With help from Tanya Snyder and Brianna Gurciullo
Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Transportation is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Transportation subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. Learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services at politicopro.com.
— House Democrats are looking at sources of federal funding they can use to push transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft to make changes to their safety practices.
— Committees in the House and Senate have split up pieces of driverless car legislation and are trying again to hash out a consensus bill.
— Look for drone policy recommendations on a number of fronts today following an FAA advisory committee meeting.
IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Get in touch with tips, feedback or song lyric suggestions at smintz@politico.com or @samjmintz.
LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, rails, rivers and runways.
GROWING IRE FOR TNCs FROM THE HILL: Democrats on the House Transportation Committee threatened to hit Uber and Lyft in a small slice of their ridership, federal employee travel, if the transportation network companies don’t “clean up their acts.” As our Tanya Snyder reported from a tense hearing in Rayburn, Paul Miller of the Transportation Alliance told lawmakers that the General Services Administration is planning to directly reimburse ride-hailing companies for federal employee travel instead of using taxis or other modes. “That was news to me,” Chairman Peter DeFazio said later. “We definitely have a handle on that.”
DeFazio used the same line in describing the committee’s potential leverage over the companies’ efforts to partner with local transit agencies that get federal funds. Or, if it doesn’t interfere with state laws, he’d be interested in a federal mandate for fingerprint background checks and said his staff is “checking with [legislative] counsel on that.” He said it would likely fall to the Judiciary Committee, but “I think they would share the concerns we have.”
Democrats want to use the GSA contracts as leverage to require the companies to do fingerprint background checks on drivers, which the ride-hailing companies have fought. DeFazio said he’s “insulted” that the companies would lobby against the requirement, when in his city of Eugene, Ore., 13 felons “including a murderer and a sexual predator” passed the companies’ background checks. But DeFazio has a long list of grievances, including labor issues, that would probably all become conditions for allowing GSA or transit contracts if he got that kind of leverage.
An Uber spokesperson responded that the company “made significant investments over the past two years on safety, and is constantly innovating to raise the bar and help make our communities safer.” The company didn’t answer specific questions about its opposition to fingerprinting or why it skipped the hearing.
At least one Republican is taking the companies’ side. “Democrats are trying to prop up taxi monopolies, unreliable forms of mass public transportation, and other outdated subsidized transportation modes by attacking @Uber and @lyft in a T&I hearing RIGHT NOW. Let the people choose and the free market can provide,” committee member Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) tweeted on Wednesday.
AV BILL MOVEMENT, MAYHAPS: The committees with jurisdiction over driverless car legislation have split up the bill, assigning sections to Republicans and Democrats in both chambers, to try to hash out a consensus bill soon, Tanya reported Wednesday. “We are close to agreement on some of the sections, but not all, and plan to get out those sections as soon as we can. The conversations have been really productive and we remain hopeful,” a source familiar with the talks told Tanya.
STRIKE, OUT: United Auto Workers and General Motors reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, indicating the monthlong strike could end soon. Pro’s Ian Kullgren writes that the most recent contract talks have centered around health care and the role of temporary workers. About 200 union leaders will gather in Detroit today to go over the deal, according to the Detroit News. And Reuters reported the agreement includes a $9 billion investment by GM in the U.S. and the manufacturer will create or retain 9,000 jobs.
CHANGES COMING SOON TO CAR SAFETY RATING PROGRAM: NHTSA is planning to launch big updates to its New Car Assessment Program next year, the agency said Wednesday. There are no specifics yet, but the changes will involve “new technologies, new test procedures, updates to vehicle labeling, advancements in crash-test dummies, and continued consumer research,” according to a press release. NCAP tests vehicle performance in crash scenarios and gives ratings on a five-star scale.
FAN-DAC-STIC: The Drone Advisory Committee is meeting today, and several groups of panel members are set to present recommendations related to remote identification, security concerns and the FAA’s waiver process. One group looked at how the FAA could encourage those who fly drones to use remote ID-equipped devices before it’s required. The group’s recommendations include fast-tracking waiver applications by operators that have remote ID, offering them a financial rebate and giving them access to some restricted airspace. It will also recommend that insurance companies offer a discount to operators who use remote ID and that such operators have access to more takeoff and landing sites.
Speaking of: The FAA will tell the committee that a notice of proposed rulemaking on remote ID is under review at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and that it’s looking to release the NPRM in December.
On the security front: A separate DAC group examined ways to deal with “careless” or “clueless” drone fliers. The group will recommend that manufacturers put geofencing technologies on their drones, create alerts that go off when a drone nears “sensitive” areas and consider installing detect-and-avoid technology. In addition, it will suggest that the federal government provide a centralized database of critical infrastructure facilities and temporary flight restrictions.
The art of getting a waiver: Another group was focused on the process of applying for a waiver from the FAA to, say, fly a drone at night or beyond visual line of sight. The current process “is known by the [drone] community to be cumbersome, inconsistent, and non-conforming to the evolving nature of waiver requests,” the group said. It’s suggesting that expiring waivers automatically be renewed and that the FAA create a way for applicants to ask analysts why an application was rejected, among other recommendations.
HYPED-ER-LOOP: The Hyperloop hype is real. Here’s a sampling of what lawmakers said during an event with Virgin Hyperloop One in D.C. on Wednesday:
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) compared the demonstration of a test pod to the Wright brothers flying their “new flying machine” over the Capitol and the White House. “It’s like a plane, it’s like a train, but it’s really neither one,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.). Missouri Republican Billy Long said he’s introduced the concept to 60 constituents in the Show Me State. And Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) said Hyperloop could be a “revolution of the transportation system.”
HARBOR SPENDING ON THE UP: Fiscal 2019 was the first time since 1988 that spending from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund exceeding deposits, according to Jeff Davis of the Eno Center for Transportation. It wasn’t by much — the net difference is about $4.5 million. “But it represents a major departure from the inexorable rise of unexpended balances in the Trust Fund over the last 30 years,” Davis writes.
— “Should Uber and Lyft drivers earn $30 per hour? Los Angeles will study a minimum wage.” Los Angeles Times.
— “NASA paid SpaceX for safety review after Musk smoked pot.” POLITICO.
— “Pictures raise specter of fake evidence in 737 Max crash probe.” Bloomberg.
— “Boeing CEO says ‘fully supportive’ of board’s move to split jobs: memo.” Reuters.
— “Air Canada drops 737 Max from flight schedule until Feb. 14.” CBC.
DOT appropriations run out in 36 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,445 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 350 days.
