NATIONAL NEWS
Pew Research Center: Who relies on public transit in the US?
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/07/who-relies-on-public-transit-in-the-u-s/
America’s love affair with the car is well-documented, but many U.S. adults also rely on a bus, train or subway to get around. One-in-ten Americans (11%) say they take public transportation on a daily or weekly basis, according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2015, but who is taking public transit varies substantially by region, nativity, and race and ethnicity.
Washington Post: After Amtrak workers killed in crash, federal regulators order safety review
Four days after a pair of Amtrak maintenance workers were killed when a train slammed into their backhoe, federal regulators have ordered the passenger rail line to conduct a thorough safety review of work-crew rules and regulations.
The Guardian: We don’t need self-driving cars- we need to ditch our vehicles entirely
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/06/self-driving-cars-public-transportation
I am rich beyond Google’s wildest driverless-car dreams; I own a fleet of swift and reliable driverless cars that take me where I’m going while I read or stare out the window or watch beautifully limber kids turf dancing in the aisles for my entertainment. I have been riding these liberating transportation marvels for many decades; I have seen the future; it is all of us in these driverless cars we already own together.
Mobility Lab: Highway congestion, America’s Soviet bread line problem, needs a price
http://mobilitylab.org/2016/04/07/congestion-soviet-bread-line/
How are America’s roadways like Soviet bread lines? Both are crowded and time-consuming because individuals aren’t paying the right value for the things they want. Congestion pricing offers a solution. In the middle of the 20th century, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, people saw healthy doses of propaganda about the material benefits that their respective capitalist and communist ways of life offered.
Citylab: America has fewest 16-year old drivers since the 1960s
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/04/america-fewest-16-year-old-drivers-1960s/477135/
The number of America’s youngest drivers just hit a record low, according to newly published data from the Federal Highway Administration. Roughly 8.5 million people ages 19 and younger had their licenses in 2014, and of those, just a little more than one million were 16 and younger—the lowest number since the 1960s.
STATE NEWS
Washington Post: Maryland board approves $5.6 billion purple line contract
A Maryland board approved a $5.6 billion contract Wednesday for a team of companies to build and operate a light-rail Purple Line that state officials say will rejuvenate older communities and transform a 16-mile swath of the Washington suburbs. The 876-page agreement — believed to be the most expensive government contract ever in Maryland — forms one of the largest public-private partnerships on a U.S. transportation project and will result in the first major light-rail line in the nation’s capital in years.
Greater Greater Washington: The purple line will have America’s longest railcars
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/30312/the-purple-line-will-have-americas-longest-railcars/
Purple Line trains will be Urbos model trams, built by Spanish company CAF. Urbos trams are modular; you can make them as long or as short as you want. These will be unusually long ones. At 136 feet long, they'll be 2 feet longer than the closest US competitor: Austin Metrorail's 134 foot cars. But Austin's cars are DMUs, a sort of commuter rail / light rail hybrid, built for longer distance and fewer stops compared to the Purple Line.
Los Angeles Times: Want a bike lane in your neighborhood? It’s not so simple in California
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-enviro-bike-lanes-20160407-story.html
For many years, Berkeley bike advocates have pushed for their own lane on a two-block stretch of Fulton Street. The conditions seem ripe for one. It would connect two existing bike lanes in a bustling area between UC Berkeley and downtown. Bike racks already line the sidewalk.
San Antonio Business Journal, VIA to get helping hand from feds on future transportation development
San Antonio is one of nine cities that has been selected to receive technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration for transit-oriented development. The selection comes as the city of San Antonio and VIA Metropolitan Transit continue to work in collaboration to expand and improve transportation options in the region.
WTOP: Audit finds DC circulator buses crumbling, unsafe service
Ninety-five percent of DC Circulator buses inspected by an outside firm had at least one safety problem so significant they should have been pulled from service, according to an audit obtained exclusively by WTOP. Transit Resource Center, an independent transit consulting firm, conducted the audit last August, but it was closely guarded until now. The audit found an “unacceptable” number of the most serious safety defects in the Circulator fleet.
