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THIS WEEK ON THE HILL: With infrastructure action firmly in the hands of Congress at this point, it’s a bonanza week for congressional transportation watchers, and some of the hearing room action could provide some big clues about the ongoing negotiations.
The pick of the bunch: a Senate Banking Committee hearing featuring two Cabinet secretaries, DOT head Pete Buttigieg and Marcia Fudge from HUD, on Thursday. The banking committee is responsible for crafting the transit portion of the Senate’s surface transportation bill, and Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) will likely pass along some hints about how far along that work is and what to expect from it. The title of the hearing: “21st Century Communities: Expanding Opportunity Through Infrastructure Investments.”
Elsewhere around the Capitol: On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on “Funding and Financing Options to Bolster American Infrastructure,” the House Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee holds a hearing on “Promises and Perils: The Potential of Automobile Technologies,” and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion Subcommittee holds a hearing on “Reviving International Travel and Tourism to Create and Restore Jobs.”
Exploring ATC: Also of high interest on the aviation side is a House Transportation subcommittee hearing on air traffic control modernization. The FAA’s NextGen project (a massive effort to upgrade the national airspace to maximize efficiency and safety) will take center stage, with several FAA officials responsible for the project testifying. They’ll be pressed on the continuing delays and cost increases of the project, which has been behind schedule for almost a decade now. Inevitably, the question of whether air traffic control should be privatized will also come up.
Nominee watch: Carlos Monje, Biden’s pick to be undersecretary for policy at DOT, will be among the nominees to get grilled by the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday.
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EVERYBODY LOVES A STUDY: A bipartisan duo of senators is pushing a bill that would call for a new highway cost allocation study, with the goal of having DOT study changes in highway use in time to help figure out how to solve the Highway Trust Fund shortfall in the next surface transportation reauthorization. The last major cost allocation study by FHWA was in 1997, when there were 60 million fewer vehicles on the road, with highly different gas mileages. The sponsors are Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), both members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. They’ll be pushing for their legislation to be included in whatever infrastructure package makes its way through Congress, Lummis’ office said.
THE BLIND SPOTS OF BIDEN’S ELECTRIFICATION PLAN: Some corners of the transit sector are getting nervous as the Biden administration pushes forward with its ambitious plan to electrify America’s vehicle fleet, our Tanya Snyder reports.
Hydrogen: One example is supporters of hydrogen fuel cell technology, like Karl Gnadt, managing director of the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, whose agency has invested in hydrogen. “We are just saying that there’s a larger solution for the electrification of the transit fleet,” Gnadt told POLITICO. “And while it does include battery electric, it absolutely needs to include hydrogen fuel cell electric, as well.”
Paratransit: Some transit agencies are also worried about a provision resurfacing from the House’s surface transportation bill from last year that would have required drivers of for-hire vehicles with up to eight occupants — down from the current 16 — to have a commercial driver’s license. It could prove a significant burden to paratransit operations, whose drivers don’t currently have to have commercial licenses.
Procurement: And some agencies are worried about a stipulation that transit agencies seeking funding from the low- or no-emission bus program have to buy at least 10 buses to qualify for the grant. “Replacing more than five or six vehicles at one time is very, very difficult because of [the need to come up with] local funding,” said Isaac Thorne, transit director of the Knoxville Area Transit authority.
DRONE INDUSTRY ASKS FOR A WHITE HOUSE SUMMIT: The commercial drone industry is calling on the White House to get federal officials from across a number of agencies together for a drone summit. The call comes as the industry and regulators are working on expanding drone operations to try to develop services like delivery via drone, and also dealing with the challenges of integrating drones into a massive, complex airspace.
The worry: “Despite the efforts of many people and organizations, the United States is at risk of falling behind other countries in the development and implementation of a comprehensive regulatory regime and technological platform to support expanded UAS operations and their integration into the NAS,” the Commercial Drone Alliance wrote in its letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The ask: Calling for “high-level political leadership” from the Biden administration, CDA wrote that “a White House Summit bringing together a diverse array of federal government and commercial UAS industry stakeholders to discuss the issues and challenges facing UAS integration, expanded UAS operations, and UTM would be a significant step to moving forward on these critical issues”
— “5 takeaways from POLITICO Pro’s briefing on Biden’s infrastructure plan.” POLITICO Pro.
— “Delta will require vaccines for new employees.” CNN.
— “How EVs could transform the streets of Africa.” The Wall Street Journal.
— “U.S. gasoline shortage improves, some regions still suffer hefty outages.” Reuters.
— “Report: Colorado far from meeting emissions reduction goals.” The Associated Press.
