Thread by @UrbanistOrg

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has kicked off a House hearing on 21st transportation investments. @SecretaryPete Buttigieg will be testifying.

Watch live: c-span.org/video/?510156-…

Most everyone is appearing by Zoom. Some members didn’t mute their microphones and Rep. DeFazio gravelled them to shut off their mics or get the boot. 😳

Rep. DeFazio says they’re gonna do it all in an infrastructure bill: wastewater/sewer systems, airports, roads, public transit, and anything else in his committee’s purview.

Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) says that his Republican colleagues are just interested in a “bipartisan highway bill”. He wants to focus on “roads and bridges” primarily, not Green New Deal priorities. He doesn’t want a huge multi-trillion dollar bill.

That pretty much is authorization for Democrats to ignore the radicalized party in designing a bill.

.@SecretaryPete Buttigieg is now speaking. His video is really garbled.

He points out how China is beating out America on transportation investments. He says the US needs to get serious.

He highlights the many lives that have died on our dangerous roads, climate change concerns with our transportation system, and the inequity that the system has for families.

He references the historic inequities of building highways in neighborhoods.

The hearing has moved on from Secretary Buttigieg’s opening statement to Q&A.

Rep. DeFazio is pleased about the @USDOT's change on TIFIA loans and qualification for grants. This is in reference to rescinding a "Dear Colleague Letter".

Rescission notice: transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.…
Old Dear Colleague Letter: transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.…

Rep. Graves wants to work on keeping the Highway Trust Fun solvent (it's deeply insolvent). He wants a user fee that keeps it going.

You can read Secretary Buttigieg's opening statement here: scribd.com/document/50029…

Some highlights from his opening statement...

Safety / access: "Right now, nearly 40,000 Americans die on our roads annually, millions live in communities isolated or divided by missing or misplaced infrastructure, and millions of Americans don’t have access to affordable transportation options to get around." @SecretaryPete

Equity / affordability / sprawl: "Before the pandemic, commuting times were getting longer for average Americans while their housing and transportation costs soared." @SecretaryPete

Secretary Buttigieg namechecks Capitol Bikeshare and tells Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) he'd be happy to work with her on bikes.

Safety: "Now is the time to redouble our commitment to transportation reliability and safety and ensure that families will no longer have to mourn tragic deaths that could have been prevented." @SecretaryPete

Environmental justice: "Now is the time to finally address major inequities — including those caused by highways that were built through Black and Brown communities...and the disproportionate pollution burden from trucks, ports, and other facilities." @SecretaryPete

Climate: "Now is the time to improve the air we breathe and tackle the climate crisis by moving the U.S. to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, building a national EV charging network, and investing in transit, transit-oriented development, sustainable aviation..." @SecretaryPete

We're uploading portions of Secretary Buttigieg's opening statement...

Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) asks about the Low and No Emission grant program for transit. He says his local transit agencies want to move forward on that.

Program: transit.dot.gov/notices-fundin…

.@SecretaryPete Opening Statement Part 1

.@SecretaryPete is supportive of the program. It could be benefit Community Transit and Everett Transit in Snohomish County as well as Skagit Transit and Whatcom Transit Authority.

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) raises concerns about assults on transit operators. She supports shields on buses. @SecretaryPete says that his department is trying to take actions to support transit operators and flight attendants.

.@SecretaryPete Opening Statement Part 2

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) spews some serious racism and is desperately trying to tie Secretary Buttigieg and the Biden Administration to Chinese communism over climate policy.

Rep. Perry basically just wants car infrastructure. It was a weird and troubling set of comments.

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) says his transit agencies want to pursue hydrogen fuel cell technology for zero-emissions. Secretary Buttigieg says that what works for buses may differ from cars and that his department will support any climate friendly technology.

.@SecretaryPete Opening Statement Part 3

Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ) raised concerns about the train tunnels under the Hudson to New York. The tunnels are old and under stress. He says there’s urgency to provide redundancy with the Gateway Project and others.

Secretary Buttigieg says that he completely understands and that planning work continues.