Nashville Business Journal: Uber, Lyft may patch transit holes, but they can’t do it all for Nashville
Ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft may be able to help patch transit holes for Nashville, but they can’t do it all. So went the message this week from a group of executives and advocates in the transit and ride-sharing space, including Uber’s Nashville general manager and the CEO of Boston-based private transit company Bridj.
Politico Morning Transportation
By Martine Powers | 04/08/2016 05:42 AM EDT
With help from Heather Caygle, Lauren Gardner, Annie Snider, and Esther Whieldon
MOVING RIGHT ALONG: Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey's proposal for secondary cockpit barriers got a quick thumbs-up from the Senate on Thursday, along with a few other smaller items, just before a three-day pause in the action. There's still plenty of work left on the FAA reauthorization bill for next week - a slew of amendments , a bipartisan agreement on an energy tax package - but Sen. John Thune seemed pleased with the bill's progress so far. "We think it's a good start," he told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
NOW HERE'S THE REAL QUESTION: If the Senate's FAA bill (H.R. 636) is proceeding all hunky-dory, with a bundle of anti-terrorism security provisions to boot, will that be an impetus for the folks on the House side to pass aviation reauthorization, even without air traffic control privatization? "I think the House is probably going to want to act," Thune said, when asked this question by our own Heather Caygle. "And I think all the good policy that has been included in this bill with respect to security will make it more attractive for them to act, and hopefully they will - irrespective of how that issue gets resolved or sorted out out there - move something that will incorporate a lot of these provisions or similar provisions that we could actually get to the president."
MO' MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS: And how about concerns that the newly-added energy tax measures will put a bad taste in the mouths of House lawmakers? "I don't know," Thune said. "I mean, I think it depends a lot on how much momentum we can build on this coming out of the Senate, and frankly, when we get the tax title next week, we'll see what the reaction is in the Senate, too ... A lot of us haven't had a chance to react to it yet, but I would hope that, in the end, we'll be able to move something that could pass not only in the Senate but also in the House. ... And I hope that whatever the tax title looks like, when it emerges, that it'll not become something that's creating problems."
Here's hoping. As for Thursday's action on the Senate floor, here's our recap:
WHAT'S IN: The Thune-Nelson anti-terrorism package (vetting requirements for airport workers, ratcheting up PreCheck, donating unneeded security equipment to foreign airports with direct flights to the U.S.); an increase in the presence of VIPR airport security teams; requirement of secondary cockpit barriers; continuation of the contract weather observers program; improvement of drone-related FAA employment opportunities for veterans; a study of the costs of advanced scanning technologies at TSA.
WHAT'S OUT: Minimum seat size requirements (more on that below).
WHAT'S LEFT: Cybersecurity, a ban on using U.S. airspace to transport Guantanamo Bay prisoners, taxes, and a bevy of others. "I think it'll probably take most of the week," Thune said.
IT'S FRIDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
After a week of transportation cat videos, we'll return to regularly scheduled, non-April-Fools-inspired programming come Monday. But to wrap our week of feline-minded submissions, there's this epic aviation cat video, which is both adorable and terrifying: http://bit.ly/1dYQyrM. (And Joung Lee of AASHTO also turned our attention to a now-dormant Twitter account, @Cats4Infra, so there's that.) Thanks to everyone who submitted a video! mpowers@politico.com or @martinepowers.
Pro subscribers: Are you getting all the content you want? Make sure your keywords are up to date and customized via your settings page at http://politico.pro/1iDALk9.
MORE ON THOSE PESKY TAX EXTENDERS: The Senate continues the back-and-forth, with more forecasting that lawmakers will settle on an agreement early next week. Pro Energy's Esther Whieldon has some of the details: "The deal is expected to extend investment tax credits for renewable energy sources such as biomass and geothermal and extend a carbon capture tax credit, although details are in flux. Regarding the renewable sources that were left out of the December deal to extend wind and solar credits and lift the oil export ban, Wyden said 'both sides recognize this is an omission. It's important to move quickly on this.'
