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(The following article, written by Ken Orski, editor and publisher of Innovation Briefs, is reproduced with permission of Mr. Orski.)

WASHINGTON — Congressional action on transportation this year, including the shape of the next surface transportation bill, will be inevitably influenced by the changed political geography of the 112th Congress.

Not only will the level of funding for transportation be dictated by new, fiscally conservative House appropriators, but the program priorities will be influenced by a new House majority that largely hails from small-town and suburban America.

None of the new GOP majority on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee represents big city transit-oriented districts. A majority come from the heartland. The closest to a major urbanized areas that any of the Republican members come from, are Oklahoma City and Charleston, S.C.

Thus, the committee will likely focus on traditional concerns of keeping roads and bridges in a state of good repair — and try to stabilize the Highway Trust Fund by bringing expenditures in line with expected gas tax receipts. That means a budget of approximately $40 billion to $41 billion annually.

Within these budget limits, transit will maintain its customary standing — although it may receive somewhat less emphasis, given the changed composition of the T&I Committee.

Also likely to be curtailed will be support for high-speed rail, given its cool reception in Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Florida and other Republican-dominated state legislatures.

Discretionary “executive earmarks,” such as the TIGER grants, will most likely be severely cut back if not entirely eliminated. They have not been popular with Republican lawmakers.

Chairman Mica’s resolve to make passage of a multi-year authorization a top priority increases the likelihood that a transportation bill will be brought to the House floor and approved during the first session of the 112th Congress. The Senate is likely go along.

While the next authorization will almost surely be more modest in size and less “transformational” than many in the transportation community would like to see, it will at least restore the federal surface transportation program to a stable and predictable multi-year footing.

WASHINGTON — As the Jan. 1, 2012, effective date for conductor certification approaches, the UTU and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen are urging the Federal Railroad Administration to revise certain portions of the proposed certification rules.

Chief among areas of concern is the lack of a streamlined appeals process when railroads move to decertify a conductor. The UTU and the BLET also are asking the FRA to amend existing engineer certification rules with such a streamlined appeals process that will also require appeals to run their course before a conductor may be decertified.

Conductor certification is one dozens of actions required by Congress in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA).

Other worker-positive safety advances ordered by the RSIA, also being advanced by the FRA, are mandatory availability of breathing apparatus for train and engine workers, implementation of positive train control, and hours-of-service reform. In each case, the UTU and the BLET also are working to refine those rulemakings in line with concerns of UTU and BLET members.

Conductor certification will be published as a new Part 242 of Chapter 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Engineer certification, implemented by the FRA in 1991, is published as Part 240

“Conductor certification has long been an objective of the UTU, as it enhances the professionalism and indispensability of the craft,” said UTU International President Mike Futhey. “One of the most sought after provisions of conductor certification, contained in the FRA’s proposed rulemaking, enables a conductor to refuse to violate operating rules and federal regulations even if demanded by a carrier officer.

“We also are pleased that the FRA proposes uniform training for conductors, which includes a requirement for territorial testing and qualification that must be preceded by face-to-face classroom training and territorial training with a pilot,” Futhey said.

“Railroads must also provide conductors with a map and listing of all safety hazards, and must keep a list of conductors qualified on each territory,” Futhey said. “The proposed rule also makes it unlawful to require a conductor to work on territory where the conductor is not qualified,  and provides that a lone engineer must be certified as both an engineer and a conductor, or be accompanied by a certified conductor. Collective bargaining will determine additional pay for certified conductors,” Futhey said.

In reviewing the FRA’s proposed rule for conductor certification, the UTU and the BLET noted that “the FRA cannot deny that the railroads have repeatedly abused” their discretion in disqualifying engineers under the two-decade old engineer certification rule.

Thus, the UTU and the BLET urged the FRA to streamline the decertification appeals process for conductors as well as engineers.

Unacceptable, for example, is the appeals process for engineer decertification, which requires hiring of an attorney and can stretch on for years.

The UTU and the BLET also want decertification to be delayed until the appeals process has run its course. “We contend that the only legitimate reason to impose a suspension prior to the employee being provided due process is if the alleged violation is deemed a willful violation; otherwise, the suspension serves no useful purpose,” the UTU and the BLET told the FRA. “The notion that someone will go right out and inadvertently commit additional ‘cardinal sins’ is preposterous.”

The UTU and the BLET also asked the FRA to include, in the final rule, a requirement for FRA review of unilateral decisions by railroads to make conductor certification requirements more stringent than contained in the rulemaking. “It is not unreasonable to expect the railroads to identify those areas where each railroad will implement additional or more stringent requirements for its conductors,” the UTU and the BLET told the FRA.

