- San Jose Mercury News: Roadshow: Using exit lane to bypass traffic has fellow commuters fuming
- Marin Independent Journal: House OKs Point Reyes affordable housing bid
- Marin Independent Journal: Marin IJ Editorial: SMART train heading to start of service
- Sacramento Bee: Jerry Brown signs non-binding climate pact with other leaders
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 5/20/2015
By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, with help from Heather Caygle and Bob King
ATTENTION SHIFTS TO SENATE FOR PATCH PASSAGE: The onus is on the Senate today to move the two-month policy patch the House passed Tuesday and that the Obama administration has reluctantly said it “does not oppose.” While the upper chamber would normally deliberate on something like this for days or weeks, Senate leaders are preoccupied with their trade plans right now and want to leave town by Friday for their weeklong Memorial Day recess. So don’t be surprised if this latest extension is swiftly and quietly sent off to the president this week, without a Senate roll call vote or much debate.
House passage refresher: http://politico.pro/1IK9wQ5. Vote breakdown: http://1.usa.gov/1Htct79. Bill text: http://1.usa.gov/1S9ABPn.
Free from veto threat: The White House essentially told lawmakers that it will let this latest extension slide, but that this is the last time. In a wishy-washy statement of administration policy, the White House signaled that President Barack Obama doesn’t plan to veto the bill, even though buckling to another short-term patch is so unpalatable. “The administration will not support continued failure in making the investments the nation needs” and “expects that the Congress will use this two-month extension to make meaningful and demonstrable progress towards a significant bill in 2015,” the SAP said. http://politico.pro/1JYDEEC
This time’s the last time: House T&I ranking Democrat Peter DeFazio has similar thoughts about dwindling patience for passing another short-term extension once this latest patch expires at the end of July. DeFazio’s counterpart, Chairman Bill Shuster, told the House Rules Committee this week that leaders might be looking at another extension through sometime toward the end of the year to try to come up with the money to fill the Highway Trust Fund through savings found in a tax overhaul. But DeFazio said he expects many Republicans are going to start voting against these extensions with more frequency if leaders try another patch.
“I think the rank and file are getting very restless,” DeFazio told reporters on Tuesday. “You get 40 Republicans who are in the devolution, tea party crowd. But the rest of the Republican Conference, which is more than 200 … people, they want to see a long-term bill. They want to see the investments.” And Democrats aren’t going to be so quick to cede to another patch either, he said: http://politico.pro/1Hrbf9J.
SPRINT STARTS FOR LONG-TERM HIGHWAY FIX: With pressure on to make headway on a multi-year plan for infrastructure funding before this new patch is up on July 31, Sen. John Thune is floating the idea of trying to suck some transportation funding from expired tax provisions commonly called extenders. The senator says tax extenders, which are all but certain to be renewed later this year, are more of a sure bet than relying on a tax overhaul. “What I would like to see happen, in a perfect world, is do tax extenders and the highway bill in that 60-day period so we’re not dealing with this at the end of the year,” he told reporters. “Whether that can get done remains to be seen. I’m not sure it can.” More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1diK47r.
Planting Grow America: On the other side of the Capitol, DeFazio just introduced the administration’s six-year, $478 billion transportation proposal as a long-term option. Our Heather Caygle explains that “the bill, formally called the Grow America Act, is unlikely to catch traction with congressional leadership because it calls for massive funding increases in many areas, but DeFazio said it was important to lay a marker out since Republicans have yet to introduce their own proposal.” http://politico.pro/1EWjXZq
IT’S WEDNESDAY: Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and ports.
Reach out: jscholtes@politico.com or @jascholtes.
“I walk for miles along the highway.” http://bit.ly/1Hrek9P
** A message from Airlines for America: Our 580,000 U.S. airline employees worldwide operate 27,000 flights a day creating a physical internet that has become an essential element of life in America — for everyday fliers and for the U.S. economy. Airlines for America — We Connect the World — Learn more at airlines.org.
WATCHDOG WORK FAR FROM OVER IN RECORD-BREAKING RECALL: After DOT announced Tuesday that it got Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata to agree to the largest auto recall in U.S. history, Sens. Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal were quick to warn the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that Congress will be looking to ensure consumers get the replacement parts they need. “The largest auto recall in history demands the strongest response possible to ensure our families and friends are protected from deadly airbags,” they said: http://politico.pro/1PvRx3G. The senators introduced a bill this spring that would require state DMVs to notify car and truck owners of recalls: http://politico.pro/1HtbuUC.
