Last year, NHTSA collected more than $143 million in civil fines, more than it had collected in the previous 40 years of its existence. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson cheered the fine, calling it a “start” but said it didn’t go far enough. “We still need automakers to step up and take care of consumers with defective airbags, and we need regulators to insist on more timely and accurate reporting of possible safety defects,” Nelson said. Sen. Claire McCaskill said the fine puts NHTSA on the road to being “feared and respected” and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton said he hopes NHTSA’s action sends a signal to automakers that “it’s time to slam the brakes on shoddy reporting.”
TSA REVIEW COMING AFTER GUN SMUGGLING: DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has asked an advisory committee to review security at airport sterile areas. His request follows allegations that workers who had access to sterile areas may have smuggled guns from Atlanta to New York City by bypassing metal detectors and calls from Sen. Chuck Schumer for expanded security screenings (Refresher here: http://politico.pro/14wNCP1. During a visit to the Atlanta airport Thursday, Johnson said DHS has asked the Aviation Security Advisory Committee to do an “expedient and comprehensive review” of security vulnerabilities in airport sterile areas. Schumer said he was pleased that Johnson was taking seriously “the recently exposed, gaping hole in our airport security.”
And the AP has more on the additional TSA screenings: “Officials say new measures could include enhanced airline-employee screenings, random security checks and additional security patrols in secure areas. DHS spokesman Todd Breasseale said he didn't have details about which measures were to be implemented first or when.” (http://nyti.ms/14wcUvQ).
ALL ABOUT THAT DRONE: This year’s International CES is teeming with drones built to monitor traffic, police the border, deliver packages and even take selfies of their operators from afar. There’s just one problem: some of them have their wings clipped beyond the confines of the city’s convention center. Tony Romm has more from Las Vegas: “For all the work here to highlight the nascent market for unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, there are still serious restrictions on where companies and consumers can test their craft in the United States. The FAA has been working for months on new rules that would open the skies for drones, but the agency’s final product isn’t expected until perhaps 2017 — years beyond what Congress intended when it tasked the agency to study the issue."
"The slow pace has some tech companies, investors and advocates — in Las Vegas and back inside the Beltway — antsy and peeved. ‘I think there’s definitely frustration from every company, from Amazon to Google, to even some foreign companies, that the U.S. is behind the developed world in laying out the framework for drone use,’ said Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association, in an interview.” Pros get the full story: http://politico.pro/1KqGWSJ
FTA’S McMILLAN RENOMINATED: President Barack Obama has re-nominated Therese McMillan to lead the Federal Transit Administration. McMillan, currently the agency's acting administrator, was nominated for the permanent job last Congress but was never confirmed by the Senate. McMillan has been deputy administrator since 2009 and previously worked as a local transportation official in the San Francisco area. The White House also re-nominated T. Bella Dinh-Zarr to serve on the NTSB.
HEITKAMP AIDE MOVING TO AMTRAK: Eamon Walsh, a legislative assistant in Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s office, is leaving the Hill after today to take a job as Amtrak’s director of government affairs for the Senate. Before working in Heitkamp’s office, Walsh was a governance team lead for the State Department in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and worked as deputy policy director for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee before that.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)
-Pings detected in AirAsia black box search. USA Today: http://usat.ly/1tPreGo
-Uber is back in business in the Big Apple. Newsweek: http://bit.ly/1BR7PJB
-D.C. streetcar system has another accident, its eighth since October. The Washington Post:http://wapo.st/1xJUxz7
-JetBlue gives passengers etiquette lessons after last year’s series of “air rage” incidents. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1AxgNP2
-“Renewed prosperity to test Detroit’s auto mettle.” The Detroit News: http://bit.ly/17oFz81
-Nissan is linking up with NASA to build the driverless car of the future. Wired:http://wrd.cm/1tOGPG4
-Federal officials want recordings of New Jersey “bridgegate” testimony. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1AuW2Rr
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 142 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 264 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 669 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
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Have a safe weekend.
Stories from POLITICO Pro
Boxer exit a ‘big loss’ for transportation
GOP cracks open the gas tax door, but how much?
Drones invade Vegas tech show — with nowhere to go
Boxer exit a ‘big loss’ for transportation back
By Kathryn A. Wolfe | 1/8/15 5:21 PM EST
Sen. Barbara Boxer’s decision not to run for another term in 2016 will leave big shoes to fill when it comes time to tee up the next surface transportation bill, and maybe even the one lawmakers are working on now.
