An ongoing debate considers whether or not the U.S. government can impose new restrictions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the country’s highways. Last fall, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a new rule that would require state and local transportation officials to set declining goals for greenhouse gas emissions stemming from road projects that are funded with federal money. The rule was a response to climate activists who have voiced concern that more federally funded transportation projects, without restrictions, could promote further dependence on cars for future generations. Climate advocates argued that the new rule could instead encourage state…

The federal gas tax, which hasn’t been raised since 1993, currently stands at 18.4 cents per gallon. Revenue from that tax funds improvements of U.S. roads, bridges and mass transit systems but has left the government short of all the money needed to keep transportation networks in a state of good repair. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Highway Trust Fund, which is largely funded by the gas tax, could be insolvent by the end of 2022. Now a bipartisan group of senators is proposing raising the federal gas tax to fund infrastructure improvements. Proposals to raise the tax…

On March 10, 2019, an Ethiopian Air plane crashed in Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board, including eight American citizens. The aircraft was a Boeing 737 MAX. Evidence suggested that a new automated system could have contributed to the crash. Later in the month, the Aviation and Space Subcommittee of the U. S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on the state of airline safety. A focus of the hearing was the way in which aviation safety remains a paramount concern even as technology has advanced and changed. Daniel K. Elwell, Act­ing Administrator of the…

On January 11, Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-D) introduced legislation designed to accelerate implementation of a key train safety feature. H.R. 4766, the Positive Train Control Implementa­tion and Financing Act, would give railroads until the end of the year to put in place Positive Train Control (PTC), which automatically decreases the speed of a train traveling over the speed limit. It would also prevent the Department of Transportation from granting extensions to railroads seeking to delay that deadline. “Since Congress first passed legislation to mandate PTC implementation in 2008, some railroads have been diligent in implementing PTC while others have clearly…

On June 8, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee approved a bill to create a streamlined process by which the Federal Government would authorize commercial space launches. H.R. 2809, the American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act, introduced by Committee Chair Lamar Smith (TX-R), would expand the authority of the Office of Space Commerce within the Department of Commerce to include supervision of commercial space activity. Because the private sector is increasingly investing and developing spacecraft, satellites, and other technologies for nongovernmental exploration of outer space, the bill would establish a certification process for the private sector to operate those technologies….

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently issued the first Federal policy guidelines for automated vehicles. The nonbinding guidelines are a preliminary step designed to lay out goals and work with manufacturers and designers of driverless cars to improve the technology without stifling innovation. NHTSA called on makers of “highly autonomous vehicles” — those in which the vehicle can take full control in some circumstances — to test new features and share the data with the agency at least four months before the technology hits the road. Other portions of the policy apply to lower-levels of automation, including some…

Major train accidents occurring earlier this year have prompted Congress to readdress the issue of passenger rail safety. Funding for Amtrak has long been controversial, with many Republicans wanting to privatize the system and many Democrats arguing that the United States has fallen behind other countries, such as Germany and Japan, by not making a greater investment in rail travel. The last time Congress reauthorized funding for Amtrak was through passage of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which required the Nation’s busiest railroad operators to implement a technology called positive train control (PTC) and to have it in…

Right before adjourning for the Fourth of July recess, congressional leaders agreed to a two-year reauthorization of highway, transit, and surface transportation programs, as well as a deal that prevented the doubling of interest rates for new student loans. It was crucial that Congress act on these two measures by the end of June; otherwise, current authority for highway and mass transit projects would have elapsed, potentially jeopardizing 2.9 million jobs, and interest rates on Federal subsidized loans would have jumped from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent for more than 7 million students. First Transportation Bill Reauthorization Since 2005 Enactment…