Positive momentum for California’s HSR - Road deaths show record increase - TV time: Mica and TSA bag theft - Chamber is a Shuster-booster

Featuring Jessica Meyers

A NEW DAY IN THE GOLDEN STATE: After facing derailment at every turn in recent months, the nation’s premier high-speed rail project appears on pace to shoot toward construction next year. The FRA approved the initial 60-mile segment of the California system from Fresno to Merced a week ago. A day later, the White House wrapped a piece of the project into its “We Can’t Wait” initiative, promising to expedite the permitting process. That’s a 180-degree spin from the spring, when polls showed voter regret over providing public money to the system, the state GOP was working to kill state funding and a congressional investigation threatened to haul California HSR Authority Chair Dan Richard before a panel filled with members critical of the project. But the money for the project was delivered, and Oversight looks unlikely to hold any hearings on the issue over the lame duck session.


Next steps: “We’ve had a very good summer,” Richard told MT. “We’ve had plenty of famine in recent months. So it’s pretty nice.” But there’s work ahead. Immediate attention is being paid to local lawsuits along the starter route, which Richard called “legitimate” because they deal with farmers’ livelihoods, though he hopes to work with them toward a solution. “I’m confident that we’ve done a good job on the environmental review. That doesn't mean that a judge can’t conclude otherwise,” he said. Richard also said the CHSRA is eying the environmental review process for extensions to Bakersfield and from Bakersfield to Palmdale, the gateway to Southern California. And in the meantime, he’s touting the immediate benefits the 60-mile segment will bring when it opens in 2017 if things go as planned: Fewer conflicts between freight trains and Amtrak in the Central Valley, which will lead to more efficient freight distribution from two southern California ports. Burgess has Pros covered: http://politico.pro/Oqs4dx

CRASH DEATHS SPIKE: There were more than 16,000 crash fatalities through the first six months of 2012, a 9 percent jump over the first half of last year and the largest half-year increase since NHTSA began keeping data on such crashes in 1975, the agency said in a Wednesday report. There were 7,620 traffic fatalities in the first quarter of 2012 (a 13.4 percent increase over the same quarter of 2011) and 8,670 in the second quarter (a 5.3 percent bump compared with the previous year's second quarter). Such deaths have been declining as a whole, NHTSA said, so the jump in 2012 is based on a comparatively low baseline number. Read the report: http://1.usa.gov/PZCtJQ

‘Urgent call’: Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety President Jackie Gillan said the figures are a wake-up call for government. “These fatality figures are an urgent call to action to pass safety bills for which Congress provided incentive grants in the surface transportation authorization bill...” she said in a statement. Gillan also said DOT should move ahead with “reasonable and cost-effective safety regulations” in MAP-21 designed to “prevent crashes, save lives and reduce injuries,” including bus, truck and other safety rules.

THURSDAYS ARE FOR THINKING. You’re a rock star for reading POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes, automobiles and perpetual motion machines. If it moves, it's news. Stay in touch: [email protected] and [email protected]. Twitter: @ AdamKSnider and @ BurgessEv. More news: @ POLITICOPro and @ Morning_Transpo.

“She got into her car and angrily drove away …” http://youtu.be/WALjBu_oG-g

FAST TRAIN: Amtrak tested high-speed trains Monday night and Tuesday morning with the goal of boosting speeds on four stretches of the Northeast Corridor. The test was on the Trenton to New Brunswick section in New Jersey, which currently has a speed limit of 135 mph. We bet you opted for sleep instead, so MT is passing along this YouTube video that shows the test runs, increasing in speed up around 165 mph. Amtrak says it hasn’t put out an official video and can’t vouch for the veracity of any others on the Internet (our money is on this being real). MT often hears how America’s fastest trains have nothing on their European and Japanese counterparts, but watching these trains pass by the platform sure makes 150 mph seem fast. It’s definitely faster than MT has ever driven. Check it out: http://bit.ly/UJvEAB!

MICA THE TV STAR: T&I Chairman John Mica’s work to end TSA baggage theft will get the TV treatment today. A report by ABC News’s Brian Ross will get play on Good Morning America, World News with Diane Sawyer, and Nightline, according to a Mica campaign email. Mica has asked for a GAO look at the issue. If you’re not sold yet, the email had this teaser of a close: “Be sure to watch. The results of ABC's investigative sting will shock you.”

