In 2015, the to-do list on things transportation will be
shared on Capital Hill as well as a mile down New Jersey Avenue at the US
Department of Transportation. On the
list, lawmakers and transportation department employees will find boxes to tick
on every topic: aviation, passenger and freight rail, highways, bridges,
transit and water resources. Also on the
list are hot-button issues such as commercial drones and the safety of rail
cars that carry volatile crude oil, banning cellphone conversations on planes
and a slew of policy changes mandated by the last surface transportation bill
two years ago.
There’s a strong and diverse coalition of groups — including
business, labor and motorists — that have pushed for a gas tax increase as a
way to increase federal spending on roads, bridges and transit systems. But
that idea is largely a nonstarter on Capitol Hill; instead, support is building
for using portions of revenues raised from corporate tax reform as a way to pay
for increased infrastructure spending.
Some lawmakers could push for a broader tax overhaul
package, an ambitious goal that could further complicate issues as members
bicker over the nation’s overall tax structure as one-time revenue, and not a
long-term fix. No matter what happens, lawmakers will have to address the
Highway Trust Fund early in 2015 — the fund that pays for road, bridge and
transit work will go insolvent by May. Even a simple one-year extension, which
must be enacted by May 30, would cost around $15 billion because the trust fund
takes in far less in gas tax revenues than it is authorized to spend each year.
Another major reauthorization, of the Federal Aviation
Administration, doesn’t face the same money problem — the Airport and Airway
Trust Fund that pays for over 80 percent of the bill isn’t in the same
financial peril. It is increasingly under strain, however, and discussions have
begun about whether and how to switch to some new system of financing,
including possible privatization.
But the FAA bill brings its own set of policy disputes. West
Coast lawmakers will undoubtedly again push to increase the number of long-distance
flights into and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the airport
closest to the Capitol used by the vast majority of lawmakers. Republicans will
scrutinize the multibillion-dollar cost of NextGen, a new air traffic control
system that is taking years to implement. The airport and airline lobbies will
scrap over whether to raise the current cap on fees passengers pay to use
certain airports. And members of both parties will prod the FAA to chart a
clear path forward on drones, which to date have been addressed through a
series of one-off rulings.
Lawmakers also want to address Amtrak, which saw its
congressional authorization expire in 2013. The House Transportation Committee
unanimously approved a bipartisan measure in 2014, but things could get more
complicated when the full House takes it up. Some hard-line lawmakers want to
end Amtrak’s $1.4 billion-per-year federal subsidy, while some Democrats would
like to boost the railroad’s funding to help it address a backlog of
deteriorating infrastructure.
The Amtrak bill could also ignite a regional battle — the
House measure ensures that money made by the profitable Northeast Corridor, the
area between D.C. and Boston, gets plowed back into that region’s operations.
For the rest of the country, where nearly all Amtrak routes lose money, keeping
service levels intact would mean states — facing their own budget shortfalls —
would need to offer more money.
Hill politicians also face work on another water resources
bill in 2016, though the overwhelming bipartisan support for the 2014 version
makes that less of a concern. There’s also a rail safety bill on the horizon
that could offer a chance to deal with the rising number of trains carrying
crude oil, several of which have had headline-grabbing accidents and spills.
Source: Politico
