- San Francisco Chronicle: DA: Major flaws in Uber background checks
- San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area median home price near record
- San Francisco Chronicle: Governor wants bipartisan fix for state highway repairs
- Oakland Tribune: Senate panel votes to raise California gas tax 12 cents a gallon
- San Jose Mercury News: Bay Bridge underwater blast permits still needed
- San Jose Mercury News: AC Transit hires Silicon Valley transit leader as new general manager
- Sacramento Bee: Brown urges lawmakers to address transportation funding
- Sacramento: Senate Democrats, Republicans reject each other’s transportation goals for special session
- San Francisco Examiner: Study: Every one dollar spent on Muni generates $2 to $3 for local economy
POLITICO Morning Transportation for 8/20/2015
By JENNIFER SCHOLTES
DREAMLINER MAKERS INSIST FLEET IS PERFECTLY SAFE: Boeing and Honeywell are contending that the 787 Dreamliner is absolutely safe and reiterating the fact that the fleet has been tweaked to the satisfaction of FAA inspectors since one of the planes caught fire in 2013 while parked at London’s Heathrow Airport. The two manufacturers are now re-defending their safety improvements upon the release this week of a British report (http://politico.pro/1Nw9FaU) that confirmed the plane caught fire because wires in its emergency locator transmitter battery had become “crossed and trapped,” creating a short circuit. “We are confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity,” Boeing said in a written statement on Wednesday.
Modifications made: Our Kathryn A. Wolfe explains that, following the fire, “the FAA issued an advisory requiring all planes equipped with that ELT, manufactured by Honeywell, be inspected. According to the report, 360 ELTs were returned over a one-year period for various problems, and 33 of those units had trapped wires. Honeywell has since modified the ELT unit to route wires underneath the battery so they can’t become trapped underneath a cover plate.”
Not so fast: Boeing and Honeywell note that all ELTs currently in service are completely in compliance with FAA requirements, and the plane maker is urging caution with further tweaks, saying it is “important that any potential changes to the airplane’s design be reviewed with great care, and with due consideration for any potential unintended consequences of any change.” http://politico.pro/1PnjMgO
More from Kathy on how the FAA is also studying various types of lithium batteries used in commercial transport airplanes, how the agency might propose new battery standards and how the British report found that the 2013 fire could have been far more dramatic if the plane were in the air at the time: http://politico.pro/1JjAngO.
IT’S THURSDAY: 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 want to drive you through the night, down the hills.” http://bit.ly/1E6KREi (H/t Maggie Chan)
LOOKING TO A LEGISLATIVELY GRUESOME FALL AS RECESS WINDS DOWN: It seems lawmakers just left town. But today, August recess is officially halfway over. Once they return, it will be a legislative miracle if Congress can pass everything deemed “must-pass” without letting federal authority lapse, shutting down the government once again and halting the nation’s transportation projects with more funding uncertainty. After all, there are only three workweeks left until the end of the fiscal year and 11 until the calendar year is complete. The deadlines ahead: Sept. 30 expiration of FAA authority, Sept. 30 end to the fiscal year, Oct. 29 expiration of Highway Trust Fund authority and a mid-December prediction for when transportation funding will run dry again.
SCHUMER PROMISES DRONE GEO-FENCING AMENDMENT FOR FAA EXTENSION: In a Senate that struggles just to pass bills, even without any extras, getting an amendment adopted is usually a colossal undertaking. So drone safety advocates probably shouldn’t get their hopes too high about the prospect of a geo-fencing mandate getting added to the short-term FAA reauthorization lawmakers are expected to consider upon returning from August recess. Sen. Chuck Schumer pledged Wednesday to offer an amendment that would require drone makers to add technology to prevent the devices from flying into protected airspace like the skies near airports.
Sightings spike: Schumer pointed to the data the FAA released last week on how pilots have reported more than 650 drone sightings so far this year — a dramatic increase from the 238 sightings in all of 2014. “Near-misses between drones and passenger airliners are spiking,” the senator said in a written statement, “and we must act now, before a real tragedy occurs.” More from our Lauren Gardner on Schumer’s commitment: http://politico.pro/1NmfJUc.
A broader proposal: The amendment Schumer is promising would essentially do the same thing Sen. Dianne Feinstein is proposing in her bill to require the FAA to hand down a slew of new drone regulations in the next few years. Besides requiring drone makers to prevent the devices from being flown close to airports and other protected airspace, Boxer’s legislation — on which Schumer is a co-sponsor — would bar manufacturers from making drones that can fly beyond a certain altitude and require the installation of sensors or software to avoid collisions, among many other mandates. A refresher on that bill, introduced in June: http://politico.pro/1ReqLZn. The text: http://1.usa.gov/1LiHcVQ.
TRANSPO TALKS AND CONSTITUENT FACE TIME: Throughout the country today, lawmakers are doing the “work” part of the district work period, talking to locals about transportation. In northeastern Illinois, Rep. Randy Hultgren hosts a forum this morning on transportation and technology with an executive director from General Motors, officials from Illinois’ DOT and other transportation industry leaders. Just before lunchtime, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx joins Rep. Bradley Bryne for a bipartisan press conference at the Port of Mobile. And this afternoon, Sen. Steve Daines hosts a roundtable out at the Bozeman, Mont., airport with aviation stakeholders.
AMERICAN AIRLINES’ WIND SHEAR ACCIDENT ISN’T A FIRST: It appears now that this weekend’s American Airlines accident in Charlotte wasn’t an isolated incident for the airline. After the NTSB announced Wednesday that it is investigating the accident, the Wall Street Journal reported that one of American’s planes had another close call trying to touch down in Texas in similarly stormy conditions this summer. WSJ explains that “accidents caused by such wind shear phenomena, typically associated with thunderstorms, are almost unheard of in the U.S. these days due to decades of targeted pilot training and installation of enhanced radars. But on June 26, an American Airlines jetliner approaching Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport suffered a serious close call, also reportedly during wind shear conditions, and came within dozens of feet of touching down prematurely, according to people familiar with the details.” That story: http://on.wsj.com/1J5HkVM.
UBER’S BACKGROUND CHECKS IN QUESTION: Adam Sneed writes for Morning Tech on how Uber is facing new questions about how well it screens drivers for criminal histories. Two California prosecutors contend the company failed to uncover criminal records of 25 drivers that include murder, sexual misconduct and other crimes, The New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/1Jry8hD. Now the company faces civil charges that it has misled customers when explaining the background checks it performs to ensure customer safety. It’s just the latest issue causing problems for the growing company, particularly in its home state of California. Uber told the Times that its background checks are comparable to the taxi industry’s, saying “neither is 100 percent foolproof.”
THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):
— Texas DOT chief vows to stay neutral on transit, rail as transportation solutions. The Dallas Morning News: http://bit.ly/1PncSbk
— Asian ride startups give Uber a run for money. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1foYS4o
— Australia says French-led inspection of wing piece from MH370 complete. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1TUJLme
— Japanese seniors giving up driving isn’t good for the economy. Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1JkjuXQ
— Charting the New York subway’s plunging on-time rate. CityLab: http://bit.ly/1Js5vRB
— Backyard plane builder in Kenya hopes his 14th try will take flight. LA Times: http://lat.ms/1J6vybB
— How to make your daily commute bearable, if not downright pleasant. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1MESDZ1
THE COUNTDOWN: Highway and transit policy expires in 71 days. DOT appropriations run out and the FAA reauthorization expires in 43 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 449 days.
Tags: transportation