- San Francisco Chronicle: Smartphones as quake warning devices?
- San Francisco Chronicle: Self-driving cars: bumpy ride for insurance industry?
- San Francisco Chronicle: BART can’t keep pace with rising ‘crush loads’
- CW Richmond: Bay Area Open Houses Scheduled for Plan Bay Area 2040 Regional Transportation and Housing Plan
- Contra Costa Times: Contra Costa Times editorial: BART should negotiate with neighbors over Pleasant Hill BART housing
- San Jose Mercury News: Richmond: Bay Trail group seeks volunteers for user tally
- San Francisco Examiner: Muni given go-ahead for double berthing at downtown stations
- Los Angeles Business Journal: Local/State Transportation Leaders Stand Up for Transportation
- CBS San Francisco: San Jose Mayor Asks Congress To Renew $105 Billion Transportation Bill To Help Fund BART Extension
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 4/13/2015
By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, with help from Kathryn A. Wolfe
THE WEEK AHEAD: Federal transportation officials will be making the rounds all over town this week, with Secretary Anthony Foxx joining lawmakers on Tuesday to talk about the Highway Trust Fund and speaking again about transportation funding on Friday at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Lawmakers will question heads of the FAA, Coast Guard, FRA and NTSB during hearings throughout the week. Let’s get this started.
— Monday: The BlueGreen Alliance holds its Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference. The D.C. branch of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association holds a luncheon in Arlington to talk about the mission of Department of Homeland Security agencies.
— Tuesday: At 10 a.m., FAA Administrator Michael Huerta speaks to lawmakers on Senate Commerce during the first in a series of hearings about reauthorizing the agency.
Also at 10 a.m., acting FRA Administrator Sarah Feinberg testifies before House T&I at a hearing about rulemakings for rail, pipeline and hazmat issues. The panel will also hear from PHMSA acting chief Timothy Butters and NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart.
In the afternoon, Reps. Bill Shuster, Reid Ribble and Earl Blumenauer will join Foxx to talk publicly about the Highway Trust Fund and transportation reauthorization.
Blumenauer will also speak downtown during a Century Foundation conference on infrastructure improvement, along with Jason Miller, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council.
One of the STB’s advisory committees is set to talk about needs for transporting energy resources by rail. The FAA holds a teleconference about creating standards for new air-ground data link technologies. And DOT’s Office of the Secretary holds another committee meeting on protection space allocated per plane passenger.
— Wednesday: At 2 p.m., a House T&I subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Coast Guard’s mission, with testimony from Charles Michel, deputy commandant for operations.
— Thursday: The PHMSA unveils the results of newly completed research projects and talks about projects to come.
— Friday: Foxx speaks at the Pew Charitable Trusts, followed by a conversation there with state and local officials.
MONDAY — BEGIN AGAIN: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Ain’t nothing boring about transportation news, especially when you’ve got airplane innovators dreaming up contraptions like the “cuddle chair” Boeing just patented. Think adult car seat merged with an upright massage table to bring you the most comfortable of uncomfortable aviation sleeping experiences. MT is intrigued by the prospect of upgrading from the tray-table-face-plant position, but we’re a little worried about the social cost of trying to wake aisle-seat passengers from their slumber in these devices. Check it: http://read.bi/1JwYvyU
Reach out: @jascholtes or jscholtes@politico.com. And don’t forget to follow @Morning_Transpo and @POLITICOPro.
“She spent the cash, mayne — in the Benz with her friends in the fast lane.” http://bit.ly/1iRguqg
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FAA REVAMP AWAITS INDUSTRY WHIMS: House T&I staffers have started crafting an FAA overhaul proposal Chairman Bill Shuster hopes will end up being “transformational,” and they could begin circulating a draft among industry groups later this month. But our Kathryn A. Wolfe explains that the chairman may ultimately need to temper his ambitions after hearing from the many industry groups with a stake in the bill. She reports that “just how big he can go depends on how myriad industry groups react to the guts of the proposal. … Most groups seem to at least pay lip service to the idea that the way the FAA is funded and structured isn’t working as well as it could, and the idea of moving the agency out from under the sequester’s looming guillotine is appealing. But the specifics of what should be done quickly break down from there.” The full story from Pro: http://politico.pro/1JwBOKY
REPS REQUEST EXTRA FAA CASH FOR AIRPORT PERIMETER SECURITY: Four House lawmakers are calling on the FAA to provide roughly $9 to $10 million in Airport Improvement Program funding to help tighten perimeter security at the San Jose airport — the hub that inspired The Associated Press to begin the investigation it just wrapped up on the frequency of perimeter breaches nationwide. Since a teenager jumped the airport’s fence last year and made it to Hawaii in a plane’s wheel well, there have been at least four more incidents there, including one woman making it through security and onto a plane without a boarding pass, and three others found wandering around the tarmac, airfield and loading area. “These were all people who basically didn’t pose a threat because of their own problems,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren told MT. “But you can’t just rest on that. It has identified a security issue that needs to be closed.”