Though Thursday’s announcement had been rumored for some time, not having Boxer as the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is sure to cause some heartburn, especially where transportation intersects with environmental concerns.
Boxer, the diminutive but fiery Democrat from California, is widely credited with quarterbacking MAP-21 into law, along with then-House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.). In particular, Boxer did not hesitate to spend significant amounts of her personal political capital on buttonholing and cajoling reluctant members in both chambers, even when rhetoric occasionally got heated. Her imprimatur also gave MAP-21, which had hefty sections on environmental streamlining, credibility with progressives and greens. When the bill was up for a final passage vote in the Senate, Boxer flew around the chamber like a bee, chatting with senators constantly and watching the vote tally.
Jack Basso, a transportation finance expert who is now a senior adviser at Parsons Brinckerhoff, described Boxer as “really the force that pushed [MAP-21] through, in my view, particularly in the Senate.”
“She’s been a great leader, she has tremendous experience dealing with these issues. I think all of us have felt that she really has been a stellar performer in that regard. Big loss,” Basso said.
He said not only did Boxer give MAP-21 credibility with progressives in her caucus and with green groups, “she drove the bill.”
“She didn’t hesitate to really, really lobby members, both House and Senate, to get MAP-21 done. And I saw that firsthand,” Basso said.
There’s still plenty of time for Boxer to make her mark on the successor to MAP-21, which Congress has to enact in May. But if that bill ends up caught in a string of endless extensions, she may end up retiring before it’s done — something transportation advocates desperately hope won’t be the case.
Jim Tymon, COO and director of policy at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said her retirement won’t have a “huge impact on whether or not the bill gets done.”
“Unfortunately, there are some bigger issues out there,” Tymon said. “I think a lot of folks would love to see one done while she’s still here for obvious reasons.”
Boxer will also leave behind several pet issues that benefited from her interest and position of seniority, including her passionate push to make sure companies cannot rent vehicles subject to a recall unless those problems are first fixed.
Transportation advocates should also be pleased her likely successor as the top Democrat on the EPW Committee, Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, is also a staunch supporter of a long-term surface transportation bill.
“She has two more years to serve and there’s a lot to be done, and my focus is to make sure we get as much as we can done in those two years as possible so she finishes strong and we do good things for our country,” Carper told reporters.
After a reporter noted he was next in line for the ranking slot, Carper smiled.
“Let me see,” he said jokingly. “I think you might be right.”
Boxer, along with fellow California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, also was key to pushing through new regulations requiring certain trains to be equipped with positive train control. Boxer and Feinstein’s interest in the technology stemmed from a 2008 collision between a Metrolink passenger train and a freight train that killed 25 people and injured 135.
She also played a role in realizing parts of what she called a “passenger bill of rights,” primarily new rules to keep airlines from holding passengers on the tarmac for excessive periods of time.
Kevin Robillard and Heather Caygle contributed to this report.back
GOP cracks open the gas tax door, but how much? back
By Kevin Robillard | 1/8/15 6:28 PM EST
Three leading Republicans opened up the door to a gasoline tax hike this week, but the rest of Congress doesn’t seem eager to follow them through it.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune have all signaled they would be open to hiking the federal 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax, using language that was notably similar. But other Republicans don’t seem as eager, and GOP leaders in both chambers dismissed a hike as politically impossible right now.
New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told The Wall Street Journal this week: “We all know we’re not going to pass a gas tax increase.”
On Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner seemed to leave the door open just a tad at a press conference, never declaring his opposition to a hike. He noted he had never voted for a gas tax increase and said he thought it was politically impossible.
“When the Democrats had total control of the Congress, they couldn’t find the votes to raise the gas tax,” he said at a press conference. “It’s doubtful that the votes are here to raise the gas tax again.”
A later statement from Boehner spokesman Michael Steel, however, completely shut the door: “The speaker doesn’t support a gas tax hike. Period.”
Doubt isn’t just coming from leadership. A number of interviews POLITICO conducted with GOP senators suggests little new appetite for a gas tax hike before the May deadline.
New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte was blunt: “I don’t support raising the gas tax.”