" ... Meanwhile, coal state Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Heidi Heitkamp said they were optimistic about their push to extend tax incentives for carbon capture, use and storage technologies as part of the deal. ... 'There are going to be things in there for renewables and things in there for fossils,' Heitkamp said [Thursday]. 'Anything that we pass out of a divided Congress is going to have to be balanced.'"
THE LEGGYSBURG ADDRESS: Sen. Chuck Schumer prompted some chuckles in one of the House press galleries Thursday when he invoked America's 16th president in his rousing defense of his proposal to direct the FAA to establish minimum seat width and pitch requirements. "In conclusion, Mr. President, the great Abraham Lincoln was asked how long a man's legs should be, and he famously answered, 'Long enough to reach from the body to the ground.' If you asked a major airline today how long should a man's legs be, they'd say, 'Short enough to miss the tray table.' That's not a way to fly." Moments later, he aimed a little transpo-sass to the Senate president: "Some of my colleagues have to catch planes, and it takes extra time for them to squeeze into these small seats with no leg room, so I would yield back my time and ... ask that we move the vote up to right now."
A HOUSE DIVIDED SHALL NOT SIT COMFORTABLY: The Senate rejected Schumer's amendment 42-54. Thune, who voted against it, offered his own take: "At 6'4" I experience firsthand leg-space issues on a weekly basis. But I just honestly think it's not the FAA's place to decide how to define comfort," Thune said, adding that he was fearful that the cost of increased legroom would get passed along to passengers - or could even result in fewer flight options at rural airports. "The FAA telling the airlines what they can and can't do in respect to leg space and widths and all those sorts of things is probably too much government."
NEVER MIND THE TIMING: Air traffic control privatization is obviously not on the table for the Senate, but that didn't stop a cohort of former officials from the Clinton administration - including former Transportation secretaries Federico Peña and Norman Mineta, and former OMB Director Peter Orszag - to send a letter to the Senate urging them to consider changes to air traffic control operations. "This letter is not meant as a plea to support a particular piece of legislation," they wrote, acknowledging the odd timing. "Rather, our intent is to communicate the importance of structural reform of air traffic control, generally, and to make it clear that Democrats and Republicans alike have long advocated such reform."
INDUSTRY: NO LOCKAGE FEES, PLEASE: Navigation and commodities interests are raging mad over proposals to allow tolls or lockage fees on the inland waterways system as part of a public-private partnership to upgrade aging locks and dams. In a letter to lawmakers this week , 75 groups argued such a move - being debated as part of this year's Water Resources Development Act - could make waterways commerce uneconomical and would be "fundamentally unfair" given that the barge industry just successfully lobbied to have its own fuel tax increased by 45 percent to help cover its half of the bill for new projects under the current funding scheme with the government. But taxpayer groups argue that system amounts to a massive subsidy for industry, since the federal government covers the hefty bill for operating and maintaining the system.
If past is prologue, lockage fees aren't likely to go far on Capitol Hill, but that doesn't mean lawmakers are done hunting for ways of getting new investment into the system. The Army Corps has an estimated $60 billion backlog in construction projects, while receiving only about $1.5 billion a year for such work.
UNION URGES SPEED ON TRANSIT ASSAULT RULE: The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, is calling for the Department of Transportation to move swiftly on creating a federal rule to help prevent physical assaults against bus drivers and transit operators - and it's urging federal officials to refrain from waiting until the maximum allowable time under the FAST Act. "As organizations that confront the daily toll of this violence, we believe existing information, including that provided by the FTA, is clear and actionable," TTD said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx . "Waiting to conclude a lengthy study prior to beginning to move forward will push such a decisions to a future Administration and only serve to further delay timely, potentially life-saving intervention."
LINCOLN LOGS: POLITICO Influence reports that former Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) is now lobbying for the American Trucking Associations, among a few other organizations. "Her team at Lincoln Policy Group, which grossed $2.9 million last year, also includes Robert Holifield (former staff director of the Senate Agriculture Committee), Mac Campbell (former tax counsel and legislative assistant for Lincoln) and Hannah Lambiotte Smith (former legislative correspondent for Lincoln). They are lobbying on interstate trucking rules for ATA."
