| | | | | |  | | By Stephanie Beasley, Sam Mintz and Tanya Snyder | Presented by Freight Rail Works | Editor's Note: Weekly Transportation is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro's daily Transportation policy newsletter, Morning Transportation. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that 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. | | | CAREFULLY CHOSEN WORDS: Pete Buttigieg headed into his first full week as Transportation secretary with two TV appearances Sunday. In the first, Buttigieg expressed optimism about working with Republicans on transportation and infrastructure priorities, but dodged questions about whether the Biden administration was committed to including additional airline payroll support in a $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan. What he said: "Look, that's part of the conversation going on in the administration and with Congress over a package that has many different elements," told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "But I can tell you, this ask from the aviation sector is being taken very seriously." Why it matters: Airlines are preparing for the possibility that they might have to furlough tens of thousands of employees starting next month, if they don't receive further government aid. Union groups representing aviation workers have requested an additional $15 billion in payroll support through the end of September. While Buttigieg didn't make a commitment, congressional Democrats have already said they want to see airline payroll assistance in the package (more on that below). HOURS LATER: Buttigieg made his second appearance on "Axios on HBO," where he talked about the possibility of a federal mandate for pre-flight Covid testing for domestic flights — an idea that has been opposed by some airlines and travel groups. "Well, there's an active conversation with the CDC right now," he said. "What I can tell you is, it's going to be guided by data, by science, by medicine and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out." Other issues: Buttigieg also said he wanted to address inequities in transportation, especially for the disproportionate number of Black and brown communities that are considered "transit deserts." And he said that as he looks to the future for a transportation industry that has been altered by the pandemic, he'd like to focus on modes of transportation that often receive less federal attention, like bikes, scooters and wheelchairs. IT'S MONDAY: You're reading Morning Transportation, your guide to what Washington's doing on planes, trains, cars and everything that moves. We're diving into covering the Biden administration, and MT would love to hear your tips, pitches and feedback about the next four years. Get in touch at smintz@politico.com or @samjmintz. "Yo, I'm the type that's always catchin' a flight / And sometimes I got to be out at the height of the night / And that's when she flip and get on some, another lonely night?" Rock out to our transportation playlist on Spotify. | | A message from Freight Rail Works: In times of recovery, America needs a transportation network that can keep goods moving, help businesses prosper and remain responsive to changing customer needs. Not only does freight rail invest $26 billion annually to provide U.S. businesses with safe, reliable service. Today's rail shipping rates are 43% lower than in 1981, which keeps U.S. businesses competitive. See how railroads are helping America get back on track. | | | | | | PSP ON THE AGENDA: More payroll support for airline workers will be included in the next Covid bill, House Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) told reporters at the White House on Friday, Reuters reported . An extension of the Payroll Support Program was always likely to be included in the bill, but DeFazio's confirmation will be music to the ears of flight attendants, pilots and others who are staring down another round of furloughs. INFRASTRUCTURE, TOO: Outgoing Senate Commerce Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who also appeared on "This Week" on Sunday, said he was looking forward to working with Buttigieg on their shared transportation priorities but signaled that partisanship might get in the way of those talks. Wicker said, "I would a whole lot rather be working with him this week on that sort of thing" than "going into a really meaningless, messaging partisan exercise like impeachment." | | | | 
Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo | DOUBLE DUTY: Airlines and transit agencies are relieved that the full force of the U.S. government is now behind their mask requirement, but in many cases, enforcement hasn't gotten any easier. Sure, agencies and airlines quickly changed their public announcements to note that federal law now requires masks, and they can call TSA for backup, but as your MT hosts reported, "bus drivers, who have long been in the position of having to be 'fare police' are now also 'mask police.'" Too often they need to choose between having a dangerous and time-consuming confrontation with a noncompliant passenger or ignore the health hazard and continue driving. There are other logistical challenges: As a transit industry lobbyist commented after reading our story, airlines and passenger rail officials "can look at a ticket and get a name, then locate contact information in their system." A bus driver, though, would have to ask the passenger for their name and contact information — "which they would provide freely? It doesn't make sense." TSA on Friday issued updated guidance setting fines for flouting mask requirements at between $250 and $1,500. EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is expected to introduce legislation today that would make President Joe Biden's mask order a federal law until he declares the national emergency over. It would also require DOT to work with the CDC and FEMA to help transportation workers get priority access to Covid testing and personal protective equipment, among other items. In a statement: Blumenthal said the bill, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), would "put in place strong health and safety standards" for transportation workers. "Frontline