“I think we do need to fix the Highway Trust Fund and come up with a highway bill that has more certainty, but there are other ways to do it than the gas tax,” Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said, noting he would prefer to return gas tax money to the states or remove mass transit from the trust fund — a tack that’s been tried and failed miserably during MAP-21.
Portman and Ayotte are expected to face competitive reelection fights in 2016. Two other senators facing competition in 2016 — Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey and Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson — said they would prefer to focus on finding savings. But all of those solutions are likely to draw fierce opposition from Democrats.
Asked specifically about Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)’s proposal to hike the gas tax and balance it out with a middle-class tax cut, Boehner said: “There are a lot of people with a lot of ideas. We’ve got to find a way to deal with America’s crumbling infrastructure and we need to do it in a long-term program that is in fact funded.”
House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) reiterated his belief a gas tax hike couldn’t pass the House over the winter break, and the chamber’s rank-and-file seem to agree. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he thought the only “viable” option was using repatriation to fill the gap, a step proposed by former committee Chairman Dave Camp.
“I don’t think hiking the gas tax is really going to solve the problem,” he said. “I don’t think it’s politically feasible in the House. … We know the gasoline tax has led to declining revenue in the past ten years.”
But Republicans opening the door to a gas tax hike seem to be speaking from the same script, even using similar language. Hatch, Corker and Inhofe have all pointedly called the tax hike a “user fee” in recent days.
“We have proposed raising the gasoline tax — user fee by 12 cents, but also by offsetting other taxes that Americans would pay,” Corker said, correcting himself, while appearing on “Fox News Sunday.”
Inhofe, speaking to The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, told a reporter: “It’s not a tax. It’s a user fee.”
Hatch used a similar point when talking to a group of reporters on Thursday.
“I would prefer not to increase taxes, but to me that’s a user fee,” he said. “People who use the highways ought to pay for them.”
Even though the vast majority of Republicans still seem set against a gas tax increase, transportation advocates were ecstatic about the rhetorical shift from some GOP quarters.
“To me it would indicate that some pretty significant people are coming to the reality that they’ve got to do something about the trust fund,” Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Jack Basso said, adding: “I think they’re signaling that there may be room here to do something.”
A former senior transportation aide said the similarity of the language coming from the likes of Hatch and Inhofe was noteworthy and suggested it means a gas tax hike might be on the table as part of a bigger legislative package.
“The fact that the three of them have all said it within the course of three to four days and all said it within a similar message makes me think it’s a bigger deal that if it was done independently,” he said.
And at least one group blasted out a press release pleading with readers not to believe all was lost after Boehner’s remarks.
Michael O’Brien, spokesman for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, penned the email, saying that “no one should be in a tizzy about what Speaker Boehner said today; he’s using the same line (like, verbatim) about the gas tax that he’s been using for months. The facts are clear: There is growing momentum on Capitol Hill to seize upon presently low oil prices to adjust the gas tax and make sure the Highway Trust Fund is fully funded.”
Business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, the American Trucking Associations and AAA, have issued repeated calls for Congress to fix the trust fund by hiking the tax. Congress has ignored those calls and instead used general fund transfers to patch the fund dozens of times over the past decade. The most recent patch, enacted this fall, delivered enough cash to the fund to last until May.
Heather Caygle and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report.back
POLITICO Pro Q&A: Joe Szabo back
By Heather Caygle | 1/9/15 5:00 AM EST
After nearly six years as head of the Federal Railroad Administration, Joe Szabo is saying goodbye to Washington on Friday, returning to Illinois to take a job as a senior fellow at the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency.
As administrator, Szabo guided the FRA as it tried to strengthen passenger and freight rail safety following a series of Metro-North commuter rail accidents, including a 2013 derailment that killed four people, and the Lac-Megantic crude oil disaster that resulted in 47 fatalities. More recently, he was in California to trumpet the country’s first high-speed rail groundbreaking. Szabo sat down with POLITICO to reflect on his time as FRA chief and the challenges that lie ahead for the rail industry.
Note: Szabo recused himself from addressing crude-by-rail issues due to his new role at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What legacy do you leave behind after nearly a six-year tenure?
I kind of put my legacy in context of two things — not just the near six years that I spent here, but also my 38 years in the railroad industry. So it’s kind of a little bit bifurcated, but I think about the industry that I walked into in the mid-70’s, where a third of the industry was in bankruptcy, another third was teetering on bankruptcy and the remaining third could not earn its cost of capital. Working conditions and safety were horrendous. And then I take a look at where the industry it as today, you know — the healthiest that it has been in probably a century, safety at an all-time best.
