STATEMENT OF

ANNE S. FERRO
ADMINISTRATOR
FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHWAYS AND TRANSIT
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OVERSIGHT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION'S IMPLEMENTATION OF
MAP-21 AND FISCAL YEAR 2015 BUDGET REQUEST FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION

MARCH 12, 2014

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Norton, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) progress in implementing the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Enacted on July 6, 2012, MAP-21 provided the Agency with important new tools to improve commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety and remove unsafe operators from the Nation’s highways.  And the President’s comprehensive four-year reauthorization plan will strengthen them even further.

Safety is FMCSA’s number one priority, and while we have realized success in reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities since the Agency was established in 2000, we must do more. To direct how we will use our resources to save lives, the Agency developed a Strategic Plan guided by a framework shaped by three core principles: raise the bar to enter the motor carrier industry; require high safety standards to remain in the industry; and remove high-risk carriers, drivers, and service providers from operation.  MAP-21 aligns well with these core principles and supports our Agency’s important safety initiatives.

Miscellaneous Rule Text Changes in Provisions of MAP-21

The Agency addressed 17 MAP-21 provisions in an omnibus final rule on October 1, 2013.  This largely ministerial rulemaking action ensured that the regulations were aligned with the new statutory requirements.  Most notable among the changes were the new financial security requirements for brokers and freight forwarders.  Pursuant to MAP-21, FMCSA amended its regulations to require a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund for brokers and extended the surety bond or trust fund requirement to freight forwarders for the first time.

Agricultural Exemptions

MAP–21 included two provisions applicable to operating CMVs for agricultural purposes. The first exempts CMV drivers transporting agricultural commodities and farm supplies from the Federal hours-of-service (HOS) rules. The second exempts operators of farm vehicles by farm and ranch operators, their employees, and certain other specified individuals from most of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), including those pertaining to commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) and driver physical qualifications (medical) requirements. These self- executing statutory provisions took effect on October 1, 2012.

In October 2012, the Agency published a notice in the Federal Register alerting motor carriers and enforcement officials about these exemptions. Additionally, the Agency worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make the agricultural community aware of these exemptions. While in and of themselves, these statutory amendments and subsequent Federal Register notice did not require any actions by the States, FMCSA requested that States take immediate action to implement policies and procedures to provide this regulatory relief. On March 14, 2013, FMCSA published a final rule to conform the FMCSRs to the statutory provisions in MAP-21. States will have three years from the rule’s effective date, or until March 14, 2016, to adopt compatible regulations.

Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

MAP-21 provided explicit authority for the Secretary to create an electronic repository for positive alcohol and controlled substances test results.  In response, on February 20, 2014, FMCSA published a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish the Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse for all CDL holders. The proposed rule would require employers of CDL drivers and service agents to report positive test results and refusals to test to the Clearinghouse and thus will improve both driver and employer compliance with DOT’s alcohol and controlled substance testing program.

Employers would be required to check the Clearinghouse to make sure current and prospective employees do not have drug and alcohol violations that would prohibit them from performing safety sensitive functions, such as driving CMVs. We are soliciting comments on this rule through April 21.

Electronic Logging Devices

MAP-21 included a provision mandating the use of electronic logging devices (ELD) for any driver required to keep a record of duty status (RODS) under the HOS regulations. The Agency is preparing a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) that would establish: (1) minimum performance standards for ELDs; (2) mandatory requirements for use of the devices by drivers required to prepare RODS; (3) requirements concerning HOS supporting documents; and (4) measures to ensure that the mandatory use of ELDs will not result in harassment of drivers by motor carriers and enforcement officials.

This rulemaking would supplement the Agency´s 2011 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and address issues raised by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in its 2011 decision vacating the Agency´s 2010 final rule concerning ELDs.  The ELD requirements will improve HOS compliance by reducing the likelihood of falsification of drivers’ duty status records, thereby decreasing the risk of fatigue-related crashes attributable to HOS non- compliance.

Compliance, Safety, Accountability

Compliance, Safety, Accountability, or CSA, is FMCSA's compliance model to improve CMV safety and reduce large truck and bus crashes, injuries, and fatalities on our Nation's highways. MAP-21 included statutory revisions and additional authorities needed to bring CSA to fruition. For example, MAP-21 provided the Agency with flexibility to allow an investigator to display credentials in writing rather than in person. This will allow FMCSA and its investigators – with clear statutory authority to conduct enforcement interventions – to formally demand that a motor carrier provide records without having to travel to the motor carrier’s business location. This is vital to expanding FMCSA’s and our State partners’ enforcement efforts to include off-site reviews and investigations, increasing the number of reviews that we conduct.

Passenger Carrier Safety

FMCSA continues to utilize the new authorities granted by MAP-21 to focus on the safety of those who use buses for transportation all across our Nation. We are committed to achieving universally high levels of safety regardless of which bus operator a passenger chooses.  Using the first phase of the Motorcoach Safety Initiative known as Operation Quick Strike, more than 50 specially trained investigators were dispatched from April through November of 2013 to conduct in-depth reviews into the patterns and practices of the 250 most at-risk motorcoach companies,  as identified using roadside inspection and safety data. As a result, we removed 52 unsafe bus companies and 340 vehicles from the road.  In addition, the second phase of the effort involved FMCSA investigators visiting more than 1,300 carriers that had minimal inspection history or data with the Agency.  As a result, we targeted more than 240 companies for follow-up investigations.

Last year, we evaluated and enhanced our investigation methods to dig deeper than ever before and uncover dangerous patterns of unsafe behavior and business practices.  Now we are training all investigators to use the new tactics we employed during Operation Quick Strike, and conducting evaluations and a gap analysis to identify the methods for maintaining this intensified level of oversight on the passenger carrier industry.   Through the gap analysis process, we identified two improvements that we will be proposing as part of reauthorization: (1) expanded locations where motorcoach inspections may occur, and (2) new jurisdiction over brokers of passenger transportation.  Under the proposal motorcoaches could be required to stop for routine inspections, provided that the inspection site has adequate food, shelter, and sanitation facilities to accommodate passengers during the inspection process. Current restrictions on en-route motorcoach inspections have proven too restrictive to adequately detect driver and vehicle safety violations. Requiring ticket brokers to register with FMCSA will convey their accountability for ensuring motor carriers they work with are safe.  It will also help address the problem of entities providing passenger transportation, skirting FMCSA’s jurisdiction by claiming to be mere ticket agents.

Patterns of Safety Violations

In January, FMCSA published a final rule that enables the Agency to suspend or revoke the operating authority registration of for-hire motor carriers that show egregious disregard for safety compliance. The rule implements a previous statutory provision, as amended by MAP-21, which prohibits motor carriers from using common ownership, common management, common control or common familial relationships to avoid compliance or conceal noncompliance or a history of noncompliance. It also authorizes FMCSA to withhold, suspend, amend, or revoke the operating authority registration of motor carriers if they or their officers engage in a pattern or practice of such conduct or of otherwise avoiding compliance with CMV safety regulations.

Registration Requirements

MAP-21 strengthened the registration requirements for motor carrier operating authority and thus will help the Agency crack down on carriers that commit safety violations and then change their company identity, or “reincarnate.” This growing and disturbing practice poses a real enforcement challenge to FMCSA’s investigators and commercial law enforcement officers nationwide.

Under MAP-21 FMCSA can withhold, suspend, amend or revoke a motor carrier’s registration if: (a) the carrier fails to disclose its adverse safety history or other material facts on its application or if the applicant is a successor or closely related to another company with a poor compliance history for the preceding 3 years, or (b) a motor carrier, employer, owner or operator does not disclose a relationship involving common ownership, management, control, or familial relationship to any other motor carrier, employer, or owner operator.

Additionally, MAP-21 directed the Agency to establish a written proficiency exam for new authority applicants to test their knowledge of the safety regulations, applicable commercial regulations, and regulations relating to accessibility for disabled persons. This test will help ensure that companies understand these regulations before beginning operations.  The Agency has begun work on implementing this provision. This year, we will be conducting a series of listening sessions across the country to gather input on this issue. We held the first session in January at the American Bus Association Marketplace in Nashville, TN. The final two sessions will be held this month at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY, and next month at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Workshop in Los Angeles, CA.

Minimum Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators

MAP-21 directs the Agency to issue final regulations to require training for entry level CDL applicants. The Agency’s rulemaking must address knowledge and skills for safe operation and other issues. Last year, the Agency held public listening sessions at the American Bus Association annual Marketplace in Charlotte, NC, and the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY, to hear comments on this proposed rule.  These sessions provided the Agency with substantial information about the issues regarding training for entry level CDL applicants. The Agency will soon engage the services of a convener to assess the feasibility of conducting a negotiated rulemaking to implement this important MAP-21 provision.

National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners

In April 2012, FMCSA issued a final rule as required by a previous statutory requirement, reaffirmed and modified in MAP-21, to establish a National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (National Registry).  The National Registry requires all medical examiners who conduct physical examinations for interstate CMV drivers meet the following criteria: (1) complete certain training concerning physical qualification standards; (2) pass a certification test; and (3) maintain and demonstrate competence through periodic training and testing. It requires motor carriers and drivers to use only those medical examiners listed on the National Registry.

To date, more than 28,000 healthcare professionals from around the country have started the process to be included on the registry and more than 7,000 of them have completed both the training and testing and are listed on the registry.  Approximately 1,500 healthcare professionals are currently scheduled to take the examination.

