KERN TRANSPORTATION FOUNDATION

Newsletter

DIRECTORS

Donna Carpenter Chairman

Bruce Biggar

Chief Financial Officer

Peter Smith

Secretary

Gary Blackburn

Leigh Ann Cook

David Couch

Steve Esselman

Jack Gotcher

Jim Hunter

Ted James

Karen King

Jess Ortiz

Patricia Poire

Cathy Prout

Howard Silver

John Spaulding

Will Winn

TECHNICAL

ADVISORS Bob Neath

John Shuler

Ted Wright

Inside this issue:

September 2014 Issue 9

Federal Highway

Trust Fund

Running Out

2

Tehachapi

Transportation

News

3

Obama “Drives”

a Self-Driving

Car

3

Dept. of

Transportation

States Concerns

About Rail Safety

4

Proposition 1B, that money is now spent and the economic recovery has brought with it renewed inflation. This isn’t to say that our roadways won’t continue to expand, only that they will do so at a much slower rate and with less funding from the state and federal governments. The expansion that does occur will, almost by default, be limited to greater amounts of f r e i g h t m o v e m e n t t o accommodate our growing population. In particular, the state government ha s s ign aled politically that it’s no longer interested in paying for wider roads or new highways.

That leaves our region once again on its own to fund the improvements we want to see. Like Fresno, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento before us, what our transportation future looks like will depend largely on what we’re willing to invest in it locally. It’s the price we pay to maintain our way of life.

Ahron Hakimi is the executive director of Kern Council of Governments, the regional transportation planning agency, and a colonel who commands a transportation division in the U.S. Army Reserve.

BY AHRON HAKIMI

W h e n K e r n C o u n c i l o f Governments launched its original ridesharing program in the mid-1980s, the term “social media” had yet to be coined. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what it was: a computerized database of individuals looking to connect with each other to share a commute to work or school in order to save money or help reduce air pollution.

Flash forward nearly 30 years and social media’s effects on our transportation network are far more widespread. In addition to what is now CommuteKern — a considerably more sophisticated, web-based ridesharing system — Kern COG has also developed its phone-operated 511 traveler information system, which also has an Internet presence. T h r o u g h C o m m u t e K e r n ( commutekern.org  ), users can enter generalized information about their location, destination and daily commute times to be automatically matched for free with others who are going in the same direction on approximately the same schedule. Through email, they can then contact potential matches to share a ride. Similarly, by dialing 511 or going to kern511.com  , travelers can check road conditions on a real-time basis before they depart in order to avoid traffic hot spots or at least be aware of any incidents that might slow them down.

The most recent innovation, however, comes to Bakersfield in the form of worldwide companies Uber and Lyft, which employ social media mobile applications

designed to connect riders with drivers who are willing to transport them for a fee.

While these services may be considered controversial because they compete directly with taxis and remain unregulated, they nevertheless represent the latest leap forward in transportation demand management (TDM), a sweeping term for mostly technological improvements designed to squeeze more e f f i c i e n c y o u t o f o u r transportation infrastructure. For most commuters in California, greater network efficiency, not expansion, is the siren call of our new transportation reality. Both public and private organizations are working quickly to leverage new technology and/or introduce older technology to more regions in the fight against traffic congestion. For example, with the interchange improvements at Highway 99 and Olive Drive and again at Highway 58 and H Street, the Kern region has been introduced to yet another TDM innovation — the ramp meter. In use for decades in larger urban areas, ramp meters are fast-changing stoplights that regulate the flow of traffic onto a freeway by allowing only one or two cars at a time. Though they haven’t yet been turned on, both locations are now fully outfitted as congestion pressures increase. Even as gas prices increase, both state and federal fuel taxes have remained relatively flat for most of the last 25 years, resulting in inflationary pressures that dampen capital expansion. While the recession was actually a good time for project development and California voters embraced almost $20 billion of transportation-re la t ed pr oj e cts thr ou gh

Local Investments Will Shape Region’s Transportation Future

The Kern

Transportation

Foundation

promotes a modern,

balanced

transportation

system that

enhances the quality

of life and advances

the economic

vitality of the

residents of Kern

County.

