Infrastructure

Incoming House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said Wednesday that he sees the potential for compromise on legislation involving Amtrak funding.

Speaking to reporters at the Capitol hours after formally being elected chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Shuster adopted a less confrontational tone regarding Amtrak than has marked the panel's tenor under Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.). 

Mica pushed hard in 2011 to privatize Amtrak service in the Northeast, which is its most profitable corridor. Shuster supported the effort, which was fiercely opposed by Democrats.  

But the long-time Pennsylvania lawmaker said Wednesday that there was potential to find "common ground" on Amtrak funding next year.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Maryland is running low on transportation money.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called for Florida to pass a distracted-driving law during a recent trip there.

Airlines are facing a large pilot shortage.

Transit supporters in Indianapolis are lobbying for officials to hold a referendum to build a new rail system.

Transportation groups are claiming a nearly 70 percent success rate for transportation referendums in this week’s elections.

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) said voters approved 25 out of 31 road spending measures and 13 out of 19 initiatives for public transit funding.

Both groups declared that the victories sent a message that voters are in favor of governments spending more on transportation.

President Obama's reelection is likely to ensure efforts to privatize Amtrak service and cut transportation funding will be unsuccessful. 

Unsuccessful Republican nominee Mitt Romney had repeatedly pledged to eliminate government funding for Amtrak, and GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget would have limited transportation funding to revenues generated by the federal gas tax.

"I think Amtrak is safe and surface transportation levels are safe," Joshua Schank, president of the nonpartisan Eno Center for Transportation, said in an assessment of the election. 

"I'd be very surprised to see the president and a Democratic Senate accept a cut" to transportation funding, Schank continued. 

Janet Kavinoky possesses a key asset for anyone in a high-pressure job: a sense of humor. 

Transportation experts are not expecting President Obama and Mitt Romney to discuss much about transportation in their debate Wednesday night.

Obama and Romney are scheduled to discuss domestic issues in Denver during their first face-to-face encounter.

But Smart Growth America Leadership Institute President Parris Glendening told The Hill Wednesday afternoon that he was not holding his breath for transportation issues to come up between the presidential hopefuls.

"I'm planning to have a slightly late dinner with my wife and a bottle of wine," said Glendenning, who is also former Democratic governor of Maryland. "I will fall out of my chair and spill my wine if anyone brings up transportation as a serious issue."

The first new transportation funding mechanism passed by Congress in seven years goes into full effect this week.

Most of the lawmakers who passed it are out on the campaign trail seeking reecltion. But many of the spending provisions of the $105 billion Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) bill that was approved by Congress in June will take effect on Monday.

The implementation comes with the beginning of the new fiscal year for 2013.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

American Airlines is laying off 11,000 workers as it works through bankruptcy.

The auto market in the European Union has decreased 10 percent this year.

Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail will allow folding bicycles on its trains during rush hour.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D) is planning his next move after the defeat of a transportation tax in his city.

Your morning transportation speed-read is back: 

A new transportation center at the former World Trade Center site is under construction in New York City. 

Speed limits in some parts of Texas have been increased to 85 miles per hour. 

A passenger at New Delhi, India's Indira Gandhi International Airport was caught smuggling a loris, a small nocturnal primate, in his pants. 

The average price for a new car has increased to $30,369 in 2012, according to a new study. 

The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department is sharply criticizing Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for not talking about transportation in his speech accepting the GOP nomination Thursday night.

AFL-CIO TTD President Ed Wytkind tweeted after Romney’s speech that transportation was entirely missing from his remarks.

“I don't think @MittRomney mentioned the word transportation in 39 minutes. Sad,” Wytkind said on his Twitter page.