With help from Alex Guillén
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— A study presented at this week’s Transportation Research Board conference offers some timely advice for lawmakers: If you want support for raising transportation taxes, voters need to know more about what their money will pay for.
— A congressionally mandated report on how to improve airport infrastructure came back this week with a clear answer: Raise the cap on the Passenger Facility Charge.
— Leading drone manufacturer DJI says the FAA’s remote identification rule would impose an expensive and intrusive system on drone users.
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TRB TAKEAWAY: A study presented at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting on Tuesday offered a timely reminder to lawmakers weighing how to pay for a surface transportation bill this year: what you do with the revenue from a transportation tax greatly affects how the public views the policy.
The paper, originally published over the summer by two researchers at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University, was the latest installment of a 10-year survey gauging public opinion about the federal gas tax. It’s filled with details for transportation wonks, but one takeaway sticks out: support for raising the gas tax varies wildly depending on the details you give about how the revenue will be spent. Only 40 percent of respondents said they would support an increase when the proceeds would be dedicated to “transportation” generally. But that number rose as high as 75 percent when, for example, respondents were told the increase would fund road maintenance, or 71 percent when it was designated for reducing accidents and improving safety.
“If you start really thinking about how you’re crafting these tax ideas, you can get pretty large majorities to think that transportation is important and that they’re willing to pay for these taxes,” said co-author Hilary Nixon.
Other key points in the study: People don’t know how much they’re actually paying for the gas tax, and more than half overestimated the portion of federal gas tax they pay on a gallon of gas. The authors also looked at a potential replacement of the gas tax, a mileage fee, and found that nearly half of those polled would support the switch. (The survey also found “nuanced” views on issues including privacy, fairness and equity of a vehicle miles traveled fee that Nixon raised in her talk.)
PUSHED BACK AGAIN: American Airlines joined United in taking the Boeing 737 MAX off its schedule until June, the 10th time the airline has pushed back its estimation of when the grounded jet will return to service. June 4 is the airline’s new guess, as regulators continue to pore over Boeing’s updates (and as the company remains mired in an endless cycle of news about flaws with the MAX’s development and its safety culture).
CONGRESS ASKED, REPORT ANSWERS: The 2018 FAA law mandated a report about how to upgrade the infrastructure needs of airports. Lawmakers got an answer, in the form of a study issued by the RAND Corporation on Tuesday: Raise the Passenger Facility Charge cap to $7.50. The per-passenger value of the fee, which has been the subject of a fairly vicious fight between airports and airlines, has declined relative to the costs of constructing airport facilities, said Benjamin Miller, a RAND economist and the lead author of the report.
Raising, but not removing, the existing $4.50 cap on the PFC is a solution that has bipartisan backing, but fierce opposition from airlines and their lobbyists has kept PFC changes at bay for nearly 20 years.
Airlines for America was quick to respond in a press release Tuesday: “The last thing airport executives need is a blank check to hit travelers with more tax hikes. There is not a single airport project that cannot be funded with existing resources.”
The RAND report also recommends changes in the allocation and spending of Airport Improvement Program dollars and reducing the uncommitted balance of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, as well as fixing inequities in its tax structure.
NOT LIKE THIS: DJI, the largest consumer drone company in the world, says it strongly supports the idea of governments requiring that drones can be remotely identified. But the company doesn’t much like the way the FAA has proposed doing that, issuing a detailed response on Tuesday that called the long-awaited proposal a “complex, expensive, and intrusive system that would make it harder to use drones in America.”
DJI doesn’t like that the proposal would require drones to be networked to a “remote ID service,” run by private companies, which would charge subscription fees. In addition to the costs this would impose on users, DJI’s Brendan Schulman argues, thousands of drones and other remote-controlled aircraft have no way to connect to the internet and would be immediately grounded.
The dronemaker also says the FAA rejected “good advice,” including from the agency’s own Remote ID Aviation Rulemaking Committee, which recommended the agency implement remote ID via radio broadcast, rather than mandatory internet-based services.
The remote ID notice of proposed rulemaking also raises interesting questions about the operation of drones indoors. Blogger Edward Mitchell, whose work DJI’s Schulman has shared, pointed out the remote ID system would automatically prevent drones from taking flight if no GPS signal is present — and GPS often can’t reach indoors. “The FAA is indirectly regulating the use of indoor airspace by prohibiting the sale of non-compliant aircraft that could function indoors,” Mitchell writes, something the agency does not have a jurisdictional right to do. Mitchell said an FAA official acknowledged the agency can’t regulate indoor airspace, “but has not provided a specific solution.”
FUEL DUMP UNDER INVESTIGATION: A Delta Air Lines jet returning to Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday reportedly dumped fuel on an elementary school playground, according to multiple media outlets. Sixteen people were treated by firefighters at the scene. The FAA says it’s “thoroughly investigating the circumstances” behind the incident. The agency said in a statement there are special fuel dumping procedures for planes arriving or departing at major airports, which include dropping the fuel over designated unpopulated areas, and from higher altitudes so the fuel evaporates before it hits the ground.
DOT WANTS YOUR V2X DEVICES: The agency is pushing forward with testing vehicle communications technology, despite the uncertainty surrounding the FCC’s proposal to take away some of the bandwidth reserved for it. DOT will issue a broad agency announcement aimed at procuring prototype or commercially available vehicle-to-everything communications devices to support its testing. “The devices will be used to evaluate the safety, performance, and capabilities of available equipment, devices, and underlying technologies through both small- and large-scale testing, including scalability and congestion, interoperability, and complex transportation scenarios,” DOT said in a release Tuesday. The agency is expecting to award multiple firm-fixed price contracts, which will last at most 18 months.
AUTO ROLLBACK GOES TO OMB: The EPA and NHTSA on Tuesday sent their new auto emissions and fuel efficiency rules to OMB for review, the EPA confirmed to our friends at Morning Energy. This is the second half of the SAFE Vehicles rule and covers model years 2021 through 2026, following last fall’s first half that targeted California’s special authority to regulate vehicle emissions. Details are still scarce, but an EPA statement promised the rule will “save thousands of lives and on average reduce the cost of a new car by nearly $2,500,” figures in line with 2018’s proposal for a complete freeze. (Reg. 2060-AU09)
MAILBAG: Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley wrote to PHMSA on Tuesday to express concerns about the agency’s plans to allow the transport of liquefied natural gas by rail.
— “Boeing approaches Citi for new loan amid Max crisis.” Bloomberg.
— “Germany charges six Volkswagen executives over Dieselgate.” Financial Times.
— “L.A. Metro’s plan to fix plummeting ridership: More buses and fewer stops on major streets.” Los Angeles Times.
— “Supreme Court weighs ‘Bridgegate’ — with Christie in the front row.” POLITICO Pro.
— “China to ramp up U.S. buys under trade deal, but skeptics question targets.” Reuters.
— “’Mystery drone’ faithful undeterred by lack of evidence.” ABC News.
DOT appropriations run out in 260 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,355 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 260 days.