We commend the healthcare community for working with the Agency to stand up this program, which we believe will significantly improve highway safety.  The gradual phasing in of the requirements as drivers’ current medical certificates expire helps to decrease the likelihood of inadequate capacity during the first full year after the compliance date.  Drivers’ medical certificates remain valid until the expiration date, which may be for up to 2 years following the date of the medical exam.  Therefore, medical certificates issued prior to the May 21, 2014, National Registry compliance date remain valid for up to 2 years and drivers would not need a new medical certificate from a medical examiner on the National Registry until the current medical certificate expires.

Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC)

MAP-21 authorized the continuation of the MCSAC until September 30, 2013, and its charter has now been extended an additional two years under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. FMCSA tasked the MCSAC to address a number of timely topics that are of importance to key stakeholder groups and Congress. For example, the MCSAC completed letter reports concerning motorcoach hours of service and entry-level driver training.  The MCSAC’s deliberations and report on motorcoach hours of service provided an excellent starting point for a public debate about whether there are safety vulnerabilities in the current rule associated with motorcoach operators who do not adhere to certain industry best practices for dispatching drivers. The MCSAC’s deliberations and report concerning the MAP-21 provision concerning entry-level driver training also provided thoughtful input for the Agency to consider on this topic, which has generated widespread support among the industry, safety advocates, and the States.

Household Goods Provisions

With regard to household goods transportation, MAP-21 authorized FMCSA to assign all or a portion of the penalties it receives from noncompliant moving companies to the aggrieved shipper. The Agency formed a working group to examine how to implement this new authority. A second provision granted the Agency authority to order moving companies to return household goods held hostage. FMCSA is aggressively using these new authorities to protect consumers and ensure compliance with the Agency’s regulations. Recent enforcement efforts have resulted in significant civil penalties against moving companies involved in fraudulent activities, and have also resulted in revoking the authority of some of the carriers due to their egregious violations.

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF

GREGORY D. WINFREE
ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

BEFORE THE

Subcommittee on RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HEARING ON

U.S. Surface Transportation:  Technology Driving the Future

June 12, 2015

Chair Comstock, Ranking Member Lipinski, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the breadth and opportunities of the Department of Transportation’s research, development and technology (RD&T) programs. 

We all recognize that effective and implementable transportation research and technology products are essential tools for maximizing the Federal investment in transportation infrastructure and operations.  We need to make our transportation system smarter – more efficient and effective.  That’s why the Department sent you a new and improved GROW AMERICA Act on March 30.  GROW AMERICA is a fully-funded, comprehensive multiyear proposal, which includes 350 pages of smart policy prescriptions and substantial funding growth, including for research and technology, all focused on the future.

The future of the U.S. transportation system in all modes has the potential to be safer, cleaner, more efficient, durable and resilient if the necessary research is performed and results implemented.  All functions, from planning, to construction, to environment, to operations and maintenance, benefit from well-designed and well-funded research and technology programs.

Secretary Anthony Foxx has highlighted the challenges we face, and suggested some of the possible paths forward, in his visionary framework, Beyond Traffic 2045: Trends and Choices.  If you have not had a chance to review the results of this excellent assessment prepared by staff from across the Department, including leadership from my own organization and our Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, I would encourage you to do so and to provide us your comments.  Beyond Traffic is informed by the information and opinions provided by the leading thinkers and organizations in American transportation and, more importantly, by regular Americans who engaged with us through multiple webinars and other virtual sessions.  We were especially pleased to see the response of young people early in their transportation careers, with whom we made a special effort to connect – after all, we are talking about the future they will be living in.

Beyond Traffic analyzed the condition and performance of our transportation system today, and also forecasted how it will look and perform 30 years from now.  Beyond Traffic reveals that, if we don’t change, in 2045, the transportation system that powered our rise as a Nation will instead slow us down.  Transit systems will be so backed up that riders will wonder not just when they will get to work, but if they will get there at all.  At the airports, and on the highways, every day will be like Thanksgiving holiday travel is today.

This is not a picture of our inevitable future.  Our purpose in producing this report was to analyze the latest data and trends shaping transportation so we could objectively frame critical policy choices that need to be made.  Some of the key questions we are asking are:  How will we move better?  How will we knock down barriers to new technologies that promise to make travel safer and more convenient?  For example, we recognize that:

• Technological changes and innovation may transform vehicles, infrastructure, logistics, and the delivery of transportation services to promote efficiency and safety.
• New sources of travel data have the potential to improve travelers’ experience, support more efficient management of transportation systems, and enhance investment decisions.
• Automation and robotics will affect all modes of transportation, improving infrastructure maintenance and travel safety, and enabling the mainstream use of autonomous vehicles.

All of these technology and data trends are happening now.  I will spend the remainder of my testimony discussing how the Department’s RD&T programs are seeking both to enable, and to take advantage of, these fast-moving developments, many of which are coming from outside the traditional transportation industries.

Vehicle-to-Vehicle Technologies and Vehicle Automation

GROW AMERICA invests $935 million over six years in the future of vehicle safety and innovation, including the advancement of vehicle automation and vehicle-to-vehicle technologies.  The Administration made accelerating deployment of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technologies, and swiftly advancing the framework to enable automated vehicles, a priority in the FY 2016 budget request, by seeking $158 million for the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) research program, a 68 percent increase over FY 2015 enacted levels. 

On May 13, Secretary Anthony Foxx directed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to accelerate the timetable for its proposal to require V2V technology in new vehicles.  He also committed DOT to rapid testing to ensure that the wireless spectrum used by V2V is not obstructed by radio interference.  And, he has asked NHTSA to make sure our regulatory framework encourages the deployment of demonstrated traffic safety innovations.  Together, these steps will support the current revolution in connected vehicle technologies while also making sure those technologies are safe.

The ITS Program, funded through the Research, Technology, and Education (RT&E) Program and managed by my office through the ITS Joint Program Office, is fully multi-modal.  While public attention falls on the vehicle side of our work, we continue to conduct critical research in multi-modal vehicle-to-infrastructure safety and mobility applications.  We also continue to advance our work on integrating data streams from multiple sources – roads, transit, freight and vehicles – to increase mobility, efficiency, and capacity while decreasing congestion, travel times and environmental impacts.  Phase 1 of the Connected Vehicle Pilots Deployment Program, the solicitation for which closed in mid-March, will further Connected Vehicle implementation, not just for safety, but also to advance both mobility and efficiency applications.

In connected vehicles and automation, we intend to pursue:

• Connected Vehicle Implementation – This program will fill any research gaps identified by NHTSA to support light vehicle safety rulemaking efforts, and will provide research to speed the adoption of safety capabilities for heavy vehicles.
• Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) – Our research will also develop the capability to use smart infrastructure to support warning drivers of road hazards such as intersection collision, slippery road surfaces, excessive speed on curves, and other conditions that present hazardous or dangerous conditions to drivers. The purpose is to accelerate the next generation of safety applications through widespread adoption of V2I communications to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities.  This research will also provide valuable information to support the FHWA deployment guidance and accelerate implementation of connected vehicle systems by State and local agencies to increase mobility, freight efficiency, and capacity.
• Automation – This research will enable and accelerate the development and deployment of automated vehicles, ensure safe and efficient operations of emerging technologies and systems, and maximize public benefits by leveraging connected vehicle technologies, infrastructure-based solutions, and other approaches.  Building upon the connected vehicle safety research as the logical “bridge” to safe introduction of automated vehicles, the program would undertake three major pilot activities that could demonstrate and evaluate the transformational potential of automated vehicles in a real-world environment while reducing deployment risks for industry and society. These research pilots would facilitate defining performance requirements, as well as objective and threshold performance criteria.  This in turn would enable the government, automotive industry, equipment manufacturers, and the standards development organizations to define the preconditions needed to commercialize and deploy affordable automated vehicle fleets in the U.S. with safety performance superior to today’s human-operated vehicles.
• Vehicle-to-Pedestrian – The Department is engaged in a study to identify vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) applications that would warn the driver, pedestrian, or both of an impending collision using Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology, and is estimating the potential benefits of such warnings.  In FY 2014, the Department reviewed and assessed operational and prototype pedestrian detection and warning systems, held two focus group meetings on technology acceptance and usability, and began analyzing the role of DSRC and other communications methods.   In FYs 2015 and 2016, the Department plans to test V2P technologies at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center’s intersection test bed for market readiness and real world implementation. Both intersection and non-intersection (i.e., mid-block) crashes will be tested.   The Department is further considering a project to develop, test, evaluate, and modify a Connected Vehicle safety application that alerts pedestrians of bus movements around bus stops, using V2I and potentially V2P communications.

Dedicated Short Range Communications

At this point, I would like to address a topic I am told is of interest to the Committee, that of the suggested sharing of the Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) spectrum  band upon which V2V and V2I communications rely, with unlicensed WiFi devices.  All of this V2V and V2I success, and the standards that support it, and the move along the continuum to automation, are based upon the unimpeded availability of the 5.9 gigahertz (GHz) DSRC spectrum.  Allocated in the U.S. and internationally for transportation safety, the 5.9 GHz band was specifically selected to enable the ten-times-per-second exchange of information needed to bring to reality the safety improvements that remain the primary goal of ITS research.  We recognize that spectrum is a scarce national resource and that it is important to find ways to expand wireless broadband capacity.  DOT continues to believe that saving lives is the most valuable use of this spectrum.

As you know, the FCC in February 2013 published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing unlicensed (U-NII) device operations in the 5850-5925 MHz band.[1]  DOT has been engaged with the FCC and the NTIA to address the technical questions raised by this proposal, and to support the 5850-5925 MHz band feasibility study required by Section 6406 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.  DOT has established testing capabilities so that we can analyze interference and sharing possibilities.  We are also working with FCC and NTIA to clearly identify the test requirements, facilities and timeline to support testing of interference mitigation techniques that may be employed by 5.9 GHz U-NII devices if they become available from industry.

