Transportation

Democrats have renewed hope for an electric vehicle breakthrough


With help from Tanya Snyder and Oriana Pawlyk 

— Democrats are hopeful that the latest Schumer-Manchin talks will yield somethingbut Memorial Day is fast approaching.

— The FAA orders operational changes for older planes due to ongoing 5G issues.

— The first $500 million from the infrastructure law to expand electric school bus usage is now up for grabs.

IT’S MONDAY: You’re reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. Send tips, pitches, feedback and song lyrics to us at [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. You can also find us on Twitter: @alextdaugherty,@TSnyderDC and @Oriana0214.

“Another one rides the bus, another one rides the bus/Another comes on and another comes on/Another one rides the bus/Hey, he’s gonna sit by you, another one rides the bus”

DEADLINES, DEADLINES, DEADLINES: There was renewed optimism among Democrats on Capitol Hill last week that the latest round of talks between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), would lead to some kind of deal on a party-line bill that could include additional incentives for electric vehicles. But this week brings a deadline: senators and advocates have said for the last month or two that Memorial Day (a week from today for those of you who, like your MT host, can’t think more than 48 hours in advance) is an unofficial deadline to determine whether any legislation will move forward before the midterms.

“We’ve been heavily involved in the past but Manchin and Schumer are holding these negotiations close to their chests right now and there haven’t been any leaks,” Andres Hoyos, vice president of the Zero Emission Transportation Association told your MT host. ZETA supports expanded tax credits for electric vehicles, removing the limit on the number of vehicles sold by a manufacturer that are eligible for a tax credit and expanding tax credits to include used EV purchases. ZETA executive director Joe Britton said last week a deal needs to be done by Memorial Day and described the talks as “30 years of climate talks condensed down to seven or eight days.”

Britton made those remarks at POLITICO’s Sustainability Summit five days ago. The clock is ticking.

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RADIO STATIC: The FAA said new 5G signals can cause radio altimeters to become unreliable on Boeing 717s and other aircraft that are mostly out of commercial service, issuing a new airworthiness directive on Monday in the latest development of the ongoing back-and-forth between Verizon, AT&T and the FCC on one side, and airlines, pilots and DOT on the other.

ISLAND HOPPING: Most of the planes listed on the FAA’s latest airworthiness directive are not widely in service or fly cargo routes in Africa and Asia, but Hawaiian Airlines operates 20 717s mostly on short haul routes between islands that amount to more than 160 takeoffs and landings per day. Some of the other affected planes continue to operate on cargo routes. The latest directive isn’t a surprise to those who’ve been following the 5G issue closely, however, as poorly designed receivers fail to filter out nearby 5G signals.

FORMULA BY AIR: The first pallets of infant formula arrived via military plane in Indiana on Sunday after President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to speed up the production and importation of formula amid a nationwide shortage. The U.S. government used military planes to get 70,000 pounds of formula into the country as fast as possible because no commercial aircraft were available on short notice for the delivery.

Today was the first flight of Operation Fly Formula, but it will not be the last,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tweeted on Sunday. “A second Department of Defense aircraft will transport an additional shipment this week.”

BUSSIN: The White House announced Friday its first round of funding for electric school buses through the infrastructure law, $500 million as part of a $5 billion investment for low and zero emission school buses over the next five years. Vice President Kamala Harris, EPA administrator Michael Regan and White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu visited Meridian High School in Falls Church, Virginia for the announcement and reporters covering the event rode in a new electric bus to cover the vice president. Applications for the first round of bus funding opened on Friday through August 19. Another EPA competitive grant will launch later this year.

“These funding opportunities to replace older, heavily-polluting buses will result in healthier air for many of the 25 million American children who rely on school buses, many of whom live in overburdened and underserved communities,” Regan said in a statement. “Today we take a major step toward a future where clean, zero-emissions school buses are the American standard.”

FIRST IN MT: Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) will address the first-ever Lidar Coalition Policy Summit on Wednesday. Lidar is a remote sensing method that uses pulsed light to create a 3D map around an object, such as a car. The technology is a component of AV technology and driver assist systems, and the coalition includes seven companies working on lidar technology.

POST-PANDEMIC DRIVING HABITS: Americans are now driving as many miles as before the pandemic, but in fewer trips. They’re doing more driving in suburban and rural areas than before the pandemic but far less in downtown areas, where the return-to-office has been slow and uneven, and in some workplaces it’s just not happening. Indeed, no one expects work-from-home to disappear — employees like it too much — and the transportation system will have to adjust to the new reality. For example, there’s less of a morning rush but even more of an afternoon rush now, and traffic doesn’t dip as much as it used to in the middle of the day. Tanya joined forces with our resident data whiz Taylor Miller Thomas to bring Premium subscribers a deep dive into how the pandemic has changed our driving habits. Check it out here.

— “Giant container ships are ruining everything.” FreightWaves.

— “Metro Safety Commission approves plan to start bringing back 7000-series trains.” DCist.

— “Sinema pushes to open up mining.” Axios.

— “MBTA pulls all new orange line, red line trains out of service.” NBC 10 Boston.

— “The pilots in that failed Red Bull plane-swap stunt just had their licenses revoked.” Jalopnik.

— “Hyundai electric vehicle factory to be built near Savannah.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

— “Electric school bus program is getting charged up.” POLITICO New Jersey. 

— “Georgia electrical vehicle factory becomes Kemp, Perdue campaign battle.” NBC News.

— “Aeroflot is back to the future as sanctions ground its ambitions.” Bloomberg.

— “Letter on national framework for autonomous vehicles.” Chamber of Progress, Consumer Technology Association.





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