| | | | |  | | By Alex Daugherty | | | With help from Oriana Pawlyk and Tanya Snyder
| | | — Democrats are unable to pass expanded electric vehicle subsidies despite heightened consumer interest and billions coming for a national charging network. — The White House named an emergency board to help settle a yearslong freight rail labor dispute. — The air taxi industry worries that an FAA regulatory change could lead to years of delays. IT'S MONDAY: You're reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. As always, send tips, pitches, feedback and song lyrics to adaugherty@politico.com. You can find all of us on Twitter: @alextdaugherty, @TSnyderDC and @Oriana0214. "Freight train, freight train, run so fast/Freight train, freight train, run so fast/Please don't tell what train I'm onThey won't know what route I'm going."
| | A message from Air Line Pilots Association Intl.: Hearing a lot about a pilot shortage? Don't believe it. Airlines are cutting service to improve profits and are blaming the cuts on a "pilot shortage." They've even suggested more savings by reducing safety training for pilots. In reality, there are 1.5 certified pilots for every pilot job. Don't let airlines put profits over passengers' safety. Get the facts about pilot supply. | | | | | | SUMMER OF JOE: Tanya reports that Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) latest pooh-poohing of a Democrat-only social spending bill is a blow to the Biden administration's goal of electrifying U.S. transportation, even as consumer interest in electric vehicles is soaring. Manchin said Friday that he won't vote for a social spending bill this summer that includes potential climate investments like the EV tax credit, though he left the window cracked for possible movement on such a bill in September. LACK OF JOLT : The existing $7,500 federal tax credit comes with a manufacturer cap of 200,000 vehicles that Tesla and GM have already exceeded. EV sales, despite many models holding a higher initial price tag than ICE-powered vehicles, continue to surge. Earlier this month, the U.S. became the latest country to have EVs make up at least 5 percent of new vehicle sales. But EV policy experts say the electric transition isn't happening fast enough. "The reforms that are being debated in Congress are an accelerant to a transition that's already happening," said Nick Nigro, the founder of Atlas Public Policy, which focuses on EV policy. "But we're still falling behind. While the U.S. market is growing, other markets are growing faster." CHARGING FOR WHAT? The lack of action on expanded tax credits for purchasing EVs comes as the Biden administration is beginning to dole out $7.5 billion in new federal funding for a national EV charging network. Kevin Tynan, senior automotive analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said most U.S. automakers still don't have adequate motivation to increase the market share of EVs. "That motivation can be subsidy, penalty or profitability," he said. "Left to a free market, profitability is what is important to the legacy automakers, and they're the ones with the scale that can really drive adoption. So yeah, it's doubled and the growth rate is fine, but relative to other regions where the government is more actively interested in driving adoption, we're still way behind."
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| | | BOARDING NOW: President Joe Biden on Friday established an emergency board to help settle labor disputes between freight railroads and unions, just ahead of a Sunday deadline that could have triggered a work stoppage, Tanya reports . The board will hear from both sides in private over the next 30 days before making recommendations. Another 30-day cooling-off period will occur after the PEB makes its recommendations, meaning the earliest possible strike or work stoppage if an agreement is not reached could happen in September. WE'LL GET WHAT WE WANT: Labor unions and the freight rail lobby both indicated they were pleased with the PEB announcement — which was expected — and confident that the PEB's recommendations will favor their side. The National Railway Labor Conference, which represents freight rail carriers, said in a statement that "we look forward to demonstrating to the PEB how a recommendation based on our proposals would appropriately reward rail employees' hard work and skills while best positioning the industry to grow and compete for traffic in the nation's highly competitive freight marketplace." And the president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, Greg Regan, said in a statement that its unions were disappointed in the yearslong negotiations but that "the facts are on our side and we look forward to the forthcoming recommendations of the presidentially-appointed arbitrators."
| | | | A message from Air Line Pilots Association Intl.:   | | | | | | TOO SLOW OR TOO FAST?: Congress passed long-fought-for provisions aimed at improving transit workplace safety as part of the infrastructure law. The FTA says it doesn't plan to enforce the provisions until the end of 2022, Eleanor Mueller reports . But the American Public Transit Association, which represents transit agencies, says the end-of-year deadline doesn't give its members enough time to establish safety planning committees. ATTACKS UP: National data on attacks against transit workers is incomplete and unreliable. But reports from local agencies indicate an alarming upswing in episodes over the last two years. New Jersey Transit workers experienced 183 assaults in 2021 — triple the norm, according to leadership. Employees of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority consistently report as many as six assaults per week. And there are similar figures out of Illinois, Utah, Arizona and other states. GET IT DONE: Lawmakers like Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) who pushed for the establishment of safety planning committees in the infrastructure bill say they plan to ensure that transit agencies meet the FTA's deadlines. "Administrator [Nuria] Fernandez and FTA have set important deadlines for the inclusion of workers in safety planning," a spokesperson for Brown said in a statement, adding that Brown "will work with the FTA and transit unions to ensure the requirements are enacted quickly."
| | | THE RACE FOR AIR TAXIS: Following a recent FAA change that would slot the nascent air taxi craft under a different certification regime than had previously been expected, industry firms representing these flying-car companies say the new process — which requires a rulemaking — could tack on months or longer and push back their timetable for getting the craft to market, Oriana reports. The gist : In May, the FAA announced it would certify electric vertical takeoff and lift aircraft (eVTOL), aircraft that won't need runways to operate, under a special "powered-lift" category, rather than a traditional airplane — meaning pilots will now have to obtain certification as a "powered lift operator." With the new moniker come a few unknowns: Will the work companies already accomplished count toward the certification process? Can pilots plan on starting all over with their flight time schedule? What does this mean for companies building associated infrastructure for eVTOL landing spots around the country? "This has injected a lot of uncertainty into the process," an industry official who represents various eVTOL companies told Oriana. "There's a lot of pressure with other countries moving forward, arguably faster, than what's happening in the U.S." Leadership needed: The official said the White House is tentatively scheduled to hold an advanced aviation summit as early as next month where trade groups can hash out these issues. (A White House spokesperson could not confirm the expected date of the summit.)
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — "U.S. House passes bill to protect right to travel for abortion." Reuters. — "Opting out of mass transit?" The American Prospect. — "ICYMI: Saudi Arabia to open airspace to all airlines, including from Israel." Reuters. — "Another pain point in a summer of travel woes: Getting a passport." The New York Times. — "An illustrated encyclopedia of people at the airport." The Washington Post. — "Plane carrying munitions crashes in Greece killing all onboard." The Guardian. — "GM offers rebate on Cadillac Lyriq if drivers sign NDA, agree to be tracked." Detroit Free Press.
| | A message from Air Line Pilots Association Intl.: Airlines have invented a "pilot shortage" to justify cost cutting service reductions to smaller communities across the country. Airline profits are being prioritized over passenger service. The fact is America has 1.5 certified pilots for every pilot job. That's more than enough. But now airlines are recommending cuts to essential pilot safety training – just to put more pilots in service. This is the same training that has reduced airline fatalities by 99.8% since they were increased in 2010. There is no pilot shortage—don't be fooled. Proper training and diligence will maintain air travel's record as the safest mode of transportation. Get the facts about pilot supply. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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