SEND 'EM IN: FMCSA is seeking more public comments on its notice of proposed rulemaking on a new Safety Fitness Determination system. After all the huffing and puffing about the agency's faulty Safety Measurement System's relative percentile ranks, they haven't heard much from the industry yet about the new proposal for measuring truck driver safety, FMCSA officials said on a conference call Thursday. "We haven't gotten a lot of really substantive comments on the rule, in terms of where things are," said Joseph DeLorenzo, director of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance.
TRAIN 'EM UP: The American Association for Justice is worried that FMCSA isn't going far enough in its plans to adopt a new proposal for minimum training hours for Class A and Class B commercial driver's licenses. The current notice of proposed rulemaking requires a minimum of 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training for Class A drivers, and 15 hours for Class B. The AAJ is calling for a whopping increase to 120 hours and 90 hours, respectively. "Given the importance of driver training on the safety of our highways, the hours requirement proposed by FMCSA is a good start but does not nearly go far enough," the group wrote. "FMCSA should ... ensure that CMV operators have the skills and knowledge to operate these large vehicles as safely as possible."
RIDE-HAILING SERVICES ON THE UP-AND-UP: The market research analysis company Juniper Research is forecasting that ridesharing companies may almost double their business worldwide in coming years. The report estimates that revenues for "shared transport platforms" could increase from $3.3 billion in 2015 to $6.5 billion in 2020. "Uber has reportedly spent $1 billion per year on expansion in China alone," research author Lauren Foye wrote. "In addition, it has recently set its sights on disrupting the huge motorbike taxi industries of India and Thailand, displaying a willingness and drive to aggressively obtain market share."
CAMPAIGN STOP: Hillary Clinton took the New York City subway on Thursday, less than two weeks before the New York primaries ... and she had a little trouble swiping her pass. "It was my first term when we changed from tokens to MetroCards," she said. "I love it because it's so convenient," she added... before acknowledging that it had been two years since she last rode the subway.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
- "EU considers restricting visa-free travel for Americans, Canadians." POLITICO Europe.
- "Why is Panasonic in the weather business? It has to do with airplanes." The Washington Post.
- "Tesla Says It Received More Than 325,000 Model 3 Reservations." Bloomberg.
- "Uber settles Calif. lawsuit over driver background checks for $10 million. The Associated Press.
- "The Purple Line will have America's longest railcars." Greater Greater Washington.
THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 176 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 98 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 214 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,638 days.
THE DAY AHEAD:
9 a.m. - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration holds a public meeting to gather input as it develops guidelines for the deployment of automated safety technology. The meetings, to be held in Washington, D.C., and California, will gather information on a series of issues related to safe operation of automated vehicles as part of NHTSA's efforts to provide manufacturers with operational guidance. Transportation Department, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor Atrium.
11 a.m. - Sen. Robert Menendez holds a press conference to call for a federal investigation into the airline industry for deceptive practices and price gouging. One Gateway Center, 11th Floor, Newark, N.J.
12 p.m. - Consumer Watchdog holds a news conference to discuss the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's proposed guidelines for automated vehicle technology, and to "push for safety, public involvement in NHTSA's new self-driving car guidelines," with former NHTSA Administrator Joan Claybrook, president emeritus of Public Citizen; Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety; and John Simpson, privacy project director at Consumer Watchdog. Outside the Transportation Department, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.
1 p.m. - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration holds a meeting concerning privacy, transparency, and accountability issues regarding commercial and private use of unmanned aircraft systems. American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Avenue NW.
Did we miss an event? Let MT know at transpocalendar@politicopro.com.
Stories from POLITICO Pro
Senate FAA consideration to stretch into next week Back
By Lauren Gardner and Heather Caygle | 04/07/2016 05:07 PM EDT
Senators are optimistic they can pass an FAA reauthorization bill that would run through September 2017, but negotiations are fluid as lawmakers continue to wrangle over unrelated tax provisions.