Page 2 KTF Newsletter — Issue 9

The Kern River Park-way trail is a native

riparian area which extends over 30 miles through Bakersfield

along the Kern River.

Federal Highway Program Could Run Out Of Money Aug. 2014

No Agreement In Congress This spring, President Obama introduced a four-year, $302 billion infrastructure bill that would increase highway spending by nearly a fourth. It's an idea that's gone nowhere. The president openly mocked Congress for not moving on transportation, warning that its dithering could lead to mass layoffs. "I haven't heard a good reason why they haven't acted," Obama said in a speech near a Washington bridge deemed structurally deficient. "It's not like they've been busy with other stuff. No, seriously." There's no end of ideas for transportation funding. Individual members have suggested ending Saturday postal delivery and devoting the savings to roads, or giving corporations a tax break so they'll repatriate overseas profits. The main tax-writing committees in the House and Senate are working on separate legislation. But there doesn't seem to be any consensus as yet. "I don't have any confidence at all that Congress is going to come up with another general fund bailout for the Highway Trust Fund," says Scott Dibble, who chairs the Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee. "Even if they do, it begs the larger question of what on earth Congress is going to do to meet the infrastructure needs that will keep the country competitive."

Root Of The Problem The perpetual shortfalls stem from the fact that the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon hasn't been raised since 1993. Meanwhile, the country's population has grown substantially and cars have become more fuel-efficient, even as construction costs have continued to increase. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials estimates that the average household pays $46 per month in state and federal gas taxes, while paying three or four times that amount per month on cable, utilities and cellphones. "This isn't the first time we're

running into the insolvency problem with the trust fund," says Joung Lee, AASHTO's deputy director. There's a bipartisan proposal in the Senate to increase the federal gas tax by 12 cents over two years. But there's never been much appetite for the idea of an increase in Washington. "Do I want to be associated with making the gas tax higher?" asks Schank, the Eno Center president. "They don't want to be that guy. President Obama doesn't want to be that guy." One proposal being floated by congressional Republicans would lower the federal gas tax to 3.7 cents per gallon, essentially leaving transportation funding and planning to the states. That doesn't seem likely to happen. The national government won't want to surrender its role in providing basic infrastructure. As things stand, though, the federal government contracts most infrastructure management out to states. The states put up the money for projects and then get reimbursed through the bureaucracy of the Highway Trust Fund which is very inefficient and wasteful. The question now is whether states will be paid back in a timely manner. Most state transportation departments, having been through this before, assume that Congress will come through with the money in the end. But some have already started putting projects on hold. As things stand, though, the federal government contracts most infrastructure management out to states. The states put up the money for projects and then get reimbursed through the bureaucracy of the Highway Trust Fund which is very inefficient and wasteful.

by Alan Greenblatt, NPR

July 03, 2014 Congress has yet another problem it can't solve. For years, the main federal transportation program has been spending more money than it takes in. This year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Transportation Department will disburse $45 billion while collecting only $33 billion for its Highway Trust Fund. As a result, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx warned states on Tuesday that they will start seeing cuts of 28 percent in federal funding for roads and bridges next month unless Congress comes up with some extra money. Congress might well do that — it's pumped billions of extra dollars into the fund several times over the past six years. "People are terrified of going home to their constituents and saying, 'We just shut down the federal highway program,' or, 'We have cut the program to the extent we're going to have to shut some projects down,' " says Joshua Schank, president of the Eno Center for Transportation, a think tank in Washington. "No matter where members of Congress are from, they're going to catch a lot of slack from transportation agencies, and then people who are being put out of work," he says. The ability to tout new roads and repairs at home is one reason transportation spending has traditionally enjoyed deep bipartisan support. But the bill for perennially short-shrifting infrastructure has come due. Most observers think Congress needs not just another short-term patch, but new strategies that would be more sustainable. It's just that no one can agree on what those might be. "They'll probably find some way to patch that deficit with the general fund, because the states will be hurt," says Robert Puentes, a transportation fellow at the Brookings Institution. "But we're not really talking about large-scale systemic solutions here."

