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The Curious Case of Seattle, Sen. Patty Murray and Federal FY2010 Transportation Appropriations

By Ryan Gray

If there's one thing on which I agree with I Rush Limbaugh, it's the question he posed to Jay Leno on Thursday night. What happened to the promised post-presidential election bipartisanship? Today's Congress is about as contentious as two dogs fighting in the backyard over the last ham bone. Meanwhile, we the citizens look on from the other side of the fence saddled with the hunger pangs of growing unemployment and general discontent of the state of things.

With health care and climate change plus the war in Afghanistan and the possibility of nuclear weapon capability from Iran, the Obama administration's plate is most definitely full. Add to it several appropriations bills in Congress that keep the federal government and state and local projects and programs, um, moving along. Amid all of this, the Senate last week passed its version of the fiscal year 2010 transportation and housing appropriations bill.

The bill has been controversial enough by cutting off ACORN funding and allowing Amtrak passengers to carry guns in the checked baggage, but there's some pretty scary language contained within for private school bus operators, as the National School Transportation Association pointed out this week. A provision says that no funds can be used to enforce FTA charter regulations that prohibit public transit from illegally competing for contracts. It was an agreement that FTA, transit and a coalition of private transportation providers reached a few years ago, but Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) appears to be bent on changing that, though negotiations continue.

Seattle Metro is thought to have gotten involved over a dispute about charter service to Seattle Mariners' baseball games. But, coincidentally, nearby Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. There's speculation on Capitol Hill that this is the real impetus for involving Sen. Murray, as local transit providers obviously have a lot to gain (or lose). Essentially, transit could gain exclusive rights to provide transportation to tourists to the tune of millions of dollars of revenue, added to the money it already receives from the Feds and not to mention the influx of stimulus money this year.

The main concern here for NSTA, however, is not Seattle transit getting richer on the Olympics but the precedent that such a provision might set nationwide. It will be interesting to see the final version.

Highway Bill Extension Hits Bump On Gas Taxes

Highway Bill Extension Hits Bump On Gas Taxes

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Motorcoach Safety Plan to be Addressed Next Week by Transportation Secretary LaHood

A representative of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services will be among a contingent meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood next week to discuss proposals being considered for FMCSA and NHTSA to increase motorcoach safety.

The National Transportation Safety Board earlier this year found that driver fatigue resulted in a January 2008 motorcoach crash in Mexican Hat, Utah that killed nine and injured 34. NTSB has also asked for mandatory seat belts and window glazing on motorcoaches to further protect passengers.

Because many school districts charter motorcoaches to transport students to field trips and athletic events, Derek Graham, past-president of NASDPTS and the student transportation branch chief at the North Carolina Office of Public Instruction, will meet with LaHood along with other transportation stake holders such as the motorcoach industry.

LaHood is expected to discuss his draft action plan to increase safety, which resulted from a study performed over the summer.

Harkin Named New Chair of Senate Education Committee

EducationWeek reported that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), a major supporter of the Individuals with Disabilities Act and the American Disabilities Act, replaces the late Sen. Edward Kennedy as the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending. Harkin was a main player in the $100 billion stimulus for education earlier this year.

Harkin will have broad authority as Congress works on the reauthorization of IDEA and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Writes EdWeek:

That will likely mean much less of a disconnection between education policy and financing, said Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, a research and advocacy organization in Washington. “Most people don’t realize that once Congress passes a law, ... you have to go through a whole process again” to get the programs funded, said Mr. Jennings, a former longtime education aide to House Democrats.

Jennings added that Harkin's appointment "is very good for education."

According to EdWeek blogger Lisa Fine, this could mean IDEA is on the way towards full funding, as both Harkin and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) reintroduced legislation to fully fund special education.

NTSB to Release Report Detailing Brake Pedal Misapplication

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board will release results from its investigation into a May 9, 2005, crash of a Liberty, Mo., school bus into two cars stopped at an intersection that is expected to show that the school bus driver stepped on the gas instead of the brake pedal.

The two drivers of the other cars were killed and at least two students on board the school bus suffered life altering injuries after they were thrown head first into the seat guard at the front of the bus. The crash resulted in lawsuits against the school district, the bus manufacturer and dealer, the brake company, and the company that serviced the school bus electrical system after the driver blamed the crash on a loss of braking power. The driver was also named in the suit.

