U.S. Department of Transportation Finalizes Significant Changes to Major Capital Transit Investment Program

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. DOT 65-12 Thursday, December 27, 2012 Contact:  Dave Longo Tel:  202-366-0608 U.S. Department of Transportation Finalizes Significant Changes to Major Capital Transit Investment Program WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) unveiled a streamlined approach for administering its primary capital public transportation program for expanding transit systems. The New Starts/Small Starts program, one of the largest competitive grant programs in the U.S. government, funds roughly half the cost of new and extended light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit and ferry systems built in the United States. “Now more than ever, Americans need quality transportation choices that improve mobility, enhance access to jobs and encourage sustainable communities,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “These changes, years in the making, reflect the Obama Administration’s commitment to strengthening public transportation across the United States as efficiently, effectively and fairly as possible.” The new approach http://www.fta.dot.gov/grants/12304.html is the product of more than two years of public outreach to identify ways to cut red tape, reduce regulations for communities seeking federal funds, and help get critical transit projects under construction more quickly without compromising a stringent project review process. The changes are estimated to save taxpayers almost $500,000 annually by requiring less time-consuming paperwork and allowing communities to pre-qualify for certain projects. Additional savings may result from accelerating project delivery. “The changes we’re making to the New Starts capital investment program are a huge win for communities that want to see more of their local transportation priorities become reality,” said FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff. “We’ll be in a position to save federal and local taxpayers’ money and put more Americans to work by allowing good projects to begin construction more quickly.” Four key changes are being made to the New Starts/Small Starts program: 1)    FTA is adopting a simpler, more straightforward approach for measuring a proposed project’s cost-effectiveness. FTA will no longer require communities to compare a proposed project’s travel time savings against a hypothetical alternative project. Instead, FTA will look at the estimated cost to construct the project communities intend to build compared against a rigorously analyzed estimate for the number of passengers the project will serve. 2)    FTA is expanding the range of environmental benefits used to evaluate proposed projects. In addition to taking into account the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional air quality designations, FTA will also look at the dollar value of the anticipated benefits to human health, energy use, air quality (such as changes in total greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants) and safety (such as reductions in accidents and fatalities). 3)    FTA is adding new economic development factors to its ratings process.  FTA currently looks at local plans and policies already in place to encourage economic development and how well they’re working in a given area. Going forward, a broader set of economic impacts will be included, such as whether local plans and policies maintain or increase affordable housing. 4)    FTA is streamlining the project evaluation process by reducing regulations and red tape.  FTA will allow project sponsors to forgo a detailed analysis of benefits that are unnecessary to justify a project.  For example, projects that receive a sufficient rating on benefits calculations will not be required to do an analysis to forecast benefits out to some future year.  Similarly, FTA is developing methods that can be used to estimate benefits using simple approaches.   FTA received approximately 1,000 comments on the proposed changes from a wide range of stakeholders and individuals.  The agency also conducted extensive outreach, holding a webinar and public meetings in Atlanta, Dallas, and San Diego. Additional interim guidance on New Starts/Small Starts will be forthcoming to address provisions affected by the enactment of the legislation on Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). The changes announced today are consistent with Executive Order 13563 issued by President Obama in January 2011, calling on Federal agencies to “modify, streamline, expand, or repeal” rules that may be “outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome.” In FY2012, FTA’s New Starts/Small Starts program provided more than $2 billion for capital projects to help build light rail, commuter rail, and bus rapid transit projects. In FY2011 and FY2012 alone, FTA signed more capital construction agreements for transit projects than in any two-year period in the agency’s history. ###   You are subscribed to DOT News for Department of Transportation. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. You are subscribed to DOT email updates. 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BTS Releases October Passenger Airline Employment Data