Coming to my tenure here at the FRA, obviously the dramatic improvement in safety has to be the most rewarding thing for me, having worked out there. I’m a fifth-generation railroader, my dad worked out there, I worked out there. I’ve had five good friends killed in the line of duty over the course of my railroad career. I’ve been to those funerals. So the significant reduction in on-duty employee fatalities is most meaningful to me. The year before I came to FRA in 2008, 26 employees were killed on duty and that was about the average. We not only drove that down to record lows, but last year we drove that down to five. We’re so close now to getting it to zero, where we’ve got to get it.
On high-speed rail development: The groundwork that has been laid, it’s the kind of stuff that is not necessarily visible to the public. And it certainly isn’t the cool and exciting stuff, but it’s imperative. It’s the foundation. And we’ve got these states so prepared and ready that future administrations will not inherit what we inherited, which was having grant dollars that needed to go out the door without the state partners being prepared to receive them and implement good projects.
Republicans have been highly critical of the California high-speed rail project, saying there’s "no chance" it will be completed. What’s the project’s future with a Republican-controlled Congress?
I think it’s interesting rhetoric but it’s actually not founded in reality. California has now initiated a period of sustained construction. Through their three pots of money now they’ve got the dollars that they need to actually build what will be a viable operating segment that will provide tangible benefits to the traveling public. The cap-and-trade commitment from Gov. [Jerry] Brown was an absolute sea changer. … At this point the issue of additional federal money, I mean it’s not necessary, it’s not needed, it’s not something that they’re requesting.
But are you concerned about the lack of GOP support for the high-speed rail?
There’s no question that rail investments need and deserve predictable, dedicated funding. In the federal government, we need to ensure that we’re a reliable federal partner for states to be able to build out and execute their visions for how rail fits into meeting their state transportation needs. So obviously I am concerned that there’s a level of opposition. In the context of California though, I don’t find it relevant to the conversation.
Politics percolates from the ground up and so the growth in local needs, the growth in the call from the traveling public, the significant shift in travel habits of the millennials who are the leaders of the future, I’m very, very comfortable that inner-city passenger rail investments will have a bright future. It may not be immediately, it should be, but it may not be.
Why do you think the U.S. is so far behind on high-speed rail compared with other countries?
It’s not just that we’re so far behind on high-speed rail. I worry that as a country we have lost our backbone and the political wherewithal to do anything bold anymore. So really the conversation needs to be more broad about how we’re going to invest in our transportation infrastructure. … Congress is going to have to develop a backbone and the political will to address our transportation needs.
As the December 2015 deadline for railroads to implement positive train control quickly approaches, are you concerned about industry compliance?
I’m concerned because it’s the single most important step that the industry can take to make a leap in the next generation of railroad safety. While I’m incredibly proud of what has been a dramatic and significant continued reduction in accidents and injuries … for us to squeeze out that next level of improvement, it’s going to take positive train control. And it is critical, so critical, that Congress reads the report we sent them two years ago, reads the new report, the revised version that we’ll be submitting to Congress again in the next couple of months, and provides this agency with the tools that we have asked for to ensure that the industry can implement this as far as possible, as quickly as possible.
And I would say that really that’s been one of my biggest frustrations, has been the failure of Congress to act in that area.
Was the 2015 deadline always unrealistic? What should happen next?
There’s no question the full deployment cannot and will not be achieved by December 2015 and that’s why it’s imperative that we be given the authority to make provisional certifications. Because, today the law requires us either to say "you’re fully operative or you’re not." There’s nothing in the middle. We need to be able to push forward segments of PTC, get as much of the system up and running and approved today where it can be done and roll this out in a much more rational manner. … This is not only the most rational way to roll it out. It is the way that we most quickly begin to save lives.
Implementing positive train control on the scale that we’re looking to do here in the United States has never been attempted in the world and so we have to acknowledge just how complex an undertaking this is. We have to acknowledge that a failure to get it right can do significant harm to the rail network. … We have a responsibility to the public to roll this out right and make sure the kinks are worked out as it’s implemented.
How do you think Congress will address PTC this year?
