- San Francisco Chronicle: Market Street will strictly limit vehicles, despite Uber outcry
- Contra Costa Times: $500 million Alameda waterfront project approved
- Contra Costa Times: BART parking charge going up
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 6/17/2015
By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, with help from Kathryn A. Wolfe
WAYS AND MEANS BRAINSTORMS LONG-HAUL TRUST FUND FIXES: House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan finally gavels in a hearing this morning to talk through options for freeing up cash to keep the Highway Trust Fund bumping along for years to come. The panel will hear from an econ expert with CBO, transportation policy guru Robert Poole from the Reason Foundation and the boss of the American Trucking Association. Creating his own pre-emptive platform, Rep. Earl Blumenauer will call a press conference an hour before the hearing to go over his requests for keeping the trust fund solvent, standing alongside leaders from industry groups like the Associated General Contractors and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Watch the hearing live at 10 a.m.: http://1.usa.gov/1L5CaMi.
In the north wing: The wheels seem to be turning on the other side of the Capitol, too. Besides the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing scheduled for Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1e6VyuV) on a long-term plan for keeping cash in the trust fund, Sen. Barbara Boxer said this week that EPW leaders are working away on their multi-year proposal and feel confident they’ll be able to stick to the original plan of a June 24 markup. “Democrats are meeting with Republicans, and our staff is here late into the night. They worked all weekend. We’ve gotten rid of some contentious riders. We’re negotiating back and forth. I feel very positive that we will have a six-year bill at a robust level.” http://politico.pro/1MJILJO
SENATE DEMS DOLE OUT HTF ULTIMATUM: Senate Democratic leaders are digging in with their threat to block passage of a short-term Highway Trust Fund extension this summer if Republicans don’t march along with their demands for closing in on a long-term funding plan. “Bottom line is we’re asking them to meet our timetable,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said Tuesday (http://politico.pro/1FlxDx0). “If they don’t meet this timetable, it would be very hard for us to do another short-term extension.” Schumer indicated some flexibility on the proposal’s substance, though, even leaving open the option of linking a transportation bill to a trade deal. “A lot of us here are not for a trade bill, but we are certainly willing to look at whatever [Republicans] propose.” http://politico.pro/1HRmx9w
A blistering pace: Our Kathryn A. Wolfe explains that Senate Democrats’ proposed timeline calls on committees of jurisdiction to hold hearings on a multi-year trust fund plan next week, “with a markup in the first week of July, followed by floor debate later next month — a series of steps that suggests a blistering pace over a six-week period many observers would call unrealistic, if not outright impossible.” http://politico.pro/1MJILJO
CARPER CHATS UP TSA SCREENERS ABOUT INCOMING LEADER: Mr. Congressional Congeniality, Sen. Tom Carper told MT that he was making the rounds this weekend at TSA checkpoints as he traveled, thanking the screeners for their work and asking them what they thought of the prospect of Peter Neffenger getting confirmed to be their next leader. “They’d all heard about it,” he said. “And for the most part, they all seemed excited.” Always with the jokes, the senator sarcastically rattled off a list of reasons he’s not a fan of the nominee, saying he noticed “his shoes weren’t well-shined.” In seriousness, Carper spoke accolades of Neffenger: “We have scores of people who are nominated by the president come before different committees I serve on. Some are excellent candidates. Some are pretty good. It’s rare that we have one that’s questionable. Adm. Neffenger is — he’s lights out. He is lights out. Leadership’s the most important ingredient in the success of any organization I’ve ever been a part of — in government, out of the government. He has the right stuff.” The Senate is still expected to confirm the nominee any day now.
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.
“Girls roll up, windows roll down.” http://bit.ly/1H3tRtN
FAA, AMAZON TALK DRONE COMMERCE: The commercial use of drones is up for review today at the House Oversight Committee. Pro’s Adam Sneed explains in Morning Tech (http://politi.co/190K1r8) that leaders from the FAA, NASA and Amazon will talk about the regulatory structure surrounding the emerging technology, as well as the economic impact and privacy implications of providing more flexibility for drone use around the country. In his written testimony, Amazon Vice President of Global Public Policy Paul Misener outlines the potential benefits of the proposed Amazon Prime Air service, and he’ll encourage lawmakers to “expeditiously adopt rules of operation that emphasize drone safety and system performance.” Things get underway at 9 a.m.: http://1.usa.gov/1dBqDWL.