More money, fewer problems?: Lofgren has prepped a letter to send to the FAA, along with Reps. Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda and Eric Swalwell, asking the agency to consider an application for AIP funding to help the airport build a taller fence around its more than 1,000 acres, among other security improvements. And as MT reported last week, Swalwell is hoping to get an extra $5 to $10 million appropriated in years to come for a pilot program that would test perimeter monitoring technology at some of the most vulnerable airports.
But that technology is not without critics. After releasing the data (http://bit.ly/1GttH3E) on perimeter breaches, the AP reported Friday that “technology firms increasingly pitch new sensors and software to U.S. airports as a way to bolster exterior security and keep intruders out, but such digital barriers come with a hefty price tag and don’t always work.” http://bit.ly/1CMIAXE
Onus on airports: Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking Democrat on House Homeland, said he is heartened to know that the TSA’s Aviation Security Advisory Committee is taking “a hard look” at the perimeter security issue. But he said that, while TSA has an important role to play, “it will take strong, consistent engagement with airport operators and airport police authorities for meaningful progress to be made.”
FEDS SEEK INPUT ON GULF AIRLINE SUBSIDY CLAIMS: The departments of Commerce, State and Transportation are officially asking for comments on claims that Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are getting unfair subsidies from their governments, potentially distorting international aviation markets. The agencies said in a statement Friday that they take the allegations seriously and are looking to get feedback before deciding “what action, if any, should be taken.” Comments can be submitted at regulations.gov under one of three dockets: DOT-OST-2015-0082 for the DOT, DOS-2015-0016 for State, and DOC-2015-0001 for Commerce.
Calling for proof: Following the news, Etihad Airways said it “applauds” the U.S. government for reviewing the allegations but accused their rival airlines in the U.S. of not providing “complete details and data” to support claims against them. “We hope that no one will pre-empt this process or prejudge its outcome. Etihad Airways is committed to setting the record straight regarding these unsubstantiated allegations,” the airline said in a written statement. “Only with all of this information available to us can we provide a full response.”
Open books: Those on the other side of the battle are calling, though, for the Gulf carriers to divulge more information that would either back or disprove their allegations. “Their $42 billion of state support, a clear violation of Open Skies policy, has been well-documented,” Jill Zuckman, chief spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, said in a written statement. “They should open their books if they have nothing to hide.” And Americans for Fair Skies issued a statement commending the U.S. government for formally beginning the process of looking into their claims, a step the group says is the first toward “restoring fairness to our skies and stopping the largest trade violation in history.”
AMERICANS FOR FAIR SKIES LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN: Amid the news that the U.S. government is moving ahead with its look into the Gulf carrier dispute, POLITICO Influence reports that Americans for Fair Skies is placing new ads throughout the Navy Yard Metro station — which is used by many Department of Transportation officials and baseball fans — for the entire month of April. ‘Middle East subsidies = the biggest trade violation history,’ the ads read. The group has also been running TV ads during Sunday shows on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC and a radio ad that is running inside the Beltway on WTOP and WMAL . See the metro ads here: http://politico.pro/1CCrJX8?
BUDGET NEGOTIATORS EXPECT TO SURPASS DEADLINE: Hustling to produce a final budget, congressional Republicans doubt they will be able to reach a deal this week. POLITICO’s Rachael Bade reports that budget negotiators in both the House and Senate “had hoped to have a final budget hammered out by an April 15 deadline, just three days after lawmakers return from their two-week recess. That timetable, it turns out, was too ambitious.” More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1FDLN2T
CAR DEALERSHIP REVENUE REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH: The National Automobile Dealers Association has reported in on how car dealerships performed in 2014, noting that profits in the U.S. remained steady at 2.2 percent. Total dealership revenue reached a high of $806 billion last year, which is an increase of 8.6 percent from 2013, the group said. The data: http://bit.ly/1FNwCBc
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Washington state lawmaker wants to build a bridge out of aircraft carriers. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1yj7ceI
— Investors watch for signs that railroads have withstood disappointing cargo volumes. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1IWHTQe
— A rock the size of a house lands on a highway. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1Nw64eW
— U.S. gives Ivory Coast the go-ahead to start direct flights between the two countries. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1HiECw6
— Electric bus maker builds second plant in California. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1GCuJdu
— Uber reaches agreement for operating in Delaware. AP: http://bit.ly/1DAydei
— Ford to take controlling stake in Russian venture. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1CMH6fQ
— Surf Air, the members-only airline, is poised for a growth spurt. LA Times: http://lat.ms/1aRj11P
— Canada’s Bombardier explores possible sale of all or part of its railway business. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1CpONJH
— Often, the airline is to blame for your flight delay. USA Today: http://bit.ly/1co81cB
— Metro to debut new railcars Tuesday on Blue Line. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1aW9pml
— A look at how Metro’s new railcars are built. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1HgNIcI
— American Airlines sees bigger foreign exchange impact. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1I5D1bd
— LAPD tickets walkers for stepping into crosswalk after red hand starts flashing and the countdown has begun. LA Times: http://lat.ms/1GXfPxg
— Assemblyman proposes gas and millionaires tax to help fund M.T.A. Capital New York: http://bit.ly/1JCRblj
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 48 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 170 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 576 days.
Tags: transportation