I think Congress is going to have to do something. Otherwise, we’re going to have railroads across the country that are in non-compliance in many cases due to no fault of their own. In my mind that’s the other thing that’s so critically important about provisional certification. It allows us to document and verify the good-faith efforts of those carriers that have in fact genuinely been attempting to deploy in a timely manner versus those who have not made as serious of an effort, and adjust our enforcement approach accordingly.
What do you take away from your time leading the FRA?
You learn early on that there are going to be external factors that you’re going to have to be prepared to adapt to. And that certainly would be my advice to whoever does follow me — certainly stay focused on your game plan but be resilient and be flexible because there’s going to be external forces that will influence so many of your decisions.
Being able to actually break ground in California and be a part of that historic day before leaving, the fact that I was lucky enough that that could occur in my final week, is incredibly rewarding. That project has been a lot of hard work for 5½ years and to know that it’s on such solid footing now and moving forward, to be one of those that got to sign that historic rail that one day will likely be in the California Rail Museum along with all the artifacts from the TransContinental Railroad.
Wednesday in fact, I honestly believe, will be viewed every bit as significant as … when they broke ground in Sacramento, Calif., for the TransContinental Railroad. It’s probably the most important railroading feat in the history of the industry. When it comes to passenger rail development, Wednesday will be remembered the same way.
What are the biggest challenges facing the industry in the coming years?
Obviously implementing positive train control. I’m recused on the crude-by-rail stuff but clearly, implementing the appropriate safety regimes to control what is a growing area of risk. I see those as probably the two biggest challenges, combined with the need for additional capacity. The shipping community … has gone through horrendous challenges with service over the past year. And it really comes down to sufficient capacity in the network. … Getting the right regulatory regime around that is going to be critical. I certainly believe that this department is up to that task and the secretary will have more to say on that in the near future.
Following a four-decade career in the railroad industry and even a stint as mayor in Illinois, is this the hardest job you’ve ever had?
I can say this is the most rewarding job. Certainly it has its challenges. Of course it’s a hard job. You’re working for the president of the United States and you’re responsible for rail safety and rail development for the nation. But the rewards are just incredible. … To sit back and think about where we started six years ago and where we’re at today, I leave with a great deal of pride and satisfaction and a great deal of love for the people of this agency.
The level of intellect, competence, dedication, the work ethic that these people put in everyday, they amaze me and I love them dearly.back
Drones invade Vegas tech show — with nowhere to go back
By Tony Romm | 1/8/15 6:54 PM EST
LAS VEGAS — The 2015 International CES is teeming with drones built to monitor traffic, police the border, deliver packages and even take selfies of their operators from afar.
There’s just one problem: Some of them have their wings clipped beyond the confines of the city’s convention center.
For all the work here to highlight the nascent market for unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, there are still serious restrictions on where companies and consumers can test their craft in the United States. The FAA has been working for months on new rules that would open the skies for drones, but the agency’s final product isn’t expected until perhaps 2017 — years beyond what Congress intended when it tasked the agency to study the issue.
The slow pace has some tech companies, investors and advocates — in Las Vegas and back inside the Beltway — antsy and peeved.
“I think there’s definitely frustration from every company, from Amazon to Google, to even some foreign companies, that the U.S. is behind the developed world in laying out the framework for drone use,” said Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association, in an interview.
Most commercial drone use is currently prohibited in the United States, pending the FAA’s new rules, which Congress hoped would be ready by 2015. But the agency — overwhelmed by public comments and issues like aviation safety and consumer privacy — isn’t expected now to finish its work “until 2017 or even later,” according to the Government Accountability Office, which reported its findings to a disappointed Capitol Hill in December.
For now, the FAA has set up six test sites scattered across the country, including Nevada. And regulators have granted narrow exceptions to their blanket prohibition — allowing select oil inspectors and film production companies, for example, to operate their small craft with strict limits. The FAA awarded two more exceptions — to a realtor in Tucson and a drone company focused on agriculture in Spokane — earlier this week.
Despite the logistical and regulatory hurdles, the drone enthusiasm is still palpable at CES, which featured its first-ever UAV zone on the show floor this year. Demonstrators included smaller firms like Hubsan, a company that markets quadcopters best suited for aerial photography and video. Another company, EHang Inc., touted a multipurpose sextacopter, called SkyWay, fit for everything from “climate monitoring” to “criminal investigation.” Nearby was Zano, a so-called micro-drone with an HD camera that’s controlled by tilting a smartphone. And the firm BYROBOT took it a step further, with an aptly named Drone Fighter that functions as a form of laser tag for flying objects.
