Eno Transportation Weekly

March 15, 2019 – As part of the Trump Administration’s fiscal 2020 budget rollout, the Federal Transit Administration this afternoon released its detailed annual report on its Capital Investment Grant program, including updates on the project status and ratings of every proposed subway, light rail, and bus rapid transit project in the United States.

March 14, 2019 – Today, a bipartisan group of Senators, including the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee with jurisdiction over mass transit issues, introduced a bill that would ban U.S. transit agencies from buying rail cars or buses made by any company that is “owned or controlled by, is a subsidiary of, or is otherwise related legally or financially to a corporation” located in the People’s Republic of China.

March 11, 2019 – President Trump has released a fiscal year 2020 budget request today that calls for $84.1 billion in gross budgetary resources for the U.S. Department of Transportation today, a $3.5 billion decrease from 2019.

March 8, 2019 – This week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told an Association for Better New York breakfast meeting that he wants to attach legislation forcing the federal government to start funding a $13.6 billion project to build new passenger rail tunnels under the Hudson River to the next “must-pass” spending bill. But it’s hard to see Schumer getting what he wants without either violating Congress’s ban on earmarks, or else fundamentally restructuring the mass transit Capital Investment Grant program.

March 8, 2019 – On March 4, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) issued a formal response to the Federal Railroad Administration’s February 19 notice that it intended to cancel the $929 million grant of fiscal year 2010 appropriations promised by the Obama Administration for the Golden State’s troubled high-speed rail project.

Tuesday, March 12 – House Transportation and Infrastructure – Subcommittee on Aviation – subcommittee hearing entitled “Looking Forward: Aviation 2050” (witness list here) – 10:00 a.m., HVC-210 The Capitol.

March 1, 2019 – A House hearing on infrastructure and climate change this week explored the need for federal funding of resilient infrastructure as well as finding the right blend of market-based incentives.

March 1, 2019 – On February 26, the House Homeland Security Committee held a joint hearing to look at ways to secure the U.S. surface transportation system from cyber attacks, including potential threats posted by Chinese manufacture of rail cars.

March 1, 2019 – Yesterday, the chairman and ranking Democrat of the Senate Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), jointly introduced legislation that would provide temporary extensions of numerous targeted tax breaks that expired at the end of 2017 or 2018.

March 1, 2019 – Why does the U.S. lack high-speed rail in comparison to Europe and Japan? The main answer is population density.

February 20, 2019 – Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation said it will not pay the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) the final $929 million in federal appropriations that was legally committed to the state’s high-speed rail program by the Obama Administration.

February 14, 2019 – Yesterday, Sen.

February 13, 2019 – The failure of the California high-speed rail project doesn’t necessarily mean the doom of HSR in the U.S. The California project followed seven “worst practices” that other projects could avoid.

February 12, 2019 – Earlier today, new new governor of California, Gavin Newsom (D), told state legislators in his first “State of the State” address that he was backing away from plans to build a high speed rail project that would connect San Francisco and Los Angeles, but that he would finish the segment of the project currently underway in the central part of the state.

February 8, 2019 – On February 6, the U.S. House of Representatives passed five bills from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Three of the five bills were significant for the transportation sector as they would improve oversight of rail safety, protect scenic byways, and establish a commission to commemorate Route 66.

February 8, 2019 – This week, the director of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) told Congress that he has ordered the strengthening of cybersecurity requirements for its new transit procurement, but said that further attempts to ensure the survival of a domestic railcar manufacturing industry should come in the form of Congress passing a law.

February 8, 2019 – This week, President Trump gave an interview to local journalists where he appeared to say that money for the $11+ billion Hudson River Tunnel has already been “set aside.”

February 4, 2019 – Here is a list of every mention of transportation, infrastructure, highways, transit, rail, aviation, and waterways made by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump in the last 20 State of the Union addresses, 1999-2018.

February 1, 2019 – On Monday, Los Angeles Metro launched an on-demand shared ridehailing service around three transit stations as part of local and national initiatives to examine mobility and access to public transit.

January 25, 2019 – Both the spending and revenue sides of the federal-aid highway program are very carbon-centric. Is the present highway program compatible with a “Green New Deal”?