But NTSB's findings are expected to point solely to driver error. Says NTSB's Web site:

During the course of the investigation, information was uncovered that suggested pedal misapplication as a factor in the accident. The NTSB subsequently investigated four additional accidents involving heavy vehicles, dating from 2005 to 2008, in which pedal misapplication was determined to be a factor. The report examines pedal misapplication through the analysis of these five accidents and information gathered from previous work on unintended acceleration incidents. The report evaluates the benefits of brake transmission shift interlock (BTSI) devices, pedal design, positive separation, and event data recorders to determine if they are effective in preventing accidents and whether further preventive measures or actions are needed.

The hearing will take place at 9:30 a.m. EDT in Washington, D.C. The proceedings will be broadcast online.

TRB to Enter the Social Networking Age with New Web Site

The Transportation Research Board regularly publishes the latest research from throughout the transportation industry, both on the state and federal level, and has established dozens of committees to review operational and safety elements in the different modes, including transit and school transportation.

The board announced that in addition to recent upgrades it has made in sending updates to members and other interested parties via email, it will also soon launch a redesigned Web site. TRB said users will more easily find TRB news, announcements, and publications based on more than 35 different transportation subject areas. The new site will also highlight selected transportation research-related products that have been developed at the federal and state levels, and within the academic and international transportation communities.

The function STN editors are most looking forward to is the new RSS feed. Plus TRB will soon be on Facebook and Twitter.

LaHood Announces Summit on Distracted Driving

By Lisa Hudson

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday he intends to gather senior transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforcement representatives, members of Congress and academics who study distracted driving for a September 2009 summit in Washington, D.C. to discuss ideas about how to combat distracted driving.

Developments and updates on the upcoming summit are available from the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) website. You also can get developments on Twitter.

“If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting, but unfortunately, laws aren’t always enough,” said Sec. LaHood in a statement. “We’ve learned from past safety awareness campaigns that it takes a coordinated strategy combining education and enforcement to get results. That’s why this meeting with experienced officials, experts and law enforcement will be such a crucial first step in our efforts to put an end to distracted driving.”

Moving Me Down the Highway

By Ryan Gray

The late, great Jim Croce didn't have the federal surface transportation bill in mind when he penned "I've Got a Name" in the 1973. You know the chorus, "Moving me down the highway, rolling me down the highway, moving ahead so life won't pass me by."

Well, the transportation reauthorization process is running into some road blocks. Slated to be passed by Congress by the end of September to replace the current SAFETEA-LU law, the American Public Transportation Association reports on its Web site that there's group of legislators who want an 18-month extension despite strong opposition from James L. Oberstar (D-MN), the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He has said that ground transportation in the United States is already suffering from decades of neglect and that a long-term fix to the nation's aging roadways and the insolvent federal highway fund needs to be addressed by the time the current bill expires on Sept. 30.

APTA also opposes the extension. Says Bill Millar, the association's executive director:

“APTA does not want to see multiple short-term extensions as was the case with the SAFETEA-LU process...,” said APTA President William Millar, noting that enactment of a long-term bill is essential for planning and forecasting.

For school transportation, the new transportation bill will address the future of the Federal Safe Routes to School Program, which in part develops better walking and biking routes. A current provision would allow 10 percent of the program's infrastructure funds to be used to create safer school bus stops.

The industry will also be watching what the new bill says about previous FTA rulings that transit agencies must not illegally compete with private school bus operators unless they meet strict requirements. And then there's the issue of the highway fund. School transportation is hoping to retain its federal fuel tax waiver while others aim to increase the tax to pump much needed funds back into coffers.

Social Networking, YouTube and the Feds

Need signs that this is not your father's federal government? Look no further than a new video contest announced yesterday by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that uses the popular Web site YouTube to disseminate videos espousing on common-sense preventative measures for keeping in check the H1N1 virus.

President Obama utilized social networking to tap in to the 18-35 vote and capture the 2008 election, and the administration has only upped its use of various mediums to connect with the public. Various other politicians, too, have since embraced Twitter and Facebook to demonstrate that they're hip to the game. The latest effort to elicit short videos uploaded via YouTube acts as a mini-stimulus, if you will, as first prize is $2,500. The catch: the video must end with a plug of Flu.gov.

The World Health Organization expects a new strain of H1N1 to pop up this fall as students around the world return to school and mingle their germs. So far, 120 countries and various territories have confirmed nearly 95,000 total cases of the so-called swine flu, resulting in more than 400 deaths. The September magazine issue of School Transportation News will look at how schools battle infectious diseases on the bus and how the H1N1 pandemic is affecting operations.