I want to emphasize that DSRC availability, and the safety benefits proven through the Ann Arbor Safety Pilot Demonstration, undergird and made possible the NHTSA Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM).  This demonstration testing, and the ANPRM, are the results of almost 20 years of careful and coordinated research and technology development by the auto industry and its suppliers, and DOT, focused on safety and mobility.  Public safety technologies must be well-proven, reliable and mature to be effective.  The NHTSA ANPRM concluded that DSRC-reliant safety-critical applications are proven effective, and that the life-saving benefits of DSRC devices far outweigh the costs of mandating those devices in light vehicles.  DSRC also supports NHTSA’s ongoing work toward a decision on a heavy vehicle rulemaking. 

We are ready to work with any interested party to review and analyze U-NII sharing proposals for the 5.9 GHz band. To date, only conceptual sharing proposals have been discussed, and no 5.9 GHz U-NII devices have been offered for testing and analysis.  To protect DSRC’s life-saving potential, real-world device testing will be required to ensure that potential U-NII devices do not cause harmful interference to critical ITS safety applications in the 5.9 GHz band, as required by the FCC’s rules.  To this end, DOT has maintained the Ann Arbor test bed beyond its original planned lifetime, and put in place additional spectrum testing agreements and other facilities, to be as ready as possible for live interference testing.

We will also deliver the “Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communications Systems Deployment” report, focused on DSRC, as required by Section 53006 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).  Secretary Foxx has challenged us to accelerate delivery of the report to you, and we are working to meet his challenge.  On April 28, we received the recommendations resulting from the required National Research Council review of the draft report.  The review committee agreed with DOT’s draft report about the benefits that DSRC technology offers compared with other communications technologies for safety-critical messages, and also agreed that proposed spectrum sharing in the 5.9 GHz band is the most serious risk and uncertainty of relying on DSRC for safety-critical messages. The committee, however, also identified other unknowns and uncertainties that the report should address, which we are doing before submitting the report to Congress. 

Vehicle Safety Research

Continuing with vehicle safety research, the FY 2016 Budget provides NHTSA with $114 million to support safety goals through behavioral research and demonstration programs that focus on issues like distraction and combating impaired driving, as well as on collecting and analyzing crash data.  A total of $7.1 million is requested specifically to conduct research on advanced and emerging technologies and alternative fuel vehicles that require thorough testing to ensure that their level of safety for vehicle occupants is comparable to that of other vehicles.

NHTSA research supports numerous planned or active rulemakings, for example:

• NHTSA consideration of heavy vehicle rear underride guards.
• Agency regulatory actions on child restraint performance standards in side and frontal impacts.
• Possible regulatory actions on frontal oblique crashes, including repeatability and reproducibility testing and analysis.
• Initiating research to evaluate inclusion of an advanced small female dummy into adaptive rear seat, side impact, and frontal oblique testing.
• Supporting potential implementation of a new brain-injury criterion.

NHTSA funding also supports the continued crashworthiness and defect investigations research work of the Vehicle Research and Test Center (East Liberty, OH).

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is requesting $10 million for multiyear Research and Technology programs focused on producing safer drivers and carriers.  The Research and Technology program provides scientific safety research on driver behavior, carrier operations, and technology applications. These contributions have proven critical in supporting agency safety rulemakings, identifying enforcement priorities, and facilitating technology transfer to the marketplace.   FMCSA research will continue to develop enhanced enforcement technologies, measure driver safety, evaluate the safety implications of automated and semi-automated vehicles, and examine how commercial motor vehicles can safely use alternative fuels. These projects provide the underpinnings for the Agency’s rulemaking and enforcement priorities.  For example, recent research findings demonstrated the safety benefits of carriers’ use of electronic logging devices to keep track of driver work hours. 

Highways

The President’s Budget requests $496 million for the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Research, Technology, and Education (RT&E) Program to provide for a comprehensive, nationally coordinated highway research, technology, and education program, of which $158 million supports ITS Research as discussed earlier.   GROW AMERICA carries forward the MAP-21 restructured FHWA research, development, and technology activities, which include a highway research and development program, a technology and innovation deployment program, and a training and education activities program.  Research supporting innovative finance efforts is also included.  I’d like to highlight some of FHWA’s exciting work:

• The Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative seeks to increase innova­tion at every stage of the highway project lifecycle, and I think is a model of how Federal agencies might better partner to move research results into practice.  Launched in 2010 as a partnership with State and local agencies, EDC has now moved into a third phase focusing on “effi­ciency through collaboration and technol­ogy.”  These innovations are helping States and localities demonstrate and deploy research results in daily practice, supporting the goals of shortening project delivery times, enhancing roadway safety, reducing congestion, and improving environmental sustainability.
• The Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) was authorized by Congress in 2005 to investigate the underlying causes of highway crashes and congestion in a short-term program of focused research. Managed by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, in partnership with the Department and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and including many other partners, SHRP 2 targeted goals in four interrelated focus areas: safety, renewal, reliability and capacity.  While the research phase has wrapped up, implementation – which began for completed products in 2012 – is moving forward swiftly.  FHWA and AASHTO are now promoting their sixth round of SHRP 2 products through the Implementation Assistance Program, with next year’s seventh round products already announced.  GROW AMERICA provides up to $25 million for SHRP 2 implementation to accelerate innovation delivery and technology implementation.
• FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center sits just up the George Washington Parkway in McLean, Virginia, and I know of few better ways to understand what we do in RD&T than visiting Turner-Fairbank.  I invite you to follow President Obama’s example – he went to Turner-Fairbank in July 2014 to celebrate our advances in connected vehicles and infrastructure – and visit the laboratories to learn about work in ITS, advanced operations, human factors, structures, and other research to make highways safer, more efficient, and more environmentally sustainable.

Multimodal Freight Research

Everyone agrees that unsafe freight movements, and freight congestion on all modes, are costly – in lives, increased economic burden, hampered trade, and increased idling emissions and other environmental impacts.  All of our operating administrations have programs that address in some way their specific portion of the freight challenge, but few are research and technology-oriented.  The Department is prioritizing freight projects through Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and other formula programs, by various cross-modal activities and data sharing, and by pursuing the MAP-21 requirements to develop a National Freight Policy, National Freight Network, and National Freight Strategic Plan.

However, what is needed is a multi-modal, collaborative freight research program that brings all parties to the table – shippers, carriers, forwarders, and all levels of government – to address our common issues, issues that are growing as we project that freight volume will increase 45 percent by 2045.  GROW AMERICA establishes the National Cooperative Freight Transportation Research Program to provide the research and analytical support to meeting national freight goals.  The Program includes a specific, targeted focus on improving the safety of hazardous materials transportation and handling.

GROW AMERICA will improve data and technology support to national freight goals by strengthening the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) ability to require responses to freight and intermodal data surveys, and by enabling nationally-consistent statistics on maritime port performance.  The lack of robust, multi-modal freight data is a hurdle to assessing the condition and performance of the national freight system as required by MAP-21; GROW AMERICA efforts to improve data collection are key to rectifying this problem.  In addition, the Act will add an ITS freight research, demonstration and applications focus to the ITS Research Program goals.  I should note that BTS, a designated independent Federal statistical agency, is also a part of my office.  BTS manages and shares statistical knowledge and information on the Nation's transportation systems, including statistics on freight movement, geospatial transportation information, and transportation economics. BTS’ flagship product is the Commodity Flow Survey, which is the primary source of national and State-level data on domestic freight shipments by American establishments in mining, manufacturing, wholesale, auxiliaries, and selected retail and services trade industries.  Beyond Traffic and other DOT publications draw key statistics on freight movement, as well as on passenger travel and the economic consequences of transportation, from BTS.

Hazardous Materials and Pipeline Safety

The safe transportation of hazardous materials is a responsibility shared by all modes of transportation.  To continue to build upon its string safety record, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is requesting $22 million in R&D funding for FY 2016. 

The Hazardous Materials Safety R&D program is conducting research with the outcome goal of minimizing the risks associated with multimodal transportation.  It analyzes these risks to better understand the contributing factors and to minimize potential impacts, and uses those results to focus research efforts on areas that inform and guide potential future changes in regulations, industry safety practices, alternative opportunities for training development, and global intermodal transport efficiency demands for hazardous materials. PHMSA intends to continue to implement strategies outlined in its 2012-2017 R&D Strategic Plan and is conducting projects that focus on the safe transport of energy products, particularly crude oil by rail (in close coordination with Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Increasing domestic production of LNG has resulted in more LNG being transported within the U.S. In addition to nitrogen (inert gas), LNG is primarily comprised of methane along with small amounts of ethane, propane, butane, and some trace amounts of heavier alkanes– all highly flammable gases.  

Rail Safety

A critical element of freight and passenger movement is America’s rail system, which has been much in the media of late.  To continue decades-long progress in rail safety performance, FRA is requesting $3.4 billion in additional resources in FY 2016 to focus on the three most pressing rail safety issues we believe are facing us today:

• Increasing rail transportation of crude oil and its derivatives, such as liquefied petroleum gas, significant levels of rail transportation of ethanol, and preparation for rail shipments of LNG.
• Passenger rail safety issues that have surfaced so far in the wake of Metro-North Commuter Railroad and Amtrak accidents.^[2]
• Highway-rail grade crossing, pedestrian safety, and trespass prevention.

While this portion of the Budget Request is not specifically R&D, all aspects of it draw upon past successes in rail research and technology to implement safety strategies and to guide these investments.  For example, work performed by FRA and our Volpe Center on the improved crashworthiness of passenger cars found its way into the new car designs deployed by Metrolink in California.  When February’s Metrolink crash occurred in Oxnard, while it was a tragedy that the engineer died, the new cars clearly reduced deaths and injuries among the passengers.