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. BTS 60-12 Friday, December 21, 2012 Contact: Dave Smallen Tel: 202-366-5568  BTS Releases October Passenger Airline Employment Data; October 2012 Employment Down 1.3 Percent from October 2011    U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 384,310 workers in October 2012, 1.3 percent fewer than in October 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. Scheduled passenger airline categories include network, low-cost, regional and other airlines. This was the second consecutive month that full-time equivalent (FTE) employment for U.S. scheduled passenger carriers has been lower than the same month of the previous year. This follows 22 months of year-to-year increases that began in October 2010.  BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the October 2012 FTE total for scheduled passenger carriers was 5,134 fewer than in October 2011 and is the lowest monthly total since May 2011.  Historical employment data can be found on the BTS web site.  There were 0.5 percent fewer FTEs in October 2012 than in September 2012. Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal factors, such as the number of flights and passengers.  The five network airlines that collectively employ two-thirds of the scheduled passenger airline FTEs reported 1.4 percent fewer FTEs in October, the third consecutive decline for the group. Delta Air Lines, eliminating positions following its merger with Northwest Airlines, reduced FTEs by 2.0 percent from October 2011. American Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2011, reduced FTEs by 5.7 percent. United Airlines reported a post-merger total of 82,312 FTEs in October 2012, 1,613 or 2.0 percent more FTEs than the 80,699 United and Continental Airlines reported separately in October 2011. Network airlines operate a significant portion of flights using at least one hub where connections are made for flights to down-line destinations or spoke cities.  Among the six low-cost carriers, Allegiant Airlines, Virgin America Airlines, Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways reported an increase in FTEs. Frontier Airlines was the only low-cost carrier reporting fewer FTEs. Southwest Airlines reported 46,015 FTEs in October 2012 in a joint report following its merger with AirTran Airways. The combined total was 709 or 1.6 percent more than the 45,306 FTEs the two airlines reported separately in October 2011. Low-cost airlines operate under a low-cost business model, with infrastructure and aircraft operating costs below the overall industry average.  See Passenger Airline Employment press release for summary tables and additional data.-end-   You are subscribed to DOT News for Department of Transportation. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. You are subscribed to DOT email updates. Subscriber Services: Manage Preferences Questions for DOT? Contact DOT  STAY CONNECTED             U.S. Department of Transportation | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington DC 20590 | 202-385-HELP (4357)

Department of Transportation DOT News Update

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. BTS 59-12 Thursday, December 20, 2012 Contact: Dave Smallen Tel: 202-366-5568  BTS Releases September 2012 Airline Traffic Data; System Passengers Decline 1.1% from September 2011   The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that U.S. airlines carried 57.4 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in September 2012, 1.7 percent fewer domestic passengers and 2.8 percent more international passengers than in September 2011. There was a 1.1 percent decrease in airline passengers in September 2012 compared to September 2011 but the airlines carried 0.1 percent more system passengers than in September 2010.    Although the number of passengers in September 2012, declined from a year ago, U.S. airlines carried 559.2 million total system passengers during the first nine months of 2012, up 1.3 percent from the same period in 2011 (Table 2). Domestically, the airlines carried 486.5 million passengers, up 1.2 percent from 2011 (Table 8). Internationally, they carried 72.7 million passengers, up 1.9 percent from 2011 (Table 14). See Tables 2, 8 and 14 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous-year data. Additional traffic data can be found on the BTS website in the Airlines and Airports box.  Click on a link in the column on the right.  For more historical data, see Traffic on the BTS website. Load Factor and Capacity Passenger load factors for international (83.6) passenger traffic were at record levels for the month of September while domestic (80.7) and systemwide (81.5) load factors declined from a year ago (Tables 1, 7, 13). Continuing earlier service reductions, domestic capacity, measured by available seat-miles, was down 0.2 percent in September 2012 compared to September 2011. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) declined by 1.6 percent (Table 7). The international load factor in September rose with 2.2 percent growth in RPMs compared to an increase in capacity of 0.2 percent (Table 13). Systemwide capacity declined 0.1 percent compared to a 0.4 percent decline in RPMs (Table 1). See Tables 1, 7 and 13 of Air Traffic Press Releases for previous year data.  Top Airlines Monthly: In September 2012, Delta Air Lines carried more system passengers than any other U.S. airline (Table 4) and Southwest Airlines carried the most domestic passengers (Table 10).  United Airlines, following its merger with Continental Airlines, carried the most international passengers (Table 16). The top 10 U.S. airlines in terms of numbers of passengers carried 80.2 percent of systemwide passengers, up from 75.2 percent carried by the U.S. airlines that were in the top 10 in September 2011.             See Air Traffic Release for summary tables and additional data.  ### You are subscribed to DOT News for Department of Transportation. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. You are subscribed to DOT email updates. Subscriber Services: Manage Preferences Questions for DOT? Contact DOT  STAY CONNECTED             U.S. Department of Transportation | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington DC 20590 | 202-385-HELP (4357)

