With help from Tanya Snyder
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— Uber and Lyft are in for a “public lashing” from House lawmakers today, as the companies elected to skip a hearing on transportation network companies.
— The burgeoning Hyperloop industry is starting to collect friends on Capitol Hill.
— The FAA is again taking heat from pilots and lawmakers over the latest delays on rule mandating secondary cockpit barriers on airliners.
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“Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels / Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields.” (h/t John Eagerton)
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.
A ‘PUBLIC LASHING’ IN STORE FOR LYFT, UBER: House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) will take Uber and Lyft to task for skipping his committee’s hearing this morning on transportation network companies. And more substantively, in his opening statement, DeFazio will criticize the companies for their public safety problems, labor policies, a “general hostility toward transparency” and unsustainable business models.
“This hearing should put TNCs on notice that for their long-term survival, and for any hope of ever partnering with agencies who utilize Federal funds, they are going to have to clean up their acts,” DeFazio will say, according to his prepared remarks.
He had written to both companies on Monday, saying their rejection of his invitation was unacceptable. “Their failure to appear at this hearing is a telling sign that they would rather suffer a public lashing than answer questions on the record about their operations,” DeFazio will say in his comments today.
Lyft spokesperson Campbell Matthews said the company has “had many productive discussions with Member offices of the House Transportation & Infrastructure subcommittee, and are encouraged by the willingness to collaborate on meaningful solutions and policy.” The company said it’s engaged with nearly all of the offices of Highways and Transit Subcommittee members since the committee’s initial outreach on Sept. 30. Uber did not respond to a request for comment.
LAWMAKERS GET HYPED FOR HYPERLOOP: Several members of Congress are scheduled to speak today at a Capitol Hill press conference on hyperloop — the first time any have come together to speak publicly in favor of the transportation technology that promises 600 mph speeds. Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, the home of Virgin Hyperloop One’s test track, will be joined by Republican Reps. Troy Balderson, Bob Gibbs and Mike Turner of Ohio, a state that’s been studying the feasibility of a hyperloop route connecting Columbus to Pittsburgh and Chicago. Reps. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Billy Long (R-Mo.) are also scheduled to attend. They’ll get to pose next to the Virgin Hyperloop One test pod, which has completed more than 400 runs at the Nevada test site and is being toured around the country.
It’s probably just a coincidence that several Hyperloop companies have ramped up their D.C. lobbying in recent months.
TRANSIT DELAY: There’s no movement on a transit title to the Senate surface transportation reauthorization, according to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). The ranking member of the Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over transit, said there’s “not a lot of interest in moving” on the bill, “when we should.”
MORE IRE FOR FAA: Federal aviation regulators are getting blasted again for delaying a rule mandating secondary cockpit barriers on new passenger aircraft. The Oct. 5 deadline, set by Congress in its FAA reauthorization bill passed last year, has flown by and the agency so far has only set up a working group that isn’t due to give another update until December. Cockpit doors were hardened after 9/11, but pilots groups and safety advocates have said that’s not sufficient protection from hijackers.
As our Stephanie Beasley reports, House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said the delay is unacceptable. “I intend to closely oversee the FAA’s work to conclude this process as expeditiously as possible,” he told POLITICO.
Not everyone in aviation supports the change: Manufacturers argue the FAA bill’s mandate lacked “credible analysis.”
FIRST IN MT: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with the main industry group representing airports across the country, is calling on lawmakers to hold off on prohibiting the use of facial recognition technology, arguing that a moratorium would be premature and have “unintended consequences … for innovation, safety, and security.”
RAYTHEON HIRES SHUSTER: If you’re an aerospace giant, who better to plead your case on air traffic control reform than the man who pushed to get systemic changes through in 2018? The former House Transportation chairman, along with two other Squire Patton Boggs coworkers, has been hired by Raytheon to lobby on the issue. As Theodoric Meyer notes in POLITICO Influence, Shuster is barred from lobbying Congress, so he’ll focus his efforts on the Trump administration.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? As part of their look into the hundreds of lobbyists who have worked in the Trump administration, ProPublica and Columbia Journalism Investigations highlighted Geoffrey Burr, the former chief of staff to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. We’ve reported on his move to the high-powered firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, but the story highlights one of his clients, The Northeast MAGLEV. Burr is “tiptoeing” around ethics rules about lobbying his former employer by limiting his interactions with Congress and leaving it to his colleagues to interact with the executive branch, the story says.
SAFETY INVESTIGATORS PUBLISH VINTAGE CRASH REPORT: The NTSB released a preliminary report on Tuesday about the fatal crash of a vintage B-17 bomber at a Connecticut airport earlier this month. The report largely reiterates what investigators have stated publicly, including that the pilot told controllers he was returning to the airport and that the plane struck approach lights and then the ground before reaching the runway.
The agency also announced it’s almost ready to determine the probable cause of the Southwest Airlines engine failure that killed a woman aboard a plane on April 17, 2018. NTSB is planning a board meeting on Nov. 19 to discuss the accident and provide a final determination.
MAILBAG: A letter from several free market groups urging Congress to lift the cap on the Passenger Facility Charge has two new high-profile signers with pasts in the Trump administration: DJ Gribbin, who was the White House infrastructure lead, and Shirley Ybarra, who led the DOT transition team for the administration. The policy proposal has bipartisan support in Congress but faces opposition from airlines.
BILL CORNER: Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), along with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), will introduce new legislation today that would promote the research and development of advanced alcohol detection software and “create a path forward to require the implementation of such technology in new motor vehicles.” The measure has the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the National Safety Council.
MAILBAG: Several leading insurance companies have weighed in to support a bill that would make all new cars come with a rear seat detection system to try to prevent hot car deaths.
DOC OF THE DAY: The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy issued a new report on Tuesday that found active transportation infrastructure (walking and biking) could contribute more than $138.5 billion to the economy annually.
— “Why the push for clean jet fuel has fizzled.” POLITICO Europe.
— “United lifts 2019 profit target as strong travel demand outweighs MAX crisis.” Reuters.
— “End in sight? GM CEO Barra joins talks with striking union.” Associated Press.
— “America’s largest auto retailer sells recalled cars. That isn’t against federal law.” Vox.
— “As scooter pilot packs up for 2019, we look at the early morning and late night workers who made it happen.” Block Club Chicago.
DOT appropriations run out in 37 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,446 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 351 days.