Obama, Congress Learn About Retreaded Tires

By Ryan Gray

When it comes to the stimulus, there are a host of entities that could stand to benefit. Considering rubber is made from crude petroleum, it's unlikely federal money will be allocated to the tire industry anytime soon. But if the Tire Retread Information Bureau (TRIB) has its way, perhaps the greener side of tires may realize additional positive PR. Today, the organization sent an open letter to President Obama and members of Congress that calls attention to the environmental, cost and safety benefits of retreaded tires.

Federal mandate already requires retreaded tires on certain government vehicles. And many municipalities choose retreads for their fleet vehicles, including school districts. While retreads are only allowed on the rear wheels of school buses, many transportation departments across the nation choose these tires because they are much cheaper than buying new. And they are just as safe with a much smaller carbon footprint.

But retreaded tires have gotten a bad wrap, according to Harvey Brodsky, TRIB's managing director. His organization spends much of each day refuting what it calls bad press, when retreaded tires are blamed for so-called "road alligators," or those bits of tire debris that you see littering highways. But not so, as NHTSA recently found in its December 2008 Commercial Vehicle Tire Debris Study. Brodsky's letter to President Obama and Congress is clearly designed to make all of these points clear.

And if there's another stimulus, as many have forecasted, might the tire retread industry be the latest to get its own slice of the pie?

Time After Time: Public Comment Period on RFS-2 Extended

When Congress passed the Energy Independence Act of 2007, it stipulated that the next round of renewable energy standards would be in place by the start of 2009. Fast forward seven months and lawmakers and the alternative fuel industry is still waiting.

This week, the EPA extended by 60 days the public comment period on RFS-2, from July 27 to Sept. 25. The EPA’s proposal, which was published in the Federal Register on May 26, has been met with some resistance, most notably from the National Biodiesel Board. While RFS-2 sets forth minimum, incremental alt fuel volume requirements from 2009 through 2022, NBB is concerned that the federal government is essentially ignoring soy-based biofuels as one of the most legitimate alternatives currently on the market and focusing its efforts on more pie-in-the-sky options.

It all comes down to money, as the main objective of RFS-2 is to determine tax credits. Sources at the EPA say all RFS-2 does is provide market certainty. The NBB feels it has a lot to lose not only currently if fleets forego the use of biodiesel because the volume requirements are still pending but also in the future if the minimum levels remain far below other alt fuels, as NBB contends. In May, representatives told School Transportation News that RFS-2 made “poor assumptions” about how biodiesel could indirectly affect land usage, as the EPA maintains that soy-based biodiesel has contributed to mass deforestation in South America. The EPA has made it a priority to target alt fuels with the lowest carbon footprint, namely those produced by crops or means that most favorably impact the land itself or the people who live on it. Then there's the argument that biodiesel does little to ween the country off of foreign dependency on oil. A result could be a shake up of the conventional biodiesel industry, with producers foregoing soy beans and finding other means of making the fuel, such as by using algae, biomass or cellulosic ethanol.

Comments may be submitted and viewed at online by searching for Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2005.

Health Care Reform Plan Unveiled

With many school bus drivers across the nation ineligible for benefits because of the part-time hours they work, the new House health care plan released today seeks "shared responsibility among workers, employers, and the government so that all Americans have coverage of essential health benefits."

The draft would allow people who are content with their current coverage to keep it while reforming the insurance marketplace to make coverage more affordable. It would also reduce out-of-control costs, improve choices and competition for consumers and expand access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans. It would also guarantee that almost every American is covered by a health care plan that is both affordable and offers quality, standard benefits by 2019

Federal 'Livability Principles' Include Transportation, Community Safety

Yesterday, before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, the triumvirate of U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan identified the need to increase transportation choices and safe and walkable neighborhoods while announcing an inter-agency "Partnership for Sustainable Communities."

The partnership is designed to help improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide. Their testimony came a day before Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, was scheduled to release an outline of the upcoming transportation bill reauthorization.

Expected in the reauthorization, which, according to Beltway insiders, the House Ways and Means Committee is not expected to mark up until at least next week but likely after the July 4 recess, are provisions to extend the five-year, $612-million federal Safe Routes to School plan. The school transportation industry will also be eying any detail given on whether or not the federal fuel tax will be increased from its current 18.3 cents per gallon to pump money into the depleted highway trust fund, or if another alternative like a mileage fee might be added. Then there's anxiety over whether or not transit agencies will be thrown life preserver to get around previously passed charter rules and a school bus provision that limits how and when those municipalities can compete with services provided by private bus companies.

The outline is now expected to be released today at 2 p.m. EDT.