To read the comments of the UTU and BLET, click here.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, whose drivers are represented by the UTU, is phasing out its last diesel engine bus, becoming the nation’s first major urban bus fleet equipped entirely with alternative-fuel technology, which includes compressed natural gas, electric and gasoline-electric hybrid engines.

The LACMTA operates more than 2,200 buses.

The last diesel engine bus will be ceremoniously retired by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, with UTU General Chairperson James Williams participating in the event.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the LACMTA is “well ahead of Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York and other large metropolitan areas in replacing diesel buses with more environmentally friendly vehicles.”

WASHINGTON — Republicans have finalized appointments to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, which will be chaired in the upcoming Congress by John Mica (R-Fla.).

Members include Minnesota’s Chip Cravaack, who defeated Democrat Jim Oberstar in the November congressional elections. Oberstar has served as chairman of the T&I Committee under Democratic control that expires at year-end.

Most transportation legislation affecting aviation, bus and rail originates in this committee.

The Republican members (excluding subcommittee chairpersons, yet to be named) are:
      
Lou Barletta (Pa.)
Larry Bucshon (Ind.)
Shelley Capito (W.Va.)
Howard Coble (N.C.)
Chip Cravaack (Minn.)

Rick Crawford (Ark.)
Jeff  Denham (Calif.)
John Duncan (Tenn.)
Blake Farenthold (Texas)
Stephen Fincher (Tenn.)

Bob Gibbs (Ohio)
Sam Graves (Mo.)
Frank Guinta (N.H.)
Richard Hanna (N.Y.)
Andy Harris (Md.)

Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.)
Randy Hultgren (Ill.)
Tim Johnson (Ill.)
Jeff Landry (La.)
James Lankford (Okla.)

Frank LoBiondo (N.J.)
Billy Long (Mo.)
Pat Meehan (Pa.)
Candice Miller (Mich.)
Gary Miller (Calif.)

Tom Petri (Wis.)
Tom Reed (N.Y.)
Jean Schmidt (Ohio)
Bill Shuster (Pa.)
Steve Southerland (Fla.) 

Don Young (Alaska)

By Calvin Studivant,

Alternate vice president, Bus Department

December marked 55 years since Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus — “an act that challenged the moral conscience of an entire nation,” said President Obama in honoring her legacy.

Most historians date the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the United States to Rosa Parks’ act of courage on Dec. 1, 1955.

The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 382 days and brought Parks to the attention of the world. The Supreme Court subsequently struck down the Montgomery ordinance under which Parks had been fined, and outlawed racial segregation on public transportation.

President Obama said the Montgomery bus boycott “marked a turning point in American history…and the eventual outlawing of racial segregation and discrimination.”

Continued President Obama, “Rosa Parks and the many other leaders and foot soldiers in that struggle for justice championed our founding principles of freedom and equality for all. As we commemorate the anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, I encourage all Americans to honor their legacy — the legacy of Americans who marched bravely, worked tirelessly, and devoted their lives to the never-ending task of making our country a more perfect union.”

In 1996, President Clinton presented Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.

After her death in 2005, at age 92, Parks’ casket was placed in the rotunda of the United States Capitol for two days — making her the only woman and second African-American in American history to lie in state at the Capitol.

And congratulations to the brothers and sisters of Local 23 in Santa Cruz, Calif., who, under the leadership of Sister Sharon Hightower Toline, helped to organize a historical presentation of Rosa Parks and her legacy. On Dec. 1, the transit district reserved the front seat on buses as a dedication.

On another note, I am happy to report that Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority employee Rhonda Taylor (Local 1594, Upper Darby, Pa.) had her termination case overturned in arbitration. Sister Taylor, out of work since February 2010, was reinstated with full back pay, minus 30 days for suspension, and the discipline will be expunged from her record. General Chairperson Waverly Harris, Vice General Chairperson Brian Caldwell, and members Curtis Fulmore and David Stinsman presented the case. I was honored to have provided assistance.

Railroad Retirement, Social Security, Medicare and Railroad Unemployment Insurance payroll taxes have changed for 2011.

Following are the tax rates:

 Railroad Retirement Tier I:

  • Paid by employer: 6.20% on wages up to $106,800.
  • Paid by employee: 4.2% on wages up to $106,800.

Social Security (non-railroad employment):

  • Paid by employer: 6.2% on wages up to $106,800.
  • Paid by employee: 4.2% on wages up to $106,800. 

Medicare (railroad and non-railroad employment):

  • Paid by employer: 1.45% on all wages (no cap).
  • Paid by employee: 1.45% on all wages (no cap).

 Railroad Retirement Tier II

  • Paid by employer: 12.1% on wages up to a $79,200.
  • Paid by employee: 3.9% on wages up to $79,200.