The Senate voted on three amendments to the bill Thursday, adopting a bipartisan duo of proposals to bolster airport security by strengthening airport worker vetting procedures and doubling the number of TSA special security teams featuring bomb-sniffing dogs.
But the biggest outstanding issue for now is the legislation's tax title.
Ron Wyden, the Finance Committee's top Democrat, said Thursday he and Chairman Orrin Hatch are pushing for some sort of energy tax extenders package to be hitched to the bill next week.
"I'd like to pass a clean bill with just a clean revenue title," Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said. "But I think we've known from the very beginning that, in order for us to get 60 [votes] for anything in the Senate, there was probably going to have to be something done."
And the sooner the testy tax details get worked out, the better chances of the bill's success, Thune added.
"Whenever the tax title gets attached or they bring it up to the floor for us to try and add it, hopefully that's sooner rather than later because I think it'll take some time for people to want to review that," he told reporters.
The deal is expected to extend investment tax credits for renewable energy sources, among other energy benefits, though lawmakers are still hashing out specifics. The narrower the better, when it comes to energy add-ons, Thune said.
"The narrower we keep this and the truer to whatever agreements there may have been - either informal or formal in the past - the easier it will be to get this across the finish line," he said.
"If this thing starts to become a Christmas tree, then we may start running into objections from both sides and people will say 'well why didn't my deal get in.' ... I'd say that's going to be a heavy lift," he said.
But even if enough senators join together to pass the FAA reauthorization next week, the biggest obstacle to getting a bill to the president's desk is mostly out of their control: the House.
Thune said he hopes a Senate bill with strong bipartisan support and new security provisions will amp up pressure on the House to act before the current extension's July 15 deadline.
"Would they take up our bill? Probably not," he said. "I do think if the Senate can get this done and has acted, that there will be additional momentum behind getting the House to move a bill."
But first, the Senate has to get to a final passage vote - no easy task given the lingering tax issues.
The chamber is also expected to work through a "robust" number of amendments according to a Senate aide, with floor work expected to take up most of next week.
Some amendments that could end up receiving floor votes include a proposal by Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey that would require airlines to install secondary barriers to prevent terrorists from accessing cockpits, and one by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) to require FAA to consider someone's operational history before authorizing them to pilot certain drones.
One proposal lawmakers rejected Thursday was a plan backed by Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to rein in shrinking airline seats.
"At 6'4" I experience firsthand leg-space issues on a weekly basis. But I just honestly think it's not the FAA's place to decide how to define comfort," Thune said, explaining his opposition.
Esther Whieldon contributed to this report.
Senate approves two security amendments to FAA bill Back
By Heather Caygle | 04/07/2016 01:25 PM EDT
The Senate approved a bipartisan package of security amendments to the FAA bill this afternoon including provisions to beef up airport worker vetting and double the number of TSA special security teams that include bomb-sniffing dogs.
The package came in direct response to the Brussels bombings, where terrorists hit "soft targets" outside of the secure areas of the airport, though many of the provisions approved today had already been vetted by congressional committees months ago.
Lawmakers approved, 85-10, a 35-page bipartisan amendment offered by Senate Commerce leaders John Thune and Bill Nelson that strengthens airport worker vetting and takes steps to expand TSA's PreCheck program to get more people through security faster. The Thune-Nelson amendment would also permit TSA to donate unused equipment to overseas airports that operate flights to the United States.
"We were trying to move them separately but they fit, I think, nicely into the debate we've been having on the FAA reauthorization," Thune said.
The Senate also approved, 91-5, a Democratic-backed amendment that frees up homeland security grants for use in the non-secure area of airports, increases police training for active shooter situations and would double the number of Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams from 30 to 60.
"If I were to receive more VIPR teams, I would be able to put them to use and I would put them to use across the transportation system," TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger told lawmakers Wednesday.