CHAMBER BOOSTS SHUSTER: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave a strong endorsement of Rep. Bill Shuster at an event in Altoona on Wednesday morning, praising him for his work on the new transportation law and awarding him the “Spirit of Enterprise” award. Alex Hergott, the chamber's director of transportation policy, put it this way: “Congressman Shuster’s leadership in championing federal investment in infrastructure across the country and in Pennsylvania will result in roads and bridges that keep us safe, projects that put Americans back to work, and a roadmap for the future that strengthens our nation’s economic competitiveness.”

MODAL WRECKAGE: The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO has a new website, www.RomneyWrecksTheBus.com, that starts with this intro: “Gov. Mitt Romney is no friend of transit workers and riders.” But this isn’t a one-bus campaign — the group has more in the works. We can’t say the domains quite yet, but be on the lookout for separate sites highlighting aviation, rail and maritime issues where unions see Romney’s policies as harmful. The sites take data from a recent report ( http://bit.ly/PZJOsT) and break it down into a more digestible form — unless you’re the Romney campaign, in which case you might have some heartburn.

OUT TODAY: A new report from the Aluminum Association that looks at how the metal can help make cars lighter and easier to reach the new CAFE standards. Check it out: http://bit.ly/OqutEZ

MT POLL — Fiscal cliff walking: We’ve been asking members — some of whom are optimistic — about whether the beleaguered funding situation for federal transportation and infrastructure investment will be dealt with during the lame duck session. So will it be part of a “grand bargain” Congress puts together to avoid sequestration or is this something that won’t be touched until the Highway Trust Fund goes flat or the transportation law expires? Get those votes in before Sunday at noon: http://poll.fm/3wffv

BACK HOME WITH THE NEW FAA LAW: Freshman Rep. Dan Benishek created “hard feelings” in his votes in 2011 against the Essential Air Service subsidy, according to an AP story detailing how a freshman conservative’s goals can conflict with what’s good for his home district. Benishek reps Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, an area with small cities and correspondingly small airports that benefit from EAS. This year he voted against George McClintock’s amendment to the THUD appropriations bill to kill the program and voted FOR the new FAA law that scales down the program but preserves it. http://bit.ly/Rivbmb

TEAM SPIRIT: Rep. Darrell Issa’s senior communication advisor on the Oversight Committee, Jeff Solsby, has left for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America to become a VP of communications. Solsby is a former director of public affairs for ARTBA.

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)

- Ann Romney talks about her “shocking” plane scare. Burgess: http://politi.co/OqqYhM

- Former Amtrak head David Gunn looks back. Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/QVUdFE

- Chrysler becomes the last Detroit’s big three to reach a labor deal with the Canadian Auto Workers. Auto News: http://bit.ly/QVSSP1

- Toll hikes could boost prices, slow economic recovery. Fiscal Times: http://bit.ly/PZOI9d

- D.C.’s long-stalled breathalyzer program will resume on Friday. DCist: http://bit.ly/SlGg6G

- The Virginia Port Authority names an acting director; Jerry Bridges steps down at the end of October. Journal of Commerce: http://bit.ly/VJoHxC

- Can changing fonts on road signs improve highway safety? A new study says yes. Wired: http://bit.ly/VJpKgR

ONE FOR THE CORPS: In a bizarre move, a U.S. appeals court back-pedaled a previous decision and ruled this week that the Army Corps can’t be held liable in a Katrina-related lawsuit over flood damage. The action came after the federal government asked the full appeals court to review a March ruling siding with the plaintiffs. Property owners had accused the corps of incorrect science that led to a delay armoring the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet shipping channel against flood damage. But the new decision says the corps was not liable for the damage under the “discretionary function exception,” which means the government can’t get sued for a decision a federal agency makes based on public policy considerations.

A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL... The Panama Canal expansion is almost half complete, according to a new assessment by the Panama Canal Authority. Five years after the project broke ground, three of the four dry excavation projects are finished and the dredging of several entrances is nearing completion. Final preparations should take place toward the end of 2014, the agency said Wednesday.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding runs out in four days, passenger rail policy in 369 days, surface transportation policy in 734 days and FAA policy in 1,099 days. There are 40 days before the general election, and the 113th Congress convenes in 101 days.

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CABOOSE — Wuppertal Schwebebahn: Sure, it’s a mouthful, but it’s also one of the coolest ways of getting around MT has ever seen. The suspended railway in Germany was built over a hundred years ago and still carries millions each year. Check it out back in the day ( http://bit.ly/H333zg) and a modern color picture ( http://bit.ly/UDYbHZ). If pictures are boring and video is your thing, MT has you covered: http://youtu.be/OPnKbSvHj6c

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