Subject: POLITICO's Morning Transportation, presented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International: Uber and Lyft opt for controversial move in Austin — Senate budget saga continues as THUD awaits — Takata’s financial future looks bad, and may get even worse
From: Morning Transportation <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 08:02:48 -0600

By Martine Powers | 05/10/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With help from Heather Caygle and Darius Dixon

UBER, LYFT OPT FOR BIG STATEMENT IN AUSTIN: Uber and Lyft are shutting down ride-hailing operations in Austin, Texas, after the city's residents voted in favor of driver-fingerprinting requirements and restrictions on picking up passengers in traffic lanes - a drastic move that could have widespread implications for the rideshare industry in other American cities. Together, the companies spent millions of a dollars on a wall-to-wall marketing campaign aimed at persuading voters to reject the regulations - and now, they're quitting the city out of protest. Here's the real question: Will this method of political brinkmanship spread to other cities, with rideshare giants Uber and Lyft
 threatening to snatch away their services if they don't get their way on election day? As The Wall Street Journal notes, "Uber has used this tactic to pressure local regulators in Portland, Ore., Las Vegas and Miami, and it has since resumed operations in those cities."

The Austin American-Statesman weighed in on the brouhaha, applauding voters who pushed back against Big Rideshare, but also called for local politicians to find grounds for negotiation. "All too often, Lyft and Uber have demonstrated a bullying attitude, openly flouting city laws to enter the Austin market, then demanding that the city bend to their business models - or else. That might fly in some other cities. But it doesn't work in Austin, where even residents inclined to support Lyft and Uber were put off by such tactics," the paper wrote in an editorial Monday night. "While some might be gloating over Prop 1's failure now, Austin residents are not likely to look favorably in the future
 on elected officials who ... opted for complacency. That should be incentive enough for the City Council to issue an invitation to Lyft and Uber to return to negotiations - but on equal terms this time around."

IT'S TUESDAY: Good morning and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports.

John Kloosterman from United Airlines had pointed out a while back that Radiohead's extensive discography is chock-a-block full of transportation-related lyrics. Well, after listening to the entirety of their new album, MT is sorry to report that there's only one song with a transportation reference. Shout-out in tomorrow's MT to anyone who writes in with the name of the song. (In the meantime, enjoy this nugget from their 1995 album, "The Bends.") Submit your guesses: [email-masked] or @martinepowers.

"I get on the train and I just stand about now that I don't think of you." (h/t John Kloosterman of United Airlines)

THE BUDGET SAGA CONTINUES: For the third time, Senate Democrats on Monday night blocked the energy and water spending bill over a controversial amendment on Iran's heavy water pushed by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell then filed cloture on the amendment, setting up a procedural vote no later than Wednesday that will require 60 senators to agree to advance the amendment. Pro Energy's Darius Dixon explains the strategy behind the move: "If, as expected, Cotton falls short, he plans to withdraw the amendment, and the Senate will likely proceed to votes on the underlying spending bill, Sen. Lamar Alexander, the energy and water appropriations subcommittee
 chair, said on the floor [Monday] evening."

Why do we care? Senate appropriators are anxious to get to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development budget bill, but the appropriations package is in a holding pattern until the energy and water bill either gets passed by the full Senate or is placed on the shelf.

IN CASE YOU FORGOT: Heritage Action for America is still fighting in opposition to Rep. Bill Shuster's FAA bill, calling on members of the House to abandon the bill in a letter sent Monday. They argue that the labor provisions in the proposal amount to a "dangerous union giveaway," and that a privatized air traffic control system would result in "runaway costs and less stable American skyways." The letter ticks off a list of potential labor issues associated with the plan that the conservative groups say will give unions the upper hand, essentially erasing all the cost-saving and efficiency benefits touted by Shuster backers. "Simply put, the protections employed by former President
 [Ronald] Reagan during the illegal air traffic controller strike in 1981 will no longer be available," Heritage Action wrote.

So nice you say it twice: It's not the first time Heritage Action has spoken out against the bill: The conservative organization sent out a missive lambasting the bill back in February. At the time, Heritage warned that a reorganized air traffic control system could "keep taxpayers on the hook for serious missteps."

** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: By proposing to grant Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign carrier permit, the Obama Administration is failing to enforce our Open Skies agreement with the European Union, thereby harming tens of thousands of U.S. workers. The Department of Transportation should stand up for U.S. workers and immediately deny NAI's request. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=71bcbe1eacfcbd9a22387bf8656f77dd4eb1560944f2e1c99bea57dc033fe9f8 **

BRACING FOR IMPACT: Takata's latest full-year financial forecast estimates that it lost $121 million last year because of the cost related to recall efforts and lawsuits from the families of airbag inflator victims - and that doesn't even take into account the most recent announcement from NHTSA that doubled the amount of cars in the U.S. under recall, Bloomberg reports. The company had posted about $270 million in profit the year before. "Takata's recall crisis is like the Titanic hitting the iceberg," analyst Takeshi Miyao told Bloomberg. "You don't realize the enormity until you see the impact from it."

MAKING A CASE FOR GATEWAY: Common Good predicts that building the Gateway Rail Tunnel Project between New York and New Jersey would save taxpayers billions of dollars in the long run. In a new report, the advocacy organization outlines the costs of waiting to execute the project, which was just ballyhooed by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx last week. "When compared to an 18-month process to finish review and permitting, a three-year permitting timetable would increase taxpayer cost of the project by over $3 billion, and a further two-year delay would increase costs by almost $10 billion. Another two years would raise costs by more than $13 billion," Common Good writes. "The
 calculations include the construction cost increase from delay, delayed construction benefits, lost business activity, lost property tax revenue, delay in environmental benefits, and additional costs from shutting down one or both existing tunnels."

ASCE TALKS DOWNSTREAM COSTS: The American Society of Civil Engineers is expected to release a report later today with new data and analysis on America's infrastructure funding shortfall. The study is an update on a report released several years ago that concluded that families lose $3,100 per year in personal household income because of the government's failure to adequately invest in infrastructure. Here's our guess: That number will have grown even larger since the original report.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: The FAA is bringing on three new companies to help improve the detection and identification of drones flying too close to airports. In an announcement on Monday, FAA officials said that they decided to expand the agency's Pathfinder Initiative, and partner with three businesses - Gryphon Sensors, Liteye Systems Inc. and Sensofusion - to come up with new methods to keep track of drones flying in restricted airspace.

What he wants to hear: Sen. Bill Nelson - who frequently raises the alarm about drones spotted in close proximity to airports - praised the announcement, but called for more programs aimed at reducing the potential threats of drone technology. "While this is a welcome step, we need to do more than just detect rogue drones; we need to disable them if they pose a threat to the flying public," Nelson said.

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ):

- "New York, New Jersey Officials Urge Permitting Reform for Transportation Projects." Reuters.

- The L Train: "Nasty, brutish and shortish" vs. "somewhat less painful but twice as long"? The New York Times.

- Maryland unveils its new driver's license design. WBAL Baltimore.

- "Tesla's inherent safety saves five joyriding teenagers in Germany." Ars Technica.

- WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld talks Metro shutdowns. WAMU.

- Well, don't rub it in: "Moscow's Huge Subway Expansion Is Actually Ahead of Schedule." CityLab.

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT appropriations run out in 144 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 66 days. The 2016 presidential election is in 181 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 1,606 days.

** A message from the Air Line Pilots Association, International: The Department of Transportation's (DOT) order proposing to approve Norwegian Air International's (NAI) request ignores both the terms of our the Open Skies agreement and the will of Congress. NAI's operation as a "flag-of-convenience" carrier in Ireland would allow the airline to skirt Norway's employment laws, give NAI an unfair economic edge, and put tens of thousands of U.S. aviation jobs at risk. 

DOT's decision is at odds with the letter, spirit, and intent of the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement and is opposed by U.S. and EU labor unions, airlines and others. More than 200 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have urged Secretary Foxx to enforce the U.S.-EU agreement and deny the NAI application.

The Obama Administration needs to stand up for fair competition and U.S. jobs and deny NAI a foreign carrier permit. Learn more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=71bcbe1eacfcbd9a22387bf8656f77dd4eb1560944f2e1c99bea57dc033fe9f8 **

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