The President’s Budget requests $39.2 million for further rail safety-related research and development activities, including continued support for the Short Line Safety Institute and research on the safe transportation of LNG.  FRA will continue its long-term research programs to reduce accident numbers and rates and mitigate the consequences of accidents by investigating railroad safety issues related to human factors, track, rolling stock, hazardous materials, highway-rail grade crossings, trespass, train control and communications systems and other systems.  There is $25 million in R&D funding requested to support the proposed Rail Service Improvement Program in GROW AMERICA by making investments at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, Colorado.

I would also note that GROW AMERICA provides $3.05 billion to assist with the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology.[3]  Previous PTC research focused on shared freight/passenger commuter PTC technical issues and commuter rail PTC compliance to prevent train accidents and incidents on those transit systems.  FRA research continues to assist in the nationwide deployment of PTC systems.  This activity is a cooperative effort between FRA, Class I railroads, the Association of American Railroads, and other interested parties.  This cooperative effort includes technology exchanges and field-testing on the railroads.  One of the key elements is the use of FRA’s PTC test bed at the TTC to ensure the proper functioning and reliability of the new technology.

Transit Research and Training

In addition to working with FRA on commuter rail safety, the 2016 President’s Budget requests $60 million, an 82 percent increase over FY 2015 enacted, for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to support research activities that improve the safety, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability of public transportation systems by investing in the development, testing, and deployment of innovative technologies, materials, and processes. These activities will help to create “Ladders of Opportunity” for transit-dependent populations that will help improve access to jobs and educational opportunities.  The funding request also includes:

• Transit Cooperative Research Program – provides funding to the National Academy of Sciences to conduct investigative research on subjects related to public transportation.
• Technical Assistance – enables FTA to provide technical assistance to the public transportation industry, with an emphasis on improving access for all individuals and transportation equity.
• Human Resources and Training – enables FTA to carry out human resource and training activities within the transit industry, as well as to establish a competitive workforce development grant program.  FTA's goal is to improve the skill sets, knowledge, and abilities of transit industry employees that operate increasingly complex vehicle and equipment systems, and to build new pathways into the transit industry for job seekers.

University Transportation Centers

GROW AMERICA enhances the effectiveness of the current University Transportation Centers (UTCs) program by enabling funds to flow into cross-disciplinary university transportation research, by expanding the sources for grant matching funds to include funding from more Federal-Aid accounts and funding provided by other DOT operating administrations.  GROW AMERICA also suggests technical corrections to eliminate guidance that caused confusion for some of the universities seeking to submit proposals.

Since the late 1980s, Congress has acknowledged the important contributions made to transportation research, technology transfer, education and workforce development by America’s universities.  The UTC Program, managed for the Department by the Office of Research, Development and Technology in my office, is recognized as the flagship university research, education, and technology transfer program.  Designed to address cross-modal and multi-modal issues, the UTC Program is one of the few opportunities for DOT to support advanced research, by enabling universities to use their cross-disciplinary capabilities to conduct the advanced work for which they are well suited. 

Covering over 120 universities that bring expertise in multiple disciplines, both traditional (civil engineering) and not (public health, psychology and sociology, studying safety culture), UTCs enable the systemic, interdisciplinary, cross-modal research we need to address increasingly complex challenges that cross traditional boundaries.  I am personally pleased that the Department’s emphasis on reaching out to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and other underserved groups is adding to our expertise pool.  Of the 35 UTC grantees selected in the MAP-21 competition, ten are MSIs, and another 31 MSIs receive funding as team members of a UTC consortium.

UTCs do this while educating undergraduate and graduate students in the technical and problem-solving skills we need moving forward – a “win–win” if I’ve ever heard one.  In 2014, the MAP-21 UTC consortia supported 1,369 undergraduate and graduate students in their transportation-related studies, and awarded 269 degrees – 63 of them doctorates.  I always enjoy the opportunity to meet with the bright young students at our UTCs, to hear about what exciting new things they are developing in the laboratories and classrooms, and how their own lives are changing even as they add to our transportation knowledge.  I encourage the members of this Committee to take those opportunities as well.

Multimodal Research and Research Coordination

My office was created to manage multimodal research programs and initiatives, and to improve coordination of transportation research within the Department and with external researchers.  As noted earlier:

• the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) research program is a multi-modal hub of research activity and has applications across the surface and maritime operating administrations within the Department;
• the University Transportation Centers (UTC) program supports cross-cutting research and workforce development across the entire transportation enterprise; and
• the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) provides trusted data and statistics on multi-modal freight movements and passenger travel, on the economics of transportation, and on transportation system performance.

In addition, my office is home to three other important cross-modal program offices:

• Volpe, the National Transportation Systems Center (Cambridge, MA) – for over 40 years, Volpe’s Federal staff has helped the transportation community navigate its most challenging problems.   Volpe’s mission is to improve transportation by anticipating and addressing emerging issues and advancing technical, operational, and institutional innovations across all modes.  Volpe is 100 percent funded by sponsor projects and receives no appropriated funds.  In addition to supporting all DOT operating administrations and the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, Volpe provides multimodal and multidisciplinary expertise to deliver transportation-related innovation to sponsors from other Federal agencies, State and local governments, and international partners.
• The Transportation Safety Institute (Oklahoma City, OK) – TSI supports the Department’s goal to reduce transportation-related deaths and injuries through quality instruction to those entrusted with enforcement and ensuring compliance. For 40 years, TSI has provided training to Federal, State, and local governmental, private sector, and foreign transportation professionals on a cost-recovery basis. More than 800,000 students have received TSI’s high-quality safety and security training in aviation, highway traffic, transit, motor carriers, and hazardous materials.
• Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) & Spectrum Management – manages the critical technical task of enabling DOT to fulfill its mandate as the lead civil agency for PNT under the President’s National Space Policy (2010).  Plans and goals for FY 2016 include:
• Conducting testing and analysis to ensure protection of the Global Positioning System (GPS) from systems that may cause interference.  DOT is implementing the GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment Plan to research the maximum aggregate power level that can operate in the radiofrequency bands adjacent to GPS without causing harmful interference.  The requested funding addresses growing interference to GPS from other sources, with a goal of protecting existing and evolving uses of space-based PNT.
• Supporting ongoing evaluation of spectrum sharing technologies to determine whether use of Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) for safety-critical connected vehicle (V2V and V2I) technology applications can co-exist with operation of wireless services.
• Increasing oversight of civil funding and participation in GPS acquisition, development, operations, and modernization.

Improving transportation research coordination is a primary function across my organization.  I have already mentioned several cross-modal research projects; our staff have set in place processes to standardize research coordination and technology transfer processes.  Chief among these was the creation of the DOT Research Hub, a publicly-accessible database of research projects funded by DOT.  My office often leads in coordinating transportation research capabilities with Administration initiatives, and in working with other Federal agencies where there is mutual benefit. Our Volpe Center’s multi-modal expertise, and projects that cross modal boundaries, certainly aid in this coordination.  I’d like to share with you three recent research coordination success stories, one inside DOT and two outside.

Competitive Academic Agreement Program:  PHMSA wanted to reach out to the academic community for outside-the-box pipeline transportation solutions and innovations to address critical pipeline safety needs.  PHMSA worked with our UTC grants program staff to develop the competitive grants guidance, based in part on the highly-successful UTC Program competitions.  The Competitive Academic Agreement Program (CAAP) began in 2014, already has 79 students involved with the research, and is building an internship program.  Their projects are diverse in scope, but all aim to address safety challenges like pipeline damage prevention, leak detection, and pre-regulation pipe.  PHMSA is now building CAAP partnerships with nationally recognized pipeline-related organizations to formally host student presentation sessions.  In the long run, PHMSA plans to adopt the most-promising findings into the core research program for further investigation and collaboration with their pipeline safety partners.

Clean Transportation Sectors Initiative:   We are collaborating with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to support the Clean Transportation Sector Initiative. The collaboration is looking at best practices that can be used by research practitioners and policy makers in the mapping of optimal directions for the future of the transportation sector and the leveraging of its intersections with other economic sectors such as power and agriculture.  This will help lay the foundation to characterize different future transportation sector scenarios that demonstrate the interaction and evolution of the following elements: various networks of fuel, vehicle, and infrastructure technology; critical material requirements; potential disruptive technology impacts; and the applicability to different modes of transportation.  This characterization will facilitate the ability to compare and demonstrate the potential integration of pathways towards optimal system deployments that will span the next half-century. 

Cyber Physical Systems:  My office holds a position on the National Information Technology Research and Development Cyber Physical Systems Senior Steering Group.  As a result of coordination through that interdepartmental initiative, the ITS Joint Program Office collaborated with the National Science Foundation on a call for proposals on Cyber Physical Systems.  This work follows on the successful project-level collaborations that the FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research Program has been managing for several years.

The Department needs to be more involved in cross-agency research on priority national topics, both to bring transportation expertise to national issues that transportation touches, and to learn more directly from other agencies whose work bears on ours.  GROW AMERICA creates a Priority Multimodal Research Program enabling cross-agency research and innovation along three priority areas:  infrastructure systems resilience and recovery; advanced research towards a Zero Emissions Transportation System; and a multimodal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education and Workforce Development program.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I am excited about the positive impacts that our effective RD&T programs are bringing to the safety, state of good repair, economic competitiveness, quality of life in communities, and environmental sustainability goals of the Department.  We are addressing serious issues in serious ways for the benefit of the American public and the American economy.  I look forward to answering your questions.

STATEMENT OF

JAMES H. WILLIAMS,
UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS OFFICE MANAGER,
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION,

BEFORE THE

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE,

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) RESARCH AND DEVELOPMENT,

JANUARY 21, 2015.

Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Johnson, Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has successfully integrated new technology into the National Airspace System (NAS) for more than 50 years, while maintaining the safest aviation system in the world.  Research and development, conducted in coordination with our government and industry partners, is critical to the safe, efficient, and timely integration of UAS technology into the NAS. 

The UAS Roadmap and Comprehensive Plan

Two key documents outline the path forward for UAS integration.  The Integration of Civil UAS in the NAS Roadmap outlines the tasks and considerations necessary to integrate UAS into the NAS.  The five-year Roadmap, updated annually, provides stakeholders with proposed agency actions to assist with their planning and development. The Roadmap also identifies research needs and priorities to enable UAS integration. The UAS Comprehensive Plan was prepared by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), in coordination with JPDO Board participants from the Departments of Defense (DOD), Commerce (DOC), Homeland Security (DHS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the FAA.  The Comprehensive Plan details work that has been accomplished, along with future efforts needed to achieve safe integration of UAS into the NAS.[1]  It sets overarching, interagency goals, objectives, and approaches to achieving integration.  

Interagency partnerships with DOD, DOC, DHS, and NASA have allowed us to leverage our collective assets and conduct research and development that benefits all users of the NAS as we integrate UAS.  Through these partnerships and close collaboration, we are overcoming some of the largest barriers to UAS integration and ensuring the continued safety of the NAS.

Leveraging Interagency Partnerships

The FAA is actively collaborating with other government agencies and the UAS industry to leverage the assets of all stakeholders as we advance UAS integration and research.  The FAA has collaborated with NASA on studies advancing air traffic control (ATC) interoperability with the future UAS use of detect and avoid systems in controlled airspace.  We continue to collaborate with members of industry on flight tests to validate RTCA[2] standards for detect and avoid systems.  And NASA, the FAA, and industry partners have successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept airborne sense-and-avoid (SAA) system, marking a major milestone in the development of an Airborne Collision Avoidance System for Unmanned Aircraft (ACAS Xu). 

The FAA, DOD, and NASA are collectively developing the technical standard that RTCA will evaluate and recommend as the appropriate minimum operational performance standards for UAS detect and avoid systems for UAS to remain clear of other aircraft.  Without the Research, Engineering, and Development (RE&D) contributions of the DOD and NASA, the standard for detect and avoid would have been delayed.  We anticipate that the RTCA’s recommended standards would satisfy the “see and avoid” regulatory requirements set forth in 14 C.F.R. Part 91. 

Another key standard under development in RTCA is a minimum operational performance standard for command and control radios.  These radios provide the link between the pilot and the aircraft and must be reliable and secure.  NASA and our industry partners are playing a key role in development of this standard by designing and building prototype radios for validation.  The FAA plans to use the NASA software and hardware to test the ability of those radios to function on smaller UAS with size, weight, and power limitations. Interagency partnerships are fundamentally important as we continue to develop safety standards for unmanned aircraft.

The FAA is also actively supporting the research and development efforts undertaken by other government entities.  One example of this type of cooperation is the FAA participation in the DoD Joint Test and Evaluation effort for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Airspace Integration (UAS-AI), sponsored by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), U.S. Northern Command, and the Army.  The purpose of the test is to standardize and evaluate procedures to effectively conduct manned and UAS operations in the airport environment.  The FAA has provided operational subject matter expertise since the inception of this project in 2012.  The FAA provided engineers, en route controllers, and high fidelity laboratory assets to support DOD’s human-in-the-loop simulations in advance of three live UAS flight tests.  The FAA has attended all three flight tests.  The FAA is also supporting this effort by evaluating the associated DOD Airspace Integration Joint Test results for potential applicability at civil airports and terminal facilities. 

The FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center

Since 1958, the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center has served as the core facility for modernizing the air traffic management system, and for advancing programs to enhance aviation safety, efficiency, and capacity.  The Technical Center is the nation’s premier air transportation system laboratory.  The Technical Center’s highly technical and diverse workforce conducts research and development, test and evaluation, verification and validation, sustainment, and ultimately, de-commissioning of the FAA’s full spectrum of aviation systems.  They develop scientific solutions to current and future air transportation safety, efficiency, and capacity challenges.  Technical Center engineers, scientists, mathematicians, and technical experts utilize a robust, one-of-a-kind, world-class laboratory environment to identify integrated system solutions for the modernization and sustainment of the NAS and for integrating new operational capabilities and technologies, including UAS. 

The Technical Center has a specialized UAS simulation laboratory for conducting integrated simulations to research and develop UAS integration procedures and standards.  The UAS lab has a variety of test assets including the ability to link FAA Air Traffic Control systems with high Fidelity Unmanned Aircraft Simulators provided by our industry partners through cooperative research and development agreements.  Important UAS research is currently underway in the area of sense and avoid multi-sensor data fusion strategies.  This research focuses on the performance of sensors used to detect and avoid both cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft.  The Technical Center is also evaluating specific UAS contingency operations and the associated impact to safety and efficiency of the NAS.  Through that research, we consider contingencies that may arise in UAS operations, such as loss of the communication link between the pilot and aircraft, loss of pilot control of the aircraft (flyaway), and emergency flight termination procedures.  The results of this research support the development of Air Traffic Control (ATC) requirements for providing services under contingency operations, as well as standard operational procedures for air traffic controllers.  The Technical Center also conducted a real-time Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) simulation to examine the implications of a UAS pilot’s inability to visually comply with applicable airspace regulations and ATC instructions.  The simulation evaluated the impact that limitations of UAS would have on the safety and efficiency of the NAS to inform FAA policy and decision making regarding how to best integrate UAS into the NAS. 

The Technical Center also provides strategic direction to the agency’s RE&D portfolio and ensures that it is integrated, well planned, budgeted and executed.  Successful Technical Center efforts have an impact across the country and indeed, around the world. 

Much of the work performed at the Technical Center is in partnership with private industry, academic institutions, other agencies such as NASA and the DOD, and international organizations.  The DHS and military entities also have space at the Technical Center.  These other entities help to create a synergistic aviation-centered site that is without rival anywhere in the world.

NextGen is Enabling the Safe and Efficient Integration of UAS Into the NAS

The safe integration of UAS into the NAS will be facilitated by new technologies being deployed as part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NAS Voice System (NVS),  Data Communications (Data Comm) and System Wide Information Management (SWIM) will provide more information, flexibility, situational awareness and a greater ability to communicate. These features are necessary to enable safe and efficient integration of UAS into the NAS. 

NVS will allow ground-based UAS pilots to communicate directly with the air traffic controllers – a key requirement in integration – over the ground-to-ground communications network.  Safe integration will lead us from today’s need for accommodation of UAS through individual approvals to a time when unmanned aircraft can “file and fly” in the NextGen environment.  It will improve the efficiency and reliability of exchanges between the UAS flight crew and air traffic control.  NVS networking capabilities enable greater flexibility in developing and using airspace/traffic assignments in all airspace.  Additionally, a “party line” requirement integral to NVS adds to the overall situational awareness of UAS flight crews by allowing multiple participants to communicate.

Data Comm applications enable controllers to send digital instructions and clearances to pilots, and to exchange more complex four-dimensional (comprising latitude, longitude, altitude and time) trajectory data, including position, navigation and timing information. For UAS operators that elect to equip their ground control station, air traffic control messages and instructions will be exchanged via Data Comm to the pilot in control.

Network-enabled access to more timely and improved information throughout the NAS serves as a major enabler for future operations, including UAS.  All information about a given flight (e.g., capabilities, constraints, preferences) is contained within the flight object and made available to system stakeholders and air traffic management service providers based on information needs and security protocol.

Data sharing is a key NextGen component – getting the right information to the right people at the right time. This is especially important when it comes to weather information. Common Support Services–Weather (CSS-Wx) will provide the FAA and NAS users with same-time access to a unified aviation weather picture via the SWIM network. This will enable collaborative and dynamic decision making among all users of the NAS, including UAS operators, and give them the flexibility to proactively plan and execute aviation operations ahead of weather impacts.  These weather services are especially critical to UAS operations since the pilot typically will be exclusively dependent on ground-based weather products to avoid hazardous weather conditions encountered by the aircraft.

Technological developments achieved through NextGen will continue to facilitate the integration of UAS into the NAS.  NextGen capabilities are continually being developed, tested, and deployed at the FAA Technical Center. We also work closely with the Mitre Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), the FAA’s Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), to leverage all available technology for UAS integration. 

UAS Test Sites.

The six UAS test sites, announced by the FAA on December 30, 2013, also play a key role in our integration of UAS technology into the NAS.  In selecting the sites, the FAA followed Congressional direction to consider geographic and climatic diversity and to consult with DOD and NASA.  The FAA selected the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the State of Nevada, New York’s Griffiss International Airport, the North Dakota Department of Commerce, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) to serve as UAS test sites. 

The FAA will utilize data from the test sites to help answer key questions and provide critical information about how UAS will interface with the air traffic control system.  The information provided by the test sites will help the FAA to develop regulations and operational procedures for future civil commercial use of UAS in the NAS.  Data from the test sites will also help identify elements of the certification and navigation requirements we will need to establish for unmanned aircraft.

UAS operational pre- and post-flight data is currently being collected from all test sites.  The test sites are providing data about the types and sizes of aircraft, number of operations, number of flight hours, notable operating parameters (for example, whether the flight was within or beyond visual line of sight), and any incidents and accidents.   Each site has also established its own research agenda.  I would like to highlight just a few of the activities underway at each test site.  