FAA TO SIGN INTERNATIONAL ATC PACT: FAA Administrator Michael Huerta is slated to meet today with the European Commission’s director general for mobility and transport to sign a cooperative agreement for the deployment of modernized air-traffic control systems, the Wall Street Journal reports: http://on.wsj.com/1cZEnKo. Huerta signed another agreement on Tuesday with the president of the French National Space Agency, committing to cooperate on research and development to ensure the safety of private sector orbital space launches: http://1.usa.gov/1cYTe7R.
FBI GIVES TSA WAL-MART-LEVEL TREATMENT: If the TSA is going to keep workers with terrorist ties and criminal backgrounds from working at airports and on airplanes, the agency is going to have to get a status upgrade in the eyes of the FBI, which currently requires the agency to apply like all other non-law enforcement entities to get continuous criminal history checks. “TSA is being treated — for all intents and purposes — as if they were a Wal-Mart,” Inspector General John Roth told House lawmakers this week. “An individual holding a [Security Identification Display Area] badge for recurring criminal history checks stands in line with Wal-Mart to determine whether or not there will be a recurring criminal history check.” The TSA plans to start testing the FBI’s “Rap Back” program at the end of this year to receive automated updates for new criminal history matches on airport and airline workers, and agency officials are in talks with other department leaders to try to gain access to more information from the National Counterterrorism Center’s terrorism database. More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1JWoz8p.
AN INNOVATION WISH LIST FOR PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULLS: The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation released an open letter to 2016 presidential candidates this morning, outlining all the things the think tank want to hear from the pool of hopefuls. The group is asking the candidates to commit to requiring DOT “to make computer chips as important as concrete and pavement in our 21st-century surface transportation network,” and to call on Congress to pass a long-term transportation plan and increase funding for the Highway Trust Fund by at least $30 billion each year. “The big picture is, quite simply, that the country must embrace innovation to grow the economy for everyone,” the memo says. Check it out: http://bit.ly/1Gcl3RG.
AIRLINES BEGIN LINING UP AGAINST CHANGE IN BAG RULES: Delta is trying to distance itself from the unpopular proposal to reduce the size allowance for carry-on bags, issuing a statement that the airline “has no plans” to shrink the limit and claiming that the International Air Transport Association called for the change without input from airlines. “Our focus and investment in the carry-on experience have been on installation of larger bins on domestic and international aircraft,” Delta said, “and will continue to be on delivering the reliable bag service — checked or carry-on — that Delta customers have come to expect.”
A NEW CUBA TRAVEL COALITION HATCHES: Engage Cuba is off to a running start, buying ads on Fox News, MSNBC and CNBC to promote the new group’s efforts to loosen trade and travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba. The ads cleverly highlight the fact that Americans are free to travel to North Korea but not to Cuba. Business groups and companies that have joined the fledgling coalition include: the National Foreign Trade Council, National Association of Manufacturers, the Consumer Electronics Association, Council of the Americas, and the American Society of Travel Agents, Cargill, Caterpillar, Third Way and the Cuba Study Group. More from Pro: http://politico.pro/1dJuOzZ.
MT MAILBAG: Fifteen transport and trucking companies wrote this month to Senate appropriations leaders, urging them to oppose an amendment that would allow double 33-foot trailers on all U.S. highways. “The trucking industry is deeply divided on this issue,” they wrote. “This measure would have a negative impact on highway safety, accelerate wear and tear on the nation’s highway system, and make it very difficult for small trucking companies, which are the heart of our industry, to compete.” The letter: http://politico.pro/1SncpYW
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Chinese skip ‘smelly’ cabs in favor of free rides with Uber. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1SmLz3i
— Car regulator probes complaints on brakes. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1Lg05Wv
— Federal transit officials find significant flaws in Metro’s system for ensuring safety. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1GMIOV8
— Qatar Airways urged to scrap policy allowing it to sack pregnant cabin crew. The Guardian: http://bit.ly/1MIm1tw
— Forget about airline mergers. Now it’s all about trading airport slots. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1fg1EcU
— Can Apple take a big bite out of the auto industry? LA Times: http://lat.ms/1emrD2e
— Toyota adds nearly 1.4 million vehicles to Takata airbag recall. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1GMGpcT
— Uber hires former Google Maps chief to work on advanced research. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1GdczcP
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 45 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 106 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 512 days.
Tags: policy, transportation