Markey proposes tougher cybersecurity rules for air travel Back
By Darren Goode | 04/07/2016 02:52 PM EDT
Sen. Ed Markey today introduced a proposal to beef up commercial air travel's defense against cyberattacks.
Markey's Cyber AIR Act would require the FAA to set up cybersecurity standards and mandate that all airlines disclose cyberattacks to the federal government. It would also require more study on the cybersecurity vulnerability of consumer Wi-Fi on planes.
The Massachusetts Democrat filed his bill as amendments to the FAA authorization bill the Senate is debating this week.
Under current law, airlines are not required to report attempted or successful cyberattacks to the government.
"We know that terrorists and others that mean to do us harm will try to exploit any loophole or technological advance in our transportation systems," Markey said, "so we must continually bolster the standards and practices of the airline industry to ensure the safety and security of passengers on board commercial aircraft."
Markey asked airlines in December to describe their cybersecurity protections for their aircraft and computer systems. He said the responses didn't include confirmations of successful intrusions into aircraft systems, but said they underscored the fact that attempted hacking is common and cybersecurity testing is inconsistent and has little oversight.
Senate rejects Schumer amendment on plane seats Back
By Lauren Gardner | 04/07/2016 02:19 PM EDT
The Senate today rejected, 42-54, an amendment to the FAA bill by Sen. Chuck Schumer to prevent airlines from further shrinking the size of passengers' seats and the amount of available legroom.
The amendment also would require the FAA to set minimum standards for passenger space on planes, particularly seat size and pitch. It also would mandate that airlines post the sizes of the seats on their aircraft online.
"This is a place where the public is clamoring for change," Schumer said before the vote, noting that he's received more feedback on the issue than on many others he's worked on. "You didn't have to be 6 foot 4 to understand the problem."
Battle brewing over waterways lockage fees Back
By Annie Snider | 04/07/2016 11:48 AM EDT
A battle is brewing over a plan to institute lockage fees or tolls for barges on certain waterways, with the battleground a Water Resources Development Act lawmakers want to push through House and Senate committees this spring.
Seventy-five groups representing navigation and commodities interests yesterday wrote the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and House Transportation Committee arguing such a move could make waterways commerce uneconomical and would be "fundamentally unfair" given that the barge industry just successfully lobbied to have its own fuel tax increased by 45 percent. The increase will help cover its half of the bill for new projects under the current funding scheme with the government.
"Businesses rely upon efficient and cost-competitive waterways transportation when making locational decisions. If the federal government enables private entities to charge waterways tolls, businesses, farmers, producers, and shippers on those waterways would find themselves at a serious competitive disadvantage," the groups wrote.
But taxpayer groups argue that the current system amounts to a massive subsidy for industry, since the federal government covers the hefty bill for operating and maintaining the system.
The 2014 WRRDA law included a provision calling for at least 15 public-private partnerships across the Army Corps of Engineers' business lines. A P3 proposal for the Illinois Waterway would require Congress to allow lockage fees or tolling in order to make the proposition profitable.
But if past is prologue, lockage fees won't be popular on Capitol Hill. Similar efforts have been killed in the past.
Transit unions press DOT for quick action on worker assault rule Back
By Lauren Gardner | 04/07/2016 01:05 PM EDT
A group of transit workers unions urged the DOT today to finalize a rule to mitigate assaults against public transportation operators and move on a quicker timeline than one outlined in a 2015 surface transportation law.
The FAST Act requires FTA to issue a proposed rule within 90 days after publishing a broader report on public transit safety. But the unions say the law doesn't preclude FTA from acting sooner, noting that the agency already had broad authority to regulate safety under MAP-21.
An FTA database estimates that 135 transit operators are assaulted every year, the unions said, adding that the number "does not even fully capture the true extent of incidents."
"Waiting to conclude a lengthy study prior to beginning to move forward will push such decisions to a future Administration and only serve to further delay timely, potentially life-saving intervention," they wrote.
Even if FTA were to launch the rulemaking process before the public transportation report is released, it's unlikely regulators could finish it by the end of the calendar year as the unions have requested.