Some drone makers on hand for a panel Wednesday even offered praise for the FAA, acknowledging the difficult task it faces to incorporate UAVs into crowded U.S. airspace.
“I know a lot of people out there who wish [the agency] would move a little quicker,” said Tony Carmean, co-founder of Aerial MOB, adding he has “sympathy for what they have to do.” Carmean’s company previously received an FAA exemption to use its movie-set camera drones.
“The rule is going to come out,” said Jim Williams, manager of the FAA’s UAS Integration Office, assuring there’s no “single issue” stalling the agency. “There are no real barriers to that; it’s just a matter of cranking it through the process.”
Back in D.C., drone makers long have sounded a much different tone.
The Small UAV Coalition, which represents major drone makers at CES and others like Google and Amazon, for months has warned the FAA that rules delivered too slowly might push drone makers and testers overseas.
“In the end, American consumers and businesses are the loser,” the association charged in November, criticizing the FAA for focusing too much on recreational drone use. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International similarly has decried the agency’s speed.
That sentiment at times has surfaced at this week’s tech trade show. When drone makers and advocates held a news conference to tout a drone-safety campaign, the discussion at times returned to the widely held belief that federal rules are too far away on the horizon.
“Many say the regulatory process hasn’t kept up with technology,” said Michael Toscano, president and CEO of the AUVSI. But Toscano said that isn’t unusual.
“The FAA has a very arduous task, and that’s to make sure all aviation, manned or unmanned, is safe,” he said.back
POLICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: Honda to pay $70 million NHTSA fine
1/8/15 12:34 PM EST
Honda will pay a record $70 million fine after admitting it failed to report more than 1,729 deaths and injuries in its vehicles, along with other data.
The company said errors in data entry and reporting over an 11-year period led to the mistakes. The company will face the maximum $35 million fine for failing to comply with the TREAD Act and another $35 million fine for failing to report warranty claims to regulators. The fine is the largest ever levied as a result of NHTSA investigation.
"Honda and all of the automakers have a safety responsibility they must live up to — no excuses,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said on a conference call with reporters.
Honda also agreed to additional oversight from NHTSA on compliance with early warning reporting, personnel training and third-party auditing.
Last year, NHTSA collected more than $143 million in civil fines, more than it had collected in the previous forty years of its existence combined.
— Kevin Robillard
https://www.politicopro.com/transportation/whiteboard/?wbid=46293
POLICO Pro Transportation Whiteboard: DHS asks for sterile area review
1/8/15 3:53 PM EST
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has asked an advisory committee to review security at airport sterile areas, following accusations that workers who have access to sterile areas may have smuggled guns from Atlanta to New York City by bypassing metal detectors.
During a visit to the Atlanta airport Thursday, Johnson said DHS has asked the Aviation Security Advisory Committee to do an “expedient and comprehensive review” of security vulnerabilities in airport sterile areas.
Currently, pilots and airline crews must go through TSA security screening, but some kinds of airport workers with access to sterile areas — such as baggage handlers — are allowed to skip the lines. TSA is considering requiring more airport and airline employee screening, random checks, and “additional security patrols” as a result of the gun-running operation.
— Kathryn A. Wolfe
https://www.politicopro.com/transportation/whiteboard/?wbid=46331
POLITICO Pro Whiteboard: Hatch open to gas tax debate
1/8/15 3:24 PM EST
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch told reporters today that he has "an open mind" about discussing an increase to the federal gas tax.
Hatch said he would prefer to call the tax a user fee, adding that the fee has not been increased since the 1990's.
Low gas prices and the looming expiration of the highway bill have revived debate about a gas tax.
"I would prefer not to increase taxes but to me that's a user fee," he said. "People who use the Highways ought to pay for them."
He did not say he directly supports raising the tax but he said it might be the path they have to choose in order to fund the highways.
— Kelsey Snell
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard/?wbid=46324
BAF IN THE NEWS
PR Newswire: Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Joins Lincoln Institute Board
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a leading advocate for infrastructure investment as co-chair of Building America's Future, and Mimi Brown, until last year the Commissioner of Rating and Valuation for the Government of Hong Kong, have joined the Board of Directors for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.