Rep. Sires mentioned a rail bridge that sometimes requires a sledgehammer to move. He invited Secretary Buttigieg to come out and take a whack just to see.

SIDE NOTE: We want to see this happen! Get on it @SecretaryPete! 😂

.@SecretaryPete and the rail bridge.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) is literally driving on a highway right now. His video and audio then cut out.

Just gonna say that Covid teleconferencing is weird.

That was the moment. And it was kinda funny, too. Rep. DeFazio seems like a very terse guy.

https://twitter.com/samjmintz/status/1375103273103937537

Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA) points out that since the 1980s, the federal government has funded highways at 80% and transit at 20% of the transportation budgets. He asks if that balance is enough to reach climate goals.

Secretary Buttigieg seems to avoid a direct response, but Rep. Johnson want the Secretary to work with him on expanding transit investments. Rep. Johnson specifically expressed interest in the federal government funding more transit operations and emphasized transit-oriented dev.

SIDE NOTE: For a brief period in time, the US almost spent as much on transit as it did on highways. Then the socially devastating Reagan Era happened.

https://twitter.com/yfreemark/status/1372917101653004291

.@SecretaryPete talks about the “next great rail revolution” in terms of investments and jobs. @RailVolution

Rep. John Katko (R-NY) is super focused on I-81 for Syracuse. Apparently the highway is in very bad condition and elevated in some sections. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstat…

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) mentioned the Boring Company's tunnel in Las Vegas. But she looks forward to highway expansion of I-15 to LA and I-11 to Phoenix. She also said she was excited about Brightline's high-speed rail line to the LA area.

HSR project: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightlin…

Uh oh. Secretary Buttigieg's video and audio is really cutting out.

Eeek. Pete has left the meeting!

Rep. Holmes Norton: "Have we lost the Secretary?"

The committee is taking a five-minute recess. 😲

Pete is in the House (electronically)!

Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) expresses interest in the next transportation bill to set a zero-emissions goal for transit buses. She also is interest in more sustainable aviation.

Secretary Buttigieg's team is tweeting while he is speaking. 🔽

https://twitter.com/SecretaryPete/status/1375138205431894021?s=20

SIDE NOTE: With all these constant Zoom freezes, one would imagine that left and right Congressmembers will be much more supportive of huge broadband investments, banning throttling, Net Neutrality, and setting minimum speed standards.

Kidding. We know the radicalized party only cares about their insular constituents and corporate overlords.

Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ) reiterates the Gateway Project between NY and NJ. He wants to walk the tunnels with Secretary Buttigieg and end the delays to the project.

Rep. Payne mentions the need to expand Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs in the Federal Railroad Administration to better achieve equity objectives through transportation programs.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) coincidentally brings up broadband as his Zoom freezes out.

Secretary Buttigieg: "As if to prove the point..."

Secretary Buttigieg is having to ask Rep. Mast to repeat his questions because the Zoom feed is so bad.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) brings up hydrogen fuel cells as a more immediate emissions solution for heavier trucks.

Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) is complaining that the #AmericanRescuePlan spent over $30 billion on transit but not for highways.

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) takes a moment to acknowledge how coherent Secretary Buttigieg's testimony has been.

Rep. DeSaulnier also brings up hydrogen fuel cell technology for America's car fleet.

Rep. DeSaulnier added the importance of commuter rail and high-speed rail.

Secretary Buttigieg can be heard but he appears to have missed what the Rep. DeSaulnier said. Yay technology fails!

Aaaaand...we may have lost Secretary Buttigieg entirely again.

Rep. Holmes Norton: "We may be able to hear you if you turn off your video. Try that, Mr. Secretary."

Some Congressmember in the background: "We need to provide better broadband to the federal government."

How about America at-large? #smdh

Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) expressed interest in creation of a national infrastructure bank. Secretary Buttigieg said that the Biden Administration would be open to additional funding programs, including a national infrastructure bank.

Resident Commission Jenniffer González-Colón (R/PNP-PR) notes that Puerto Rico has voted for statehood. If it became a state, she expressed concern of how transportation funding would be allocated to the island as a block grant or state funding formula.

