- Inside Bay Area: Old Bay Bridge demolition set
- Marin Independent Journal: Marin is oldest county in the Bay Area, report finds
- Washington Post: Obama announces order to cut greenhouse gas output by 40 percent
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 3/20/2015
By HEATHER CAYGLE, with help from Kevin Robillard and Kathryn A. Wolfe
AMAZON GETS GO-AHEAD ON DRONE TESTS: Amazon finally got the federal green light to send its drones into the skies — but only as a test. Kevin reports: “The FAA announced Thursday that it has granted Amazon Logistics, a subsidiary of the Internet retail giant, approval for a drone design that the company plans to use for research, development and training. The approval comes with restrictions similar to those the agency has already imposed on drones’ use by Hollywood studios. …But those limits are probably much tougher than what the company would want when it eventually seeks to use drones to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less around the country…The company hopes its plans for a nationwide network of delivery drones, called Amazon Prime Air, could become reality by the end of the decade — an ambitious goal considering the legal and technical restrictions the FAA has placed on the technology.”
Story Continued Below
Why it matters: “Amazon’s application for testing had become a symbol of the struggles facing drone operators that want to work in the United States. The FAA insists any commercial use of drones is illegal, with few exceptions. To get around the FAA’s restrictions, Google’s drone program is conducting most of its experimentation abroad and Amazon began testing in the United Kingdom last year.” Full story: http://politico.pro/1AMBVg1
FOXX: IT’S ON CONGRESS TO FIND SHORT-TERM FIX — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says it would be up to Congress to find the money for a short-term patch if lawmakers can’t pass a long-term surface transportation bill by May. While President Barack Obama has used his “pen and phone” to make progress on other administration priorities, Foxx said there was little opportunity for the administration to solve the Highway Trust Fund crisis single-handedly. “Given the system we have, Congress has to settle this question,” he said at a National Journal event Thursday alongside House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster.
SHUSTER WANTS TESLA DRIVERS TO PAY UP: Tesla drivers need to contribute to the Highway Trust Fund, Shuster said at Thursday’s event. “Not only do they not kick in, they get subsidized to buy those cars,” the Pennsylvania Republican said, adding: “But we’ve got to figure out a way — they have to contribute.” Ranking member Peter DeFazio, whose own state has implemented a vehicle miles traveled fee for electric vehicles, agreed. “I think all users should pay,” he said. “But I don’t think we want to discriminate against electric cars and discourage their purchase. … We need to be looking at all the users.”
Side note: And check out this bromantic Foxx-Shuster selfie before the panel: http://bit.ly/1DD31w4
OPEN SKIES FIGHT GETS SCRAPPY: The dogfight over Open Skies got a little personal Thursday, with several pilot and flight attendant unions calling out the U.S. Travel Association for its position on the battle that has pitted U.S. airlines and their labor allies against the fast-growing Gulf carriers such as Etihad, Emirates and Qatar. Kathryn reports: “Yesterday, as the U.S. Travel Association convened its spring CEO roundtable, described as hosting ‘CEOs of $1 billion-plus corporations from all travel sectors … to collectively consider short-term policy priorities,’ the Air Line Pilots Association and other groups called on U.S. Travel President and CEO Roger Dow specifically to ‘recognize the thousands of U.S. jobs he is putting at risk with a shortsighted view of the Gulf carriers issue.’
“Dow said he regrets disagreeing with the airline industry, but that ‘with their efforts to reduce competition in the aviation marketplace having become so aggressive — and the negative impact of these policies upon consumers so abundantly clear — we simply cannot sit idly by.’” Read more: http://politico.pro/1GvycqZ
State Department meetings on Open Skies: The CEO of Etihad Airways is said to have made his way to Foggy Bottom on Thursday to meet with Undersecretary Catherine Novelli as U.S. airlines and their allies continue calls for the State Department to revisit the international aviation terms. Novelli was also scheduled for a meeting with the CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, the carrier still waiting on DOT to approve its permit to operate in the U.S.
HAPPY DANCE FOR FRIDAY. Good morning and thanks for reading POLI
TICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Programming note: Your MT host is headed down to the land of the pines for the weekend (http://bit.ly/1aPgLRN) so Kevin will be taking the MT wheel for Monday’s edition. Be sure to send him some good scoops at krobillard@politico.com or @PoliticoKevin. And don’t forget to follow our new team member @Jascholtes, @Morning_Transpo and @POLITICOPro.