• The North Dakota Department of Commerce test site has conducted more than 84 flights, with research concentrated on wildlife census and precision agriculture studies.
• The University of Alaska Fairbanks test site encompasses 3,369 cubic miles of airspace in Alaska and Oregon.  It is expanding flight operations into Kansas with the recent approval of Kansas State University as a new team member.  The research conducted at this test site includes forward-looking infrared technology to support surveying large land mammals and using UAS to meet operational firefighting needs and provide tactical police support.
• The State of Nevada’s research will concentrate on UAS standards and operations, as well as operator standards and certification requirements.  The Nevada Test Site was recently approved to issue Experimental Airworthiness Certificates on behalf of the FAA to enable better support to the UAS manufacturers.
• Griffiss International Airport has conducted 31 flights using three different vehicles.  In cooperation with Lockheed Martin, Griffiss International Airport test site has conducted optional piloted (i.e., aircraft that can be flown from the ground or conventionally) aircraft research to test the utility of using of a rotorcraft both with and without an onboard pilot for firefighting. 
• Texas A&M Corpus Christi created a fully operational UAS command center with advanced toolsets and is pursuing solutions that will incorporate air traffic control data to augment operational safety mitigation strategies.  Research activities include precision agriculture and coastal monitoring.
• The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) test site includes Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey.  Research in these three states will include agricultural spray equipment testing, developing training and operational procedures for aeronautical surveys of agriculture, and the development of aeronautical procedures for integration of UAS flights in a towered airspace.   

We continue to work closely with the test sites to identify the data most useful to the FAA.  A significant portion of test site data analysis is being performed at the Technical Center.  A Data Lead from the Technical Center, regional representatives, and research engineers, are also visiting each UAS test site to evaluate how data is captured and maintained, ensure the integrity of data transferred to the FAA, and determine whether additional data collection would facilitate meeting the FAA’s research objectives.  We continue to work with the test sites to obtain the most valuable information possible to help the FAA integrate UAS into the NAS.

Center of Excellence

Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, Congress directed the FAA to establish a UAS Center of Excellence (COE).  The goal of this endeavor is to create a cost-sharing relationship between academia, industry, and government that will focus on research areas of primary interest to the FAA and the UAS community.   We intend to forge a union of public sector, private sector, and academic institutions to create a world-class consortium that will identify solutions for existing and anticipated UAS-related issues.  The COE will perform short- and long-term basic and applied research through a variety of analyses, development, and prototyping activities.  To that end, the FAA solicited proposals from accredited institutions of higher education with their partners and affiliates.  The FAA intends to enter into cooperative agreements with core university members, and will award matching grants for public benefit. Initially, grants will be awarded to university members to establish the COE, define the research agenda, and begin UAS research, education, training and related activities.  We are currently in the process of reviewing proposals and look forward to establishing the COE. 

The FAA has identified the following eleven initial research areas of current interest:

1. Air Traffic Control Interoperability
2. Airport Ground Operations
3. Control and Communication
4. Detect and Avoid (DAA)
5. Human Factors
6. Low Altitude Operations Safety
7. Noise Reduction
8. Spectrum Management
9. Unmanned Aircraft (UA) Crew Training and Certification, Including Pilots
10. Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management, and
11. UAS Wake Separation Standards for UAS Integration into the NAS. 

While our research needs may evolve over time, we look forward to the research and advancements that will emerge through the COE.

The FAA has long had successful partnerships with the nation’s academic research community, working with U.S. colleges and universities to foster research by COE faculty and students, industry, and other affiliates.  These research efforts have provided the agency and the industry a high return on investments and have contributed significantly to the advancement of aviation science and technology over the past two decades.  We look forward to continuing these partnerships with respect to UAS research as we establish the COE.

Conclusion

The FAA is committed to safely integrating UAS into the NAS.  The FAA has made steady progress toward that goal and will continue to do so through partnerships with industry and other government agencies.  Collaboration is critical to achieving safe integration and we look forward to continued collaboration with our federal, state, and industry partners. 

The United States has the safest aviation system in the world, and our goal is to integrate this new and important technology while still maintaining safety as our highest priority.  We are committed to ensuring that America continues to lead the world in the development and implementation of innovative aviation technology.  We look forward to continuing to work together with Congress as we continue to integrate UAS into the NAS. 

This concludes my statement.  I will be happy to answer your questions at this time. 

STATEMENT OF

MICHAEL WHITAKER,
DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION,

BEFORE THE

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION ON

ENSURING AVIATION SAFETY IN THE ERA OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS,

OCTOBER 7, 2015.

Chairman LoBiondo, Congressman Larsen, Members of the Subcommittee:

I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss a subject that continues to be the topic of a lot of conversation; Unmanned Aircraft Systems or UAS.  Wherever we look, in everything from popular culture to store shelves, UAS seem to be everywhere.  It might appear to some people that UAS suddenly appeared in our skies and are now everywhere, from the White House lawn to the U.S. Open Tennis tournament, sometimes flying too close to commercial aircraft or interfering with firefighting efforts.    Many different departments and agencies within the federal government have responsibilities associated with UAS.  Among other things, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) responsibility includes the safe and efficient integration of UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS).  In 2012, Congress passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (2012 Act), which, in part, charged the FAA with safely integrating UAS into the NAS by September 30, 2015.   

FAA has recognized the significance of this technology and has adapted organizationally to provide this emerging technology with a commensurate level of attention.  Recently, FAA selected two executives to oversee our UAS integration efforts.  Accompanying me today are Marke “Hoot” Gibson and Earl Lawrence.  Hoot is the Senior Advisor on UAS integration, reporting directly to me.  He will establish a focus on external outreach and education and interagency initiatives.  Earl is the Director of the UAS Integration Office within the FAA’s Safety organization.  He will lead the FAA’s efforts to safely and effectively integrate UAS into the NAS.  Their addition to the FAA team acknowledges the expanded demand of UAS issues both inside and outside the FAA.

There is no doubt that UAS can be of great value to this country.  In accordance with the appropriate authorizations, UAS are being used today to examine infrastructure, survey agriculture, provide  emergency response support, examine damage caused by time or disaster, and go places that would otherwise be dangerous for people or other vehicles.  Entrepreneurs around the world are exploring innovative ways to incorporate the potential of UAS into their corporate activities.  There are a number of public and commercial operations being conducted today, including the ones mentioned above, that contribute to public safety and enhance the ability of corporations to achieve important goals.  FAA does not underestimate the importance of integrating the range of UAS technology into the NAS, but there are significant safety challenges that must be mitigated for this to occur. 

For example, we have witnessed a huge influx of casual users, people who fly UAS for entertainment or recreation.  This has become the crux of a growing problem.  UAS introduces, not just a new class of aircraft, but a new class of pilot.  The vast majority of these operators do not have the basic aviation training or experience required for pilots of traditional aircraft.  They have no knowledge that they may be flying in controlled airspace.  Some may have no recognition that their actions could have serious consequences.  They are simply having fun with a toy.

The primary goal of the FAA is to integrate this new class of aircraft and their operators safely and efficiently into the NAS, regardless of whether the operations are recreational or commercial in nature.  Because this new branch of aviation is changing at the pace of human imagination, the FAA believes a flexible framework is imperative.  The UAS industry is developing many new exciting technologies and the FAA must provide a regulatory framework for UAS to operate safely.  Our goal is to provide the basic rules for operators, not identify specific technological solutions that could quickly become outdated. The FAA is creating a safe operational environment for innovators to demonstrate their technologies.  We are doing this through the establishment of basic operational regulations, the issuance of exemptions and experimental certificates, and through our continued research and collaboration at our UAS test sites, Center for Excellence, and Pathfinder programs. 

Our efforts also include long-term planning, including the ongoing development and finalization of the regulation of small unmanned aircraft.  We are conducting collaborative research and development with interagency partners and the UAS industry.  We have established test sites and airspace for these activities.  The FAA and our government partners have always realized that the best way to succeed is through partnership, whether it be with industry or other governments.  Finding consensus leads to cooperation and willing participation.

Consistent with our approach to other regulations, we are establishing a risk-based approach to the regulations in this area, laying a strong foundation for safe integration.  The concept is balance.  We must develop a broadly scoped approach to rulemaking to identify and mitigate safety risks without stifling innovation and industry performance.  However, a key factor in the success of any regulation is the willingness of the operators to follow them.

Integrating UAS means integrating operators into the aviation culture and mindset.  It means creating a general awareness that these devices are not toys and the consequences of misuse can be serious.  We believe the most effective way to accomplish this task is through education.  We want to work through partnerships with model aircraft organizations, manufacturers, and interagency partners, as well through traditional and social media outreach, to ensure that these new operators know when and where they may safely fly.

To this end, with the help of our stakeholders, we developed the “Know Before You Fly” and “No Drone Zone” programs. “Know Before You Fly” offers common sense advice, such as don’t fly near airports, don’t fly in adverse weather, don’t fly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and don’t fly over people or sensitive infrastructure like power plants.

Our “No Drone Zone” program began with the Super Bowl earlier this year and is tailored to specific events and places, such as the heavily restricted airspace around Washington, D.C.  The No Drone Zone video posted on You-Tube prior to the Super Bowl this year received over 59,000 hits.  Most importantly, we received no reports of unauthorized activity in the restricted airspace around the stadium.

We want people to enjoy their hobby, but we want to make sure they fly safely.  Education, such as the programs noted above, has been our preferred method for successfully integrating UAS operators.  We can never let an educational opportunity slip by.  We need to be creative and collaborative in our approach to reaching the public.  I will share with you two examples of this approach.  Several UAS manufacturers have started to voluntarily include the “Know Before You Fly” safety literature with their product packaging.  We are also trying to reach a broader audience by working with the San Francisco 49ers NFL football team to use their scoreboard to make public service announcements during their games.  We hope to expand this type of outreach in the coming months. 