Secretary Buttigieg said that he doesn't know the numbers of how either method differs but that the Biden Administration would want to be sensitive to equity and parity.

"We want transit to be a choice for as many Americans as possible." — @SecretaryPete

On high-speed rail: "I don't see why Americans should have to settle for less." — @SecretaryPete

Secretary Buttigieg gets super wonky on stormwater strategies like permeable pavement.

Secretary Buttigieg's team has dropped another video.

https://twitter.com/SecretaryPete/status/1375154179904303104?s=20

Another Republican wants better broadband, chides the Chair of how the committees are being run due to Zoom lags.

SIDE NOTE: Maybe these Republicans should reconsider and apologize for their policies that have led to junky internet in the first place.

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) brings up the regulatory cost and delay of federal environmental review processes. He brings up an average of two years in Canada and Germany, but says highways take seven years.

SIDE NOTE: Highway expansions should be never. theurbanist.org/2021/03/18/no-…

Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) says that the government needs to spend more on light rail. He also wants more for unpaved roads in Navajo Nation, Phoenix's Skyharbor, and highways (including I-11 between Phoenix and Las Vegas).

Rep. Stanton is also happy about rescission of a Trump policy that had moved the goalposts for capital transit grants.

https://twitter.com/UrbanistOrg/status/1375107677420851202?s=20

Rep. Jesús García (D-IL) also brings up the 80/20 funding split that favors highway spending and saying it encourages sprawl and forces people to own a car. He wants more transit funding. He also wants to greatly reduce vehicle miles traveled and focus on equitable TOD.

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) refers to Secretary Buttigieg as "Mr. Secretary Mayor".

Rep. Nehls complains that Texas only gets 95 cents for every dollar that it puts in as a "donor state".

Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL) wants to invest in high-speed rail in smaller geographies, presumably meaning not just the Northeast Corridor and California. She also wants smaller mobility investments.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) is talking high-speed rail. It's a key policy issue of his, selling its pros: business, access, climate, less congestion.

Some background. 🔽

https://twitter.com/UrbanistOrg/status/1370445508091670530?s=20

And here. 🔽

https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/1370759856215457794?s=20

Another Republican, Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), just dropped out of the call. She's railing against high-speed rail.

Rep. Steel refers to the California High Speed Rail Authority project as a "high-speed money pit."

SIDE NOTE: Has Rep. Steel heard of the highway speed money and carnage pit?

Rep. Steel's arguments seem to be really focused on money asking where the money will come from. The same could be said of highways. Recall that the Highway Trust Fund is deeply insolvent. How do we pay for roads now? Her arguments are tired and painful.

Secretary Buttigieg did not play around with her line of questioning. He strongly pushed back against Rep. Steel's assertions.

For context, the Highway Trust Fund is jumping off a cliff.

Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), a former Tacoma mayor, is talking transit and transit-oriented development. She wants to know how the Capital Investment Grant program will be strengthened for transit.

Secretary Buttigieg says he has already reached out to @HUDgov @SecFudge on the land use front. Buttigieg supports transit capital grants, of course.

Rep. Strickland mentions the Cascadia Innovation Corridor and high-speed rail (see @CascadiaRail) that the state and Cascadia Region wants to pursue.

SIDE NOTE: There are some serious concerns about some Cascadia Innovation Corridor priorities with new sprawling hub cities. theurbanist.org/2020/11/25/cas…

We highlighted this two weeks ago. 🔽

https://twitter.com/UrbanistOrg/status/1370225753372065794?s=20

This may be a first for the hearing, but Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA) mentions the Atlanta Beltline multi-use trail project.

Beltline background: beltline.org

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) wants to know if there is going to be more focus on New Starts grants for projects to help states. transitwiki.org/TransitWiki/in…

Rep. Pappas also wants a focus on active transportation, particularly for walking and biking projects.

Secretary Buttigieg says that active transportation is a welcome thing and that it would have significant health, congestion, and environmental benefits and mitigation.

The hearing is wrapping up.

@threadreaderapp unroll please