“Ride the train, ride the train, anywhere I’m going I ride trains…” http://bit.ly/196Efqy
LaHOOD SPEAKS ON SON’S CAMPAIGN: Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s son Darin, a Republican, is shaping up as the front-runner in the special election to replace Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock. The younger LaHood, a former state and federal prosecutor, has served in the state Senate since 2011. “I think he’s had the political bug,” Ray LaHood told Kevin. But what about the fact that the elder LaHood spent several years working in a Democratic administration? Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who represents a district adjacent to the Peoria-centric 18th, praised Darin as a “really strong state senator” and said Ray LaHood’s job of Transportation secretary was a “nonpartisan position.” “Conservatives like him. Everybody likes him,” Kinzinger said. “If he’s in a competitive race, then I’m sure somebody will bring some stuff up. But he’s not his dad.” Read Kevin and Theo’s story: http://politico.pro/1Fcl6la
SPEEDIER TSA LINES, FEWER AGENTS, LESS MONEY: Lawmakers are pleased with both the TSA’s shrinking workforce and operating budget, a downward trend the agency credits mostly to the PreCheck program that lets vetted travelers go through checkpoints without taking off their shoes and belts or having to pull out their laptops. But acting agency head Melvin Carraway told House appropriators on Thursday that they should not expect to see the TSA’s costs drop as substantially in fiscal 2016 as they have in recent years. While the agency has saved about $350 million over the past two years through programs such as PreCheck, the administrator said, the president’s fiscal 2016 budget accounts for a savings of $119 million and nearly 1,750 fewer workers due to the so-called risk-based initiatives.
Harris wary of PreCheck protocol: Delivering one of those TSA anecdotes so often voiced by members of Congress — who happen to be some of the nation’s most frequent fliers — Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris said the TSA diverted to PreCheck screening an entire lot of travelers standing in the regular security line when he was last flying through Dulles. “That’s a little worrisome to me,” he told the TSA’s sit-in administrator on Wednesday. “I don’t mind if somebody’s making a decision, or if it’s purely random. … I know you want to expedite people through. But I think we have to be certain that, if people are expedited, there’s a reason for them and it’s not just, gee, the other line is too long.”
Related read: IG report finds TSA let convicted felon (and former member of a “domestic terrorist group”) use PreCheck. USA Today: http://usat.ly/1H907QP
HAIR APPARENT: The American Trucking Associations is pushing a new bill that would allow trucking companies to use hair tests instead of urine tests when checking drivers for drug use. The bill (http://politico.pro/1EyLX8j) was introduced by Sen. John Boozman in the Senate and Rep. Rick Crawford in the House. Hair tests are considered more effective because evidence of drug use stays longer in hair than in urine, preventing users from briefly abstaining from drug use to beat a test. ATA said many fleets already use hair testing but are forced to also conduct urine tests due to DOT regulations. This isn’t the first time lawmakers have tried to tackle the issue. Check out this throwback story from POLITICO in 2012, complete with a Grateful Dead reference: http://politi.co/1xCA3VI
STB OVERHAUL TO MOVE NEXT WEEK: Seeking to speed resolution of conflicts between shippers and railroads, the Senate Commerce Committee is set to mark up a Surface Transportation Board overhaul bill next week. Chairman John Thune and ranking Democrat Bill Nelson unveiled their reauthorization proposal Thursday, hoping to set timelines for the regulatory agency to review freight rail rates and make it easier to opt for quicker dispute resolution through arbitration. Jen has more: http://politico.pro/1H7lmCI
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
-A Metrolink train involved in a fatal collision in California last month had only about eight seconds to brake, according to a preliminary NTSB report. Pro: http://politico.pro/1FakvjZ
-GM CEO to be deposed over faulty ignition switches. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1xliUpf
-MT Mailbag: Senators want NHTSA answers on driverless cars. Read the letter: http://bit.ly/1FalMYd
-ACLU sues over TSA-run behavior detection programs. The AP: http://nyti.ms/1AMyc1T
-State Farm set to test drones for sizing up roof damage: http://bit.ly/1Fallxg
-FedEx founder: ‘We were Uber before Uber was there’: http://bit.ly/1DC9aZq
-AAAE is out with the latest video in a series pushing for a hike in the passenger facility charge, this time playing off March Madness: http://bit.ly/1C1DVFj
-Lufthansa pilots extend strike to long-haul flights, stranding thousands: http://abcn.ws/197hBOK
-New York subway riders brace for fare hike this weekend: http://bloom.bg/1AJH1tg
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 72 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 194 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 600 days.