Doubling down: This week’s recall resulted in a near doubling of the amount of cars and trucks that will need replacement airbag inflators, bringing that total to about 34 million: http://politico.pro/1R1HJvN. The New York Times has reported that vehicles equipped with the faulty Takata airbags make up about 14 percent of vehicles on the road in the United States, and NHTSA has said it won’t know for several days exactly which models of cars will be recalled. The manufacturer had already agreed to regional recalls for airbags being used in humid areas. And even after NHTSA pushed the Takata to consent to a nationwide recall, the company is still emphasizing that regional focus: http://politico.pro/1F0jsyL.
TRAVEL WEBSITES TAKE AIM AT AIRLINES WITHOLDING PRICE DATA: A group that represents travel websites like Expedia and Orbitz is releasing a report this morning backing up its argument that consumers lose out when airlines withhold data used for comparing airfare. A Yale management professor and a consultant from a Chicago firm prepared the report for the Travel Technology Association, a trade group that advocates for travel sites like those that cull airfare data, as well as for the likes of AirBnB and TripAdvisor. The report: http://bit.ly/1JZj8Dz.
Delta showdown: The Wall Street Journal reported early this morning that the trade group “claims that Delta Air Lines Inc. is cutting them and their users off from its data, adding to industry tensions over the way consumers shop for flights on the Internet. … The spat marks the latest chapter in the struggle for control over airfare searches and seat purchases online. Carriers increasingly are pushing fliers to their own sites, partly to improve sales of add-on products such as extra legroom and frequent-flier points. And they have butted heads with the travel sites over booking fees. In a dust-up last August, American temporarily withdrew its flight information from sites operated by Orbitz Worldwide Inc.”
DHS CHIEF CALLS FOR MORE CHECKS ON AIRPORT WORKERS: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson issued a statement Tuesday evening saying he has directed the TSA to come up with more ways to keep airport and aviation workers from using their access to break the law, following news this week that federal prosecutors have brought charges against 14 people — including several baggage handlers — accused of working together to sneak marijuana through airport security in Oakland. The department announced last month that it was tightening screening requirements for airport and airline employees after the Aviation Security Advisory Committee conducted a three-month review triggered by allegations of gun-smuggling by airline employees last year. “I have also directed TSA to continue analyzing the recommendations of the ASAC report, and identify additional measures for future implementation,” the secretary said this week. “Working together, I am confident we will prevent similar incidents and further ensure the integrity and security of our aviation system.”
A rundown of those new security rules: http://politico.pro/1D83m4Z. A refresher on the gun-smuggling case: http://abcn.ws/1Hsljx2.
DeFAZIO WARNS AGAINST LOOSE PTC GOALS: Just over a week after the Amtrak derailment in Pennsylvania, talk of the need for positive train control technology has begun to hush some. But lawmakers are still dwelling on what to do about rail operators who say they can’t meet the year-end deadline for installing the speed-control technology, knowing that they will either need to extend that mandate or come to terms with the fact that some will undoubtedly blow past it. DeFazio staked his position on the issue this week, admitting that lawmakers will surely have to extend the deadline, but warning against pushing that goal too far into the future and making rules without penalties. Heather brings it: http://politico.pro/1R1JA3E.
LOBBYING MOVEMENT: POLITICO Influence reports that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has brought on McLuckie Partners LLC to work on a number of transportation-related issues, including “truck size and weight, hours of service regulations, hair testing, minimum insurance for motor carriers, access of Mexican trucks into the United States.” The union spent $2.2 million on lobbying the federal government last year. http://politi.co/1KiZSV9
MOVING ON UP: Christopher Runde has been tapped to serve as director of the American Association of Airport Executives’ Airport Innovation Accelerator program created to help companies provide technology and services in airports. Runde served as a TSA aviation security expert for six years and helped develop risk-based screening methods, including PreCheck. He has also worked as an IT consultant and most recently worked for a tech company on physical security information management. The lowdown on Runde’s new position from AAAE: http://bit.ly/1Kj0mKO.
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— What will happen to truck stop towns when driverless truck technology expands? Route Fifty: http://bit.ly/1AiL1GC
— A survivor’s tale of how Amtrak failed the victims of train 188. Politico Magazine: http://politi.co/1Jya3nj
— Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says ‘Americans will pay the price’ for short-term patch. DOT blog: http://1.usa.gov/1JZdtxs
— Who Is Your Uber Driver (and What Does He Want?). The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1LjYzCT
— Unions urge Amtrak to put second crew member in locomotives. AP: http://yhoo.it/1F0RTFk
— Uber gives L.A. riders option of Spanish-speaking drivers. LA Times: http://lat.ms/1EWc0DN
— One place in the U.S. where gas is still expensive. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1eeBRkT
— Fiat Chrysler CEO says company will adapt to strict safety rules. AP: http://abcn.ws/1EiBDxM
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 12 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 134 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 540 days.
Tags: policy, transportation