Department of Transportation DOT News Update

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. DOT 140-12 Tuesday, December 18, 2012 Contact: Justin Nisly Tel.: (202) 366-4570  U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Effort to ImproveGovernment Efficiency, Cut Red Tape Six New Initiatives Would Reduce Burden on Small Businesses, Save Taxpayer’s Money  WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced six new actions it will take to eliminate out-of-date or duplicative paperwork, saving taxpayer dollars and reducing the workload for businesses across the country. The announcement comes in response to an Executive Order issued by President Obama in May 2012, which instructed Federal agencies to continually examine all existing rules and requirements in order to make sure they are all still necessary, streamlined, and up-to-date. The DOT developed this paperwork reduction plan as part of an aggressive, Administration-wide effort to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on American businesses.  Taken together, the six actions announced today could reduce the amount of time spent on paperwork and reporting by more than 450,000 hours. The changes will be implemented across a wide range of transportation areas, and include:  • The Federal Railroad Administration is planning to allow some smaller freight and commuter railroads to use a simplified electronic recordkeeping system for hours of service records.  By providing an alternative set of requirements specifically tailored to the circumstances of smaller operations, the Federal Railroad Administration expects a greater number of railroads to move to electronic HOS recordkeeping systems.    Electronic records require substantially less time to complete than manual records, and this action could save small rail operators more than 200,000 hours of paperwork. • The Federal Railroad Administration is also planning revisions to Hours of Service (HOS) regulations which would benefit small railroad operators who continue to use paper recordkeeping systems.  Currently, railroads that use electronic HOS recordkeeping systems are allowed to manage their reports internally, rather than submitting every report to the FRA.   The revised regulation would extend the same allowances to smaller railroads that still use paper HOS recordkeeping systems, reducing the time required for each individual report by an estimated 30 minutes. • Portable oxygen concentrators (POC) are sometimes carried by airline passengers with medical conditions that require oxygen therapy, as a safer alternative to an oxygen tank.  Currently, passengers are required to carry a doctor’s note authorizing the use of their POC.   However, the Federal Aviation Administration is planning a new performance standard that could include a device labeling requirement.  That would allow air carriers to check the device to make sure it is compliant, while eliminating the need for travelers to obtain a doctor’s note, saving passengers almost 170,000 hours. • The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is planning the Hazardous Materials Automated Cargo Communications for Efficient and Safe Shipments (HM-ACCESS) Initiative to reduce the burden associated with hardcopy shipping papers. The initiative will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using a paperless system to communicate information about hazardous shipments, rather than the current hardcopy system.  Use of a voluntary or mandatory electronic reporting system could significantly lower costs and reduce workloads for shippers and federal employees. • The Federal Aviation Administration is planning to develop an electronic collection system for all of the information and forms required to certify the products and parts used in the aviation system.  Testing is expected to begin in 2016, potentially leading to significant cost savings and paperwork reductions. • The Federal Railroad Administration is planning revised regulations that would streamline the process for certifying locomotive engineers.  The revisions would eliminate unnecessary redundancies by, for instance, allowing engineers to use a single medical certificate for both the conductor and engineer certification processes.  The changes would reduce the burden on the Federal Railroad Administration, the railroads, and the railroad employees.   ###   You are subscribed to DOT News for Department of Transportation. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. You are subscribed to DOT email updates. Subscriber Services: Manage Preferences Questions for DOT? Contact DOT  STAY CONNECTED             U.S. Department of Transportation | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington DC 20590 | 202-385-HELP (4357)

BTS Releases 3rd-Quarter 2012 Airline Financial Data; Largest Airlines Report Profit

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. BTS 58-12 Monday, December 17, 2012 Contact:  Dave Smallen Tel:  202-366-5568             BTS Releases 3rd-Quarter 2012 Airline Financial Data; Largest Airlines Report Profit The largest scheduled passenger airlines reported a 6.4 percent profit margin in the third quarter of 2012, down from 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today in a release of preliminary data. BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the 10 largest airlines, as ranked by total number of passengers in the third quarter, achieved an operating profit margin - as a group - in each of the last six quarters. Together, they posted a profit of $2.4 billion with all of the large carriers reporting an operating profit. These 10 airlines carried 77.5 percent of U.S. airlines’ scheduled service passengers in the third quarter of 2012.  See Airline Financial Data Press Releases for historic data. The top 10 airlines reported $1.4 billion in Net Income in the second quarter. Net Income and Operating Profit or Loss are two different measures of airline financial performance. Operating Profit or Loss is calculated from operating revenues and expenses. Net Income may include non-operating income and expenses, nonrecurring items or income taxes. As part of their third-quarter revenue, all U.S. passenger airlines collected a total of $924 million in baggage fees and $652 million from reservation change fees from July through September 2012. Fees are included for calculations of Net Income, Operating Revenue and Operating Profit or Loss. Baggage fees and reservation change fees are the only ancillary fees paid by passengers that are reported to BTS as separate items. Other fees, such as revenue from seating assignments and on-board sales of food, beverages, pillows, blankets, and entertainment are combined in different categories and cannot be identified separately. The press release includes these additional tables for the 10 top carriers: Table 3, Unit Costs; Table 4, Unit Revenues; Table 5, Passenger Revenue Yield. See BTS Airline Financials Release for summary tables and additional data. ###   You are subscribed to DOT News for Department of Transportation. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. You are subscribed to DOT email updates. Subscriber Services: Manage Preferences Questions for DOT? Contact DOT  STAY CONNECTED             U.S. Department of Transportation | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington DC 20590 | 202-385-HELP (4357)