With help from Tanya Snyder
Editor’s Note: Morning Transportation is a free version of POLITICO Pro Transportation’s morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
— Transit agencies, already stretched to near breaking points by the existential threat of a pandemic, found themselves at the center of even more strife this weekend.
— Federal agencies have spent millions on cleaning and purchasing protective equipment for their workers as they deal with the coronavirus.
— House lawmakers are readying an infrastructure bill that is expected to surface in the next few weeks.
IT’S MONDAY: 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 [email protected] or @samjmintz.
“A mi manera, descomplicado / En una bici que me lleva a todos lados.”
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, railways, rivers and runways.
Calling all China watchers: The trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship will determine whether this century is judged a bright or a dismal one. POLITICO’s David Wertime is launching a new China newsletter that will be worth the read.
AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE STORY: As protests ripped through cities across the country this weekend, public transit agencies had to tackle even more acute challenges than just the pandemic. In Minneapolis and New York, some bus drivers refused to help police take protesters to jail and transport police to the scenes of protests, a decision that national transit unions strongly supported. Minneapolis bus drivers have the right to refuse those “dangerous duties,” said John Costa, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents 2,500 public transportation workers in the city. “This is a misuse of public transit.” And in New York, the Transport Workers Union’s local chapter tweeted that its bus operators “do not work for the NYPD,” calling on operators to refuse to transport arrested protesters.
In Los Angeles, the protests led to anger over access as the LA Metro system shut down early on Saturday night, leaving commuters and other passengers stranded. On Sunday morning, Metro issued what LA Times reporter Laura Nelson called a “rare apology” to customers who were waiting for buses that never came. Transit services were canceled in Miami on Sunday, too, also leaving workers without options. “I’ve got to walk six miles. The working people need the bus,” a construction worker told the Miami Herald.
INDUSTRY TAKES AIM AT ‘MISGUIDED’ CDC GUIDANCE: To the frustration of transit agencies and advocates, a new CDC guidance issued late last week encourages people to commute by car alone, suggesting that companies reimburse workers for parking. The recommendations are misguided and unworkable for cities, transit backers say. “If these guidelines are followed, our cities will be in a state of paralyzing gridlock and our economy, our cities, and all Americans will suffer,” said Corinne Kisner, executive director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials. “Transit needs to be prioritized, not feared, to continue to be a resource for the people who rely on it.”
Pat Foye, the head of New York’s MTA, also blasted the federal agency. “The CDC’s latest guidance marks yet another confounding recommendation from the nation’s top health authority,” he told the New York Post.
WHAT AGENCIES ARE SPENDING ON CLEANING: In addition to the logistical challenges, federal transportation agencies have been forced to spend millions on cleaning and PPE as they try to protect workers and the public during the pandemic, your host reported on Friday. One eye popping number comes from the FAA, which has spent $7 million for enhanced cleaning of roughly 50 air traffic control facilities where employees tested positive.
DHS recently spent more than $5 million on 5.4 million surgical masks, according to federal contract records. And TSA spent $1.2 million on sanitizer and wipes, including one contract with a Connecticut nonprofit disability center that recently pivoted to selling PPE.
In a different vein of contract: DOT farmed out work on Covid-19 travel data to academic researchers. The agency is listed as purchasing “pre and post Covid-19 travel restriction movement statistics” from the University of Maryland for $295,000 on a contract which runs through January of next year.
COMING SOON TO A COMMITTEE NEAR YOU: The House is steadily moving toward advancing a five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill, our Tanya Snyder reports. In laying out the House’s schedule for the summer, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said an infrastructure package including the surface reauthorization is among the handful of bills that the House is looking to consider on the floor “in late June and going through July.” And a House Transportation Committee source confirmed to POLITICO that the agency will mark up its bill in the next few weeks.
An interesting procedural note: The new House rules on remote work require committees to hold a virtual hearing before they can hold a virtual markup, and T&I held a subcommittee hearing on Friday that meets the requirement. Speaking of which:
PORTS SEEKING HELP, TOO: Containerized cargo was down 18 percent in March and once the data is in, it will probably show a decline of 20 percent or 25 percent for April and May, said Christopher Connor, president and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities at a Friday hearing of the House Maritime Transportation Subcommittee. Auto ports were hit especially hard by the closing of Chinese factories and some have seen volumes down by as much as 90 percent.
Blank sailings, canceled vessel calls and abandoned cargo — “envision 40,000 chocolate bunnies” abandoned in one container around Easter, said Lauren Brand, president of the National Association of Waterfront Employers — are all plaguing the industry, which is asking for $1.5 billion in relief in an upcoming coronavirus recovery bill.
What to do instead of quarantining ships: Michael Roberts, president of the American Maritime Partnership, also warned Congress that there needs to be a unified set of protocols, agreed upon by the CDC and the Coast Guard, that specifies above all that “a cargo ship should never been quarantined.” Roberts said sick mariners should be removed and treated and the rest of the crew removed and quarantined, the ship sanitized and a new crew brought in, rather than sending a ship to anchor. While ship quarantining hasn’t become a major issue in the United States, Roberts noted, Brazil has several ships in quarantine.
MORE THAN JUST CHINA: United Airlines is one of the two carriers fighting to resume flights to China, but its CEO is concerned about the ability to restart in other parts of the world, too. United Chairman Oscar Munoz asked President Donald Trump to coordinate the resumption of flying around the world and avoid a “patchwork” approach, CNBC’s Leslie Josephs reports. “This isn’t a China question,” Munoz said.
SPEAKING OF PATCHWORKS: Southwest Airlines on Friday became the latest carrier to say that it will limit the number of travelers on each flight to allow for empty middle seats through July 31, a move that some in Congress and elsewhere have been calling for the federal government to mandate.
GRANTED: On Friday, the FAA approved the National Air Transportation Association’s request for an extension to exemptions regarding certain crew training and checking requirements. Read the nuts and bolts in these two letters.
POLITICO New York’s Danielle Muoio is moving to the transit beat for the NYC team. Here’s how you can get in touch with her.
— “U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announces $891 million for 12 transit infrastructure projects across America.” DOT.
— “Customs and Border Protection drone flew over Minneapolis to provide live video to law enforcement.” CNN.
— “Airlines leave $29 billion aid fund untapped in bet on rebound.” Bloomberg.
— “Sheriff’s Office: No one injured in train derailment.” Northern Virginia Daily.
— “SpaceX Crew Dragon with two NASA astronauts docks with International Space Station.” Reuters.
— “Amtrak resets user passwords after Guest Rewards data breach.” Bleeping Computer.
DOT appropriations run out in 121 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,217 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 121 days.