 Railroad Unemployment Insurance:

  • Paid by employer: 3.15% on wages up to $15,960.
  • No tax on employee.

 

WASHINGTON — With 220,000 public and private highway-rail grade-crossings in the United States, train and engine workers are no strangers to dare-devil drivers attempting to beat the train.

Through the first nine months of 2010, there were more than 1,300 train-vehicle collisions at highway-rail grade-crossings, resulting in 196 fatalities.

Too often ignored is the emotional impact such accidents have on train and engine workers powerless to stop the train in time. Train and engine workers have a most unfortunate front-row seat to view the unavoidable accident.

Frequently, untrimmed vegetation at highway-rail grade-crossings — those without gates or barriers — restricts visibility.

The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RISA) instructed the Federal Railroad Administration, in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), to draft model legislation for state governments, which would require removing sight obstructions, including vegetation growth, structures and standing railroad equipment.

Congress, the FRA and the FHWA are urging the 29 states currently without laws or regulations applying to vegetation removal at highway-rail grade-crossings to adopt the model legislation — and states with existing laws and regulations to consider amendments along the lines of the model legislation.

This model legislation provides for:

  • Establishment of a statewide program for the periodic inspection and evaluation of sight distances at passive highway-rail grade-crossings.
  • Specific actions to eliminate sight distance obstructions within close proximity to passive highway-rail grade-crossings.
  • Imposition of civil penalties against railroads and other private property owners that fail to comply with an order to remove or otherwise mitigate the sight distance obstruction.

To view the model legislation, click on the following link:

www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/safety/ModelStateLawText.pdf

So how did the major railroads perform in 2010?

The short answer is that one wouldn’t know they were operating in the midst of a recession.

Although calendar year profits have not yet been reported, railroad profits were up 33 percent for the 12 months ending in the third quarter, according to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

And investors’ expectations — reflected in railroad stock prices — is that calendar year 2010 earnings will be equally impressive; and 2011 earnings prospects are equally bright.

Wall Street analyst Ed Wolfe of Wolfe Trahan reports the level of freight car and intermodal loadings for the year registered “the best” year-over-year growth in more than 50 years. Wolfe and other Wall Street analysts — William Greene at Morgan Stanley, Thomas Wadewitz at J.P. Morgan, and Gary Chase at Barclays — are bullish on the industry’s earnings moving forward.

Analysts also point to the railroads’ pricing strength — the ability to raise rates on shippers with limited effective alternatives to railroad transportation. Many long-term contracts for hauling coal are expiring, and substantial rate increases on that traffic already are reflected in new contracts.

Another key element of railroad financial health is operating ratio — a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue (considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability.

Each of the major railroads — Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific — reported substantial improvements in operating ratio during the third quarter. (As BNSF is now privately held, it no longer reports detailed financial data.)

Stock prices are an excellent indicator of financial health and forward-looking prospects:

 Canadian National:

  • Per-share price is up 38 percent over the 52-week low.
  • Analysts predict the per-share price to rise from the 2010 52-week high of $67.99 to $70.84 — a 4 percent increase.

 Canadian Pacific:

  • Per-share price is up 45 percent over the 52-week low.
  • Analysts predict the per-share price to rise from the 2010 52-week high of $67.03 to $72.33 — an 8 percent increase.

 CSX:

  • Per-share price is up 62 percent over the 52-week low.
  • Analysts predict the per-share price to rise from the 2010 52-week high of $68.03 to $71.92 — a 6 percent increase.

 Kansas City Southern:

  • Per-share price is up 74 percent over the 52-week low.
  • Analysts predict the per-share price to rise from the 2010 52-week high of $51.46 to $55.29 — a 7 percent increase.

 Norfolk Southern:

  • Per-share price is up 41 percent over the 52-week low.
  • Analysts predict the per-share price to rise from the 2010 52-week high of $65.32 to $70.71 — an 8 percent increase.

 Union Pacific:

  • Per-share price is up 60 percent over the 52-week low.
  • Analysts predict the per-share price to rise from the 2010 52-week high of $95.78 to $103.38 — an 8 percent increase.

 Major railroads — except for BNSF — will be reporting calendar year earnings over the next few weeks.

To see the tax rates for 2011, click here.

It was one a pretty good year in 2010 for freight railroads.

Although freight volume trailed pre-recession 2008 figures, the nation’s major railroads reported a healthy 7.3 percent jump in carload traffic and a 14.2 percent increase in intermodal (trailers and containers on flat cars).

AAR officials called the 52-week figures “a positive development.”

Carload traffic remains about 10 percent below pre-recession levels, but its rate of growth continues to increase.