transportation workers must have safe working conditions amid the pandemic," Blumenthal said. | | | | TRACK THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: President Biden's cabinet is getting confirmed, bringing change to agencies and departments across the Executive Branch. From the West Wing to Foggy Bottom, track the first 100 days of the Biden administration with Transition Playbook, our scoop-filled newsletter that chronicles the policies, people, and emerging power centers of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | MAY THERE NEVER BE A NEXT TIME, BUT JUST IN CASE: House Aviation Chair Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) introduced a bill Friday that would require the federal government to develop a national aviation preparedness plan for communicable disease outbreaks, echoing previous measures Larsen has championed but that have not become law. DOT, DHS, HHS and other relevant agencies would work with airlines, airports and organized labor to improve coordination for testing and contact tracing, and to ensure that front-line workers have PPE and access to vaccines, for example. It would also set protocols for sanitation and other means of reducing disease transmission. Details: "This is an idea that emerged from a 2015 GAO report that I'd asked for after the Ebola crisis," Larsen told the Aero Club at an event Friday. "I've also contacted the administration to get this on their agenda as well, as we move forward, knowing full well that there may be another pandemic in the future where we are going to need lessons learned from this one." | | | |   | | | | | | FLYNN ON AMTRAK'S FUTURE: Amtrak's passenger demand remains low but has leveled out, and the railroad is preparing to resume full long-distance service and recall furloughed workers if Congress shells out more relief money, CEO Bill Flynn told reporters Friday. With roughly $1.5 billion in supplemental funding that Amtrak is requesting, "we will fully restore long-distance service to seven days a week. It will take us about 90 days to ramp that safely, and we're thinking in the June time frame," Flynn said. And Amtrak is also building demand growth into its fiscal year plan, anticipating a slight bump in travel this summer as vaccinations increase. Protecting workers and passengers: Biden's mask mandate makes conductors and other train staff's jobs easier, Flynn said, but he noted that the railroad already had compliance "in the high 90s" based on its own rules. During the booking process, he said, "we're reminding them of our guidelines, the mask and other protocols we have in place. So by the time you get on the train, you've had a lot of interaction with Amtrak and you should know what the expectations are." On Amtrak's Rider in Chief: Flynn said he was "very disappointed" that Biden had to cancel plans to ride to D.C. on an Amtrak train for the inauguration. "I think he might have been, too. We were ready for him. Amtrak's been a big part of his life," Flynn said. "And I'm hoping we get him back." As for the sometimes joking, sometimes serious idea that Biden should commission an Amtrak One for official travel? "Now that's a great idea. Sign us up." MORE TIME, PLEASE: California made it official on Friday: It's asking the Biden administration for more time to finish the initial 119-mile Central Valley portion of its high-speed rail project. As POLITICO's Debra Kahn reports from the Golden State, the high-speed rail authority said it's planning to take until 2023 rather than 2022 as required by the terms of an Obama-era federal grant. The project is also projected to cost $1.4 billion more than it was in 2019. CAHSR CEO Brian Kelly "said he anticipated the Biden administration would grant the deadline extension as well as restore another federal grant that the Trump administration withdrew," Debra writes. Kelly also quoted Nelson Mandela in a note published on the authority's website: "It always seems impossible until it is done." | | | | THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO OFFICIAL WASHINGTON: February is short month, but there is a lot in store. From the impeachment trial to the Covid relief package to intraparty squabbles, our new Playbook team is on the case. Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza and Tara Palmeri are canvassing every corner of Washington, bringing you the big stories and scoops you need to know – and the insider nuggets that you want to know – about the new power centers and players. "This town" has changed. And no one covers this town like Playbook. Subscribe to the unofficial guide to official Washington today . | | | | | | | | Rachel Levitan starts today as the Environment and Public Works Committee's new communications director. She comes from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she was deputy communications director. | | A message from Freight Rail Works: America's economic recovery depends on freight rail. Each year, an integrated network of trains, trucks and barges ships nearly 57 tons of goods per American. Railroads are a crucial part of that network. In fact, a staggering 42% of all rail traffic is connected to international trade, and over a third of all U.S. grain exports are moved by rail. And many of the cars on the road today took their first ride on a freight train. The private investment that keeps this country's railroads running reliably is also helping America move in the right direction. Wherever trains go, progress follows. Learn more. | | | | | | — "Despite huge losses, US airlines are rolling in cash." CNN Business. — "U.S. dock workers may get better vaccine access, easing port risk." Bloomberg. — "Thomas Donohue to leave U.S. Chamber of Commerce." Axios. —"DJI and Draganfly tried to use the pandemic to get law enforcement to use more drones." Slate. — "Metro is exploring the use of parking garages as coronavirus vaccination sites." The Washington Post. — "TSA checkpoints at BWI Airport now touchless." TSA. — "Miami mayor digs Elon Musk's tunnel pitch to ease traffic." Associated Press. — "Virginia House votes to turn 'Jefferson Davis Highway' into 'Emancipation Highway.'" WTOP News.
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