In order to make it easier for the operator to know when and where it is appropriate to operate a UAS, in particular a model aircraft, we helped develop the B4UFLY mobile app.  This is a simple, intuitive user interface that lets the UAS operator know if there are any prohibitions in place for where they are flying or where they want to fly.  There is a color-coded status indicator with text that provides the operator with situational awareness.  Beta-testing of this app is ongoing and the FAA will make adjustments where necessary based on user feedback.  The industry is clearly looking to FAA for leadership in educating the public about the safety parameters for model aircraft operations.  Our vision for this app is that the FAA would continue to support the basic technology, while other companies could augment it with their navigational maps.

As discussed, the FAA believes that partnerships and education are the keys to the success of safe UAS integration.  But to be clear, if the unauthorized operation is intentional or is intended to cause harm, strong and swift enforcement action, including criminal enforcement, will be taken.

When UAS delayed fire-fighting activities in the drought-stricken western states, local law enforcement and forest service personnel were on the front lines dealing with the situation.  We are working with law enforcement agencies to educate them about our rules and to emphasize that, in addition to the FAA’s rules, there are existing state and local laws in areas of reckless endangerment, trespass, and privacy that could apply.  Just because this is a new technology or different than what law enforcement has seen in these areas before does not mean that these laws would not be equally applicable to such acts involving use of UAS.  We want to work with law enforcement because if they encounter unauthorized UAS operations, they can help us to gather evidence and find witnesses that will help with our investigations and enforcement action.  For some, education will never be sufficient.  As with any other activity, we will always have to contend with those who wish to cause mischief or refuse to consider the potential harm their activities might pose to others.

Informing and educating UAS operators is just one piece of integrating these vehicles safely into the NAS.  The 2012 Act provided the Secretary with the authority to issue exemptions that allow for commercial UAS activity in low risk, controlled environments (section 333 exemptions).  After gaining experience with various types of operators, the Department recently expedited its approach for section 333 exemptions.   We are now able to issue summary grants when we find that we’ve already granted a similar exemption.  Summary grants are more efficient because they do not require applicants to repeat analysis that has already been performed.  This streamlined approach now allows the Department to issue between 40 and 50 section 333 exemptions a week.  These exemptions are effectively acting as a bridge until the small UAS rule comes out to more broadly authorize the operation of UAS under 55 pounds if the operations take place under a set of parameters to maintain safety, including operating at speeds below 100 mph and below 500 feet in altitude.

Additionally, as part of our efforts to streamline the integration of this technology, the FAA has further expedited safe UAS integration and facilitated commercial use by issuing a blanket Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) for flights at or below 200 feet when it issues a section 333 exemption.  The blanket COA can be used for UAS operations that involve aircraft that weigh less than 55 pounds, operate during daytime Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions, operate within visual line of sight (VLOS) of the pilots, and stay at the prescribed distances away from airports or heliports. 

From the outset, we have worked closely and successfully with government partners and industry stakeholders to achieve milestones put forward by the 2012 Act.  In coordination with other governmental agencies and industry, we developed two long-term planning documents, the Comprehensive Plan and a five-year Roadmap. We have worked with members of the UAS Executive Committee (ExCom), comprised of representatives of various government agencies and departments with responsibilities in this area, to leverage our collective assets and conduct research and development on UAS integration while ensuring the continued safety of the NAS.  The FAA collaborated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on studies advancing air traffic control interoperability with future use by UAS of detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems in controlled airspace.  We continue to collaborate with the industry on flight tests to validate RTCA[1] standards for DAA systems as well as command and control radios.  RTCA began work on the standards at the request of the FAA in 2013 and they are scheduled for completion in 2016.  These standards will help resolve two of the difficult challenges facing the industry for integration of UAS into the NAS.  NASA, the FAA, and industry partners have successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept airborne DAA system and prototype radios for use as command and control systems for UAS. 

We are already looking beyond the small UAS rulemaking at what comes next in terms of the types of operations expected, and what technologies we may need to certify to ensure safety.  The FAA has consulted with the UAS ARC to determine the next areas of focus so we can enable those UAS operations with the highest net societal benefits.  These recommendations are being assessed and will result in additional focus areas that will become the centerpiece for FAA’s strategic plans for UAS integration.

As the aerospace industry and aviation system grow more complex, we must ensure that our resources are directed to those areas which pose the greatest risk to safe aviation operations.  We will need to expand collaborative, data-driven processes with the UAS industry to improve safety and streamline process in areas such as certification.  We must meet challenges and take advantage of opportunities.

The safe integration of UAS into the NAS will be facilitated by new technologies being deployed as part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).  NAS Voice System (NVS), Data Communications (Data Comm), and System Wide Information Management (SWIM) will provide more information, flexibility, situational awareness, and a greater ability to communicate with NAS users.

To enhance safe application of new and emerging technologies, earlier this year, FAA established the Pathfinder Program, which was referenced above.  In the Pathfinder Program we work with three companies to obtain important information on the next steps beyond operational parameters included in the  small UAS notice of proposed rulemaking.  For visual line of sight operations, FAA is working with CNN on how UAS might be used for news gathering in populated areas.  We are also working with the UAS manufacturer Precision Hawk to explore beyond visual line of sight operations in rural areas.  Precision Hawk will be working to explore how flying beyond the pilot’s direct vision might be used to allow for greater UAS use for crop monitoring in precision agricultural operations.  BNSF Railway will explore command and control challenges of using UAS to inspect rail system infrastructure.  Developing the safe use of this important technology can only benefit how UAS can be used in the future. 

Aviation technology is constantly evolving.  This is certainly not the first time we, as an agency, have been required to integrate new aviation technology into the NAS.  Different aircraft technologies, including jet engines, were required to be accepted operationally and we handled them as they developed.  Today, in addition to UAS, we are working to integrate commercial space technology into the NAS.  Clearly, there will be other technologies that we will be required to integrate moving forward.

I am proud of the team we have brought together and of the approach we are taking to ensure that our airspace continues to be the safest in the world, even as we work to accommodate new technologies that have the potential for changing the way we live our lives.  This is an exciting time to be part of the FAA.  I am happy to have had the opportunity to speak with you this morning and I will be glad to answer any questions you have.

STATEMENT OF

MICHAEL WHITAKER,
DEPUTY ADMINISTATOR,
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION,

BEFORE THE

HOUSE OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE, ON

DRONES: THE NEXT GENERATION OF COMMERCE?  

JUNE 17, 2015.

Chairman Chaffetz, Congressman Cummings, Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the status of the safe integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is safely and steadily integrating UAS into the largest, most complex aviation system in the world.  At the same time, UAS technologies continue to advance at a rapid pace.  We are working diligently to develop a regulatory framework that will allow for innovation while ensuring the safety of other users of the airspace and people and property on the ground.  

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (2012 Act) established the framework for the integration of UAS into the NAS and tasked the FAA with the safe integration of civil UAS into the system by October 2015.  We followed through with Congress’ intent in the 2012 Act and completed milestones forming the foundation for future integration.  This includes long-term planning for the future of integration, including a small UAS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), collaborative research and development with interagency partners and with industry, and the establishment of test sites and airspace for UAS research and development and testing.

Consistent with the authority in section 333 of the 2012 Act, the Department and FAA are issuing exemptions that allow for commercial activity in low-risk, controlled environments.  The initial exemption process took longer than we liked.  After gaining experience with various types of operators, the FAA recently expedited its approach for section 333 exemptions.   We are now able to issue summary grants when we find that we’ve already granted a similar exemption.  Summary grants are more efficient because they do not require applicants to repeat analysis that has already been performed.  This streamlined approach now allows the FAA to issue between 40 and 50 section 333 exemptions a week.

As part of this new approach, the FAA grants a blanket Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) for flights at or below 200 feet when it issues the section 333 exemption.  This applies to aircraft that weigh less than 55 pounds, operate during daytime Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions, operate within visual line of sight (VLOS) of the pilots, and stay certain distances away from airports or heliports.  Operators wishing to operate above 200 feet would need to request a separate COA. 

From the outset, we have worked closely and successfully with government partners and industry stakeholders to achieve milestones put forward by the 2012 Act.  In coordination with other governmental agencies and industry, we developed two long-term planning documents, the Comprehensive Plan and a five-year Roadmap. We have worked with members of the UAS Executive Committee (ExCom) to leverage our collective assets and conduct research and development on UAS integration while ensuring the continued safety of the NAS.  The FAA collaborated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on studies advancing air traffic control interoperability with future use by UAS of detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems in controlled airspace.  We continue to collaborate with the industry on flight tests to validate RTCA[1] standards for DAA systems as well as command and control radios.  RTCA began work on the standards at the request of the FAA in 2013 and they are scheduled for completion in 2016.  These standards will help resolve two of the difficult challenges facing the industry for integration of UAS into the NAS.  NASA, the FAA, and industry partners have successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept airborne DAA system and prototype radios for use as command and control systems for UAS. 

In November 2012, the FAA released its Arctic Implementation Plan to establish permanent operational areas and corridor routes in the Arctic for the operation of small UAS as required by the 2012 Act.  In July 2013, a restricted category type certificate was issued to Insitu’s ScanEagle X200 and to AeroVironment’s PUMA so that each UAS could conduct Arctic flights for commercial purposes.  In September 2013, ConocoPhillips began using Insitu’s ScanEagle for its marine mammal and ice surveys.  In June 2014, BP began using AeroVironment’s Puma AE to survey its pipelines, roads, and equipment at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.  Safety and operational data from these flights will be used to develop UAS operations and performance standards.  The FAA has also issued 176 special airworthiness certificates in the experimental category for civil UAS, 34 of which are currently active.  Special airworthiness certificates are issued for research and development, crew training, and market surveys.

In December 2013, the FAA selected six test sites for non-federal entities to test UAS technology and operations. All of the UAS test sites, which were selected based on geographic and climatic diversity, were operational by September 2014.  They will help us gather operational data to foster further integration.  Flights of unmanned aircraft have already been conducted, including flights for research on agricultural and wildlife monitoring and on law enforcement and emergency services support.

  Test sites are providing data about the types and sizes of aircraft, number of operations, number of flight hours, notable operating parameters (for example, whether the flight was within or beyond visual line of sight), and any incidents and accidents.  Each site has also established its own research agenda.  A significant portion of test site data analysis is being performed at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center.  Qualified FAA personnel are visiting each UAS test site to evaluate how data is captured and maintained, ensure the integrity of data transferred to the FAA, and determine whether additional data collection would help the FAA meet its research objectives.  The FAA also invited public comment in the proposed small UAS rule (discussed in more detail below) on how the agency can improve or further leverage its test site program to encourage innovation and safe UAS integration; those comments are now being reviewed.

In the interim, to further advance use of the test sites, in 2014, the FAA implemented a Designated Airworthiness Representatives program that permits test site designees to issue experimental certificates for unmanned aircraft for research and development, crew training, and market surveys.  Test site designees must complete FAA training, available online or in person, to be authorized to work within this new program.  This new delegation authority will improve access to the test sites by UAS manufacturers, as well as help decrease the workload on the FAA to process UAS experimental certificates.

In April 2008, even before the 2012 Act, the FAA chartered the small UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC).  It included members from a wide spectrum across the aviation community, to provide recommendations on how small UAS could be safely integrated into the NAS.  In April 2009, the committee provided recommendations and the FAA began working on a rulemaking that encompassed the widest possible range of small UAS operations.  The approach utilized a regulatory structure similar to the one used for manned aircraft: small UAS operations that pose a low risk to people, property, and other aircraft would be subject to less stringent regulation, while those posing a greater risk would be subject to more stringent regulation to mitigate the greater risk.  Developing this broadly-scoped approach to the rulemaking effort required time to strike the right balance between mitigating safety risks, while also allowing for changing technology and innovation.

On February 15, 2015, the Department and the FAA issued the Small UAS NPRM that would allow small UAS to operate for commercial and other non-recreational purposes without first obtaining an airworthiness certificate, a section 333 exemption or a COA.  The proposed rule would allow unmanned aircraft weighing up to 55 pounds to operate if the operations take place under a set of parameters to maintain safety including operating at speeds below 100 mph and below 500 feet in altitude.  It would allow operations during daylight hours and would require the operator to be able to see the unmanned aircraft at all times.  Rather than requiring a private pilot certificate, operators would obtain an unmanned aircraft operator’s certificate from the FAA by passing a written proficiency test.  Before each flight, operators would conduct a preflight inspection, just as pilots do with manned aircraft today.  The proposal does not permit flight over persons not directly involved in the operation unless they are under a covered structure,, or operating under the proposed microUAS option.  Also, without permission from air traffic control, unmanned flights would be restricted from operating in certain busy airspace or in airspace otherwise restricted to most or all aviation users.  The proposal would offer a flexible framework for the safe use of small unmanned aircraft, while accommodating future innovation in the industry.  The FAA intends to establish a risk-based approach to this rule and to lay a strong foundation that will facilitate safe integration. 

The public comment period on the proposed small UAS rule closed on April 24, 2015.  Issuing a small UAS final rule is one of the FAA’s and the Department of Transportation’s highest priorities.  As proposed, the United States would have one of the most flexible UAS regulatory frameworks in the world.

In addition to the efforts described above, the Administrator recently announced the Pathfinder Program to study UAS operations in circumstances beyond those currently being approved.  The FAA is partnering with three leading U.S. companies that have committed extensive resources to perform research that will help us determine if and how we can safely expand unmanned aircraft operations..  BNSF Railroad will explore the challenges of using these vehicles to inspect rail infrastructure beyond VLOS in isolated areas.  CNN will examine how VLOS operations might be used for newsgathering in urban areas.  Precision Hawk, a UAS manufacturer, will survey crops in rural areas using UAS flying outside of the pilot’s direct vision.  All of this information will help us determine how UAS are ultimately integrated into the NAS.

The FAA also continues to use all available information from its partners as well as its own research and development to identify challenges, validate advanced mitigation strategies, and explore opportunities to proceed in integrating UAS into the NAS.

On May 8, consistent with the direction in the agency’s FY 2014 appropriation, the FAA announced Mississippi State University as the agency’s new Center of Excellence (COE) for UAS.  The COE will focus on research, education, and training in areas critical to safe and successful integration of UAS into the NAS. In addition to Mississippi State, team members include 12 other universities across the country.   This will serve as another resource for identifying solutions for existing and anticipated UAS-related issues.  We intend to forge a union of public sector, private sector, and academic institutions to create a world-class consortium.

 UAS have become increasingly available and affordable to the average consumer, many of whom are not trained aviators.  Manned aircraft operators have reported close calls with UAS flying in the airspace. The FAA is taking a proactive approach to educate the public on the safe and responsible use of UAS.  The FAA provided model aircraft enthusiasts guidance on the “do’s and don’ts” of safe model aircraft operations.  Last year, we partnered with members of industry and the modeling community to initiate the “Know Before You Fly” outreach campaign that provides UAS operators with the information they need to fly safely and responsibly.  The FAA’s No Drone Zone initiative, designed to raise public awareness of the FAA Notice to Airmen prohibiting unauthorized aircraft -- including UAS -- from flying over or near NFL regular- and post-season football games is a success.  The No Drone Zone video posted on YouTube prior to the 2015 Super Bowl has received over 57,000 hits. Most important, we received no reports of unauthorized activity in the restricted airspace around the University of Phoenix Stadium during the game.

Recognizing that local law enforcement is often in the best position to respond quickly, the FAA issued guidance for these first responders to deter, detect, investigate, and report unauthorized or unsafe UAS operations.  While our first preference is to educate UAS operators about statutory and regulatory compliance, we will use administrative and legal enforcement action to gain compliance when appropriate.

We are already looking beyond the small UAS rulemaking at what comes next in terms of the types of operations expected, and what technologies we may need to certify.  The FAA has consulted with the UAS ARC to determine the next areas of focus so we can enable those UAS operations with the highest net societal benefits.  These recommendations are being assessed and will result in additional focus areas that will become the centerpiece for FAA’s strategic plans for UAS integration.

As the aerospace industry and aviation system grow more complex, we must ensure that our resources are directed to the areas with the highest safety risk.  We will need to expand collaborative, data-driven processes with the UAS industry to improve safety and streamline process in areas such as certification.  We must meet challenges and take advantage of opportunities.

To reach these objectives, a new advisory circular is being developed to inform the UAS industry how to use a risk based decision-making process to establish certification criteria.  This advisory circular is essential for enabling the certification of larger UAS for operation in the NAS.

The safe integration of UAS into the NAS will be facilitated by new technologies being deployed as part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).  NAS Voice System (NVS), Data Communications (Data Comm), and System Wide Information Management (SWIM) will provide more information, flexibility, situational awareness and a greater ability to communicate with NAS users.

The United States has the safest aviation system in the world.  Our goal is to integrate this new and important technology while maintaining safety as our highest priority.  We are committed to ensuring that the United States continues to lead the world in the development and implementation of aviation technology for safety.  We look forward to continuing to work with Congress as we integrate UAS into the NAS. 

This concludes my statement.  I will be happy to answer your questions.

STATEMENT OF

KAREN L. VAN DYKE
DIRECTOR, POSITIONING, NAVIGATION, AND TIMING
& SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COAST GUARD AND
MARITIME TRANSPORTATION
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Hearing on

The Federal Radionavigation Plan, H.R. 1684, the Foreign Spill Protection Act,
and H.R. ----, the National Icebreaker Fund Act of 2015

July 28, 2015

Chairman Hunter, Ranking Member Garamendi and Members of the Subcommittee:

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the Federal Radionavigation Plan and the importance of positioning, navigation, and timing systems to America’s national security, homeland security, economic security and efficiency.

Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) capabilities are critical for transportation safety, efficiency and capacity-increasing programs, including major initiatives such as the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control mission, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and Positive Train Control (PTC). The Global Positioning System (GPS), in particular, is used for every mode of transportation, and there are numerous safety and efficiency applications of this enabling technology that provide tremendous benefit to America’s transportation infrastructure.  GPS is a key technology for vehicle collision-warning and crash-avoidance systems while enabling shorter routes, increased time and fuel savings, and reduced traffic delays across all modes of transportation.

As designated by the 2004 National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD)-39, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has the lead responsibility for the development of requirements for civil applications from all United States Government civil Departments and Agencies. In addition to the transportation applications, GPS is essential for the safe and efficient operations of first responders, search and rescue, resource management, weather forecasting, earthquake monitoring, surveying and mapping, precision agriculture, telecommunications and financial transactions. 

The Deputy Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Transportation co-chair the National Executive Committee (EXCOM) for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing, which includes representatives from seven cabinet agencies, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Since 1980, the Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP) has been the official source of positioning, navigation, and timing strategy and planning for the Federal Government. It is jointly developed biennially by DOT, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The 2014 FRP contains six sections:

• Section 1 – Introduction to the Federal Radionavigation Plan: Describes the purpose, scope, and objectives of the plan, including an overview of the National PNT Architecture, and discusses PNT system selection considerations.
• Section 2 – Roles and Responsibilities: Presents DoD, DHS, DOT, and other Federal agencies’ roles and responsibilities for the planning and providing of PNT services.
• Section 3 – Policy: Describes the U.S. policy for providing each Federal PNT system identified in this document.
• Section 4 – PNT User Requirements: Summarizes performance