TRANSPORTATION

The act of

transporting, or the

state of being

transported; carriage

from one place to

another; removal;

conveyance.

Page 3 Issue 9

TRANSPORTATION NEWS FROM TEHACHAPI, CALIFORNIA

testing facility to make a case for pouring more federal funds into U.S. infrastructure, enthusiastically entered a self-driving car stationed at a simulator. “Man, this is so exciting,” he remarked. “I haven’t been on the road in a long time.” After a quip about his height — “Yeah, I’m a little tall, but that’s OK” — the president took the wheel and buckled up. “Safety first,” he said.

The car was positioned in front of a large, 180-degree screen where images of cars and trucks whizzed by. As the vehicle lifted up and tilted back,

Juliet Eilperin — The

Washington Post

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama displayed genuine excitement Tuesday while visiting the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia — in part because it gave him a chance to get behind the wheel for once. The president, who came to the transportation technology-

Obama yelled out, “Whoa!” The shiny blue Saturn bobbed up and down as the president operated it, moving forward as it accelerated and backward as it slowed down; Obama steered the wheel. A gaggle of photographers and videographers captured images right outside his window. A few minutes later, he compared the experience to a television show that featured a high-tech, self-aware automobile. “It was sort of like ‘Knight Rider,’” he said, prompting laughter from a crowd of nearly 200 of the center’s employees. “I have to say, though, it was a little disorienting. I haven’t driven in about six years. And I’m going down the highway, and I think

Obama takes wheel of self-driving car

city staff to seek out

potential partners for the

bike path, the Tehachapi

N e w s r e p o r t e d .

Consultants from Gravity

Logic visited the area to

assess whether Tehachapi

could benefit from a gravity

mountain bike path. The

concept of the path

involves a series of bike

paths that would allow

potential visitors to use a

lift to access high points of

the trail and then plummet

a trail on a bicycle.

Assistant City Manager

Chris Kirk said the

mountain path would be

one of the only such parks

open year-round in the

country. The City Council

has authorized $25,000 set

as i de f or pot en t i a l

partnerships to fund the

project.

ELECTRIC CAR OWNERS

Tehachapi is going electric.

Well, at least for those

driving electric vehicles. The city will be getting a

couple of electric charging

stations to provide in-town

fueling stations for those

driving popular hybrid

vehicles, the Tehachapi

News reported. City

Manager Greg Garrett said

the EV Charging Stations

are important because they

will allow motorists with

electric vehicles to stop and

charge in Tehachapi. The

city does not know the cost

of electricity for the

s tat ions yet . Those

numbers w i l l come

together after installation,

Garrett said. After the final

price per refueling is

established, users will be

charged an appropriate fee.

Most electric-car drivers

use an app on their phone

that shows them where the

nearest EV Charging Station

is located. With the electric

station in Tehachapi, more

drivers will stop in the city,

Garrett said. Bill Mason, a

Bear Valley resident, said

having the fuel station in

Tehachapi will be more

beneficial than driving to

the Nissan charging station

in Bakersfield. The

installation of the stations is

slated to begin in about six

months.

DOWNHILL GRAVITY

BIKING, TOO

The downhill gravity

mountain bike path in

Tehachapi is a go. The City

Council gave approval for

www.ChinaLakeMuseum.org

Monday through Saturday

10 AM to 4 PM

Kern

Transportation

Foundation

webpage under const.

KTF Board Meeetings:

KernCOG Board Rm.

4th Monday Monthly

11:30 AM to 1 PM

The Public is Invited

P.O. Box 417

Bakersfield, CA

93302-0417

A Transportation Department analysis found that such vehicles could eliminate about 80 percent of crashes involving non-impaired drivers, while a separate study by the Texas Transportation Institute showed they could save as much as 3.9 billion gallons in wasted fuel a year.

“Now, as the father of a daughter who just turned 16, any new technology that makes driving

I had a little bit of a lead foot — I was starting to hit 90,” he continued, drawing more laughter. “And then like right next to me, the press pool is standing there, and they’re kind of traveling with me at 90 miles an hour, and it got me a little queasy. But I’ve recovered.”

Obama said self-driving vehicles could cut down on accidents, commuting time and fuel consumption.

safer is important to me,” Obama said. “And new technology that makes driving smarter is good for the economy.”

Obama takes wheel (continued from page 3)

Page 4 KTF Newsletter

The mission of the Kern

Transportation

Foundation is to provide a

forum for advancing the

requirements of a

modern, balanced

transportation system

that meets the economic

and social needs of the

public in Kern County.

The Kern Transportation

Foundation will work to

the following:

- Identify and create

public awareness of

current and future

transportation needs in

Kern County.

- Investigate solutions to

providing a balanced

transportation systems.

- Build the private/public

partnership required to

develop a modern,

balanced transportation

system.

Kern Transportation

Foundation Mission

Statement

DOT Wants to Eliminate Older Rail Cars Carrying Crude Oil

BY CURTIS TATE McClatchy Washington

Bureau WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday proposed a two-year phaseout of older railroad tank cars used to transport crude oil, which have been involved in several serious derailments over the past year. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx outlined the long-anticipated proposals more than a year after a deadly derailment in Quebec focused government and public scrutiny on the rising volumes of crude oil shipped by train. The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed rules, and Foxx said the department wouldn’t grant an extension because of the urgency of the issue. The shortened time frame is likely to set off a flurry of efforts in Washington by oil producers, rail companies, refiners and tank car manufacturers, as well as community and environmental groups. The department had sought input from these groups, which often had different priorities and couldn’t agree on the details. But Kevin Sheys, an attorney who advises rail transportation clients, said DOT took a balanced approach. “The crude needs to move, but we have to move it safely,” he said. “And the proposed rule seems to reflect the government’s effort to balance those goals.” The DOT will seek the phaseout or retrofit of older model DOT-111

tank cars from crude oil and ethanol service. They’ve long been known to be vulnerable to failure in derailments. “We are proposing to phase out the DOT-111 tank car in its current form,” Foxx said. The department offered various options for upgraded tank cars, including thicker steel shells, electronic braking and rollover protections. The proposal would require retrofits within five years for newer tank cars built to an industry-adopted higher standard. The DOT proposed a maximum 40 mph speed in all areas for trains that are operating with older tank cars and for urban areas with more than 100,000 residents. Trains with tank cars that meet the new requirements would be permitted to travel at 50 mph outside urban areas. It also proposed codifying its May 7 emergency order requiring railroads to notify state and local emergency officials about shipments of 1 million gallons or more of Bakken crude oil, a lighter type from the northern Great Plains that’s been involved in recent derailments. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill who’ve been pushing the DOT and the Obama administration to move swiftly on the new rules responded favorably to Wednesday’s announcement. “We have seen the devastating impact on communities nationwide when our regulatory regime lags behind rapid industry changes,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and

Transportation Committee. In addition to the notice of newly proposed rules on tank cars, speeds, braking and crude oil testing, the DOT released an advanced notice of new regulations to govern the expansion of comprehensive oil-spill response plans for crude oil trains. Currently, railroads aren’t required to have such plans for crude oil trains, but derailments in Quebec, Alabama, North Dakota, Virginia and elsewhere since last year have revealed gaps in emergency response training, equipment and staff. “We are not necessarily done yet with all the ways we plan to address this issue,” said Cynthia Quarterman, the head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at the DOT. The department on Wednesday also released the results of its crude-oil testing effort begun last year. It concludes that Bakken crude oil, which is extracted from shale rock by hydraulic fracturing, is more volatile than other crudes. The department proposed a sampling and testing program, and it would require crude oil shippers to provide information from the tests upon request. The petroleum industry and refiners have disputed the department’s research on Bakken’s volatility, and on Wednesday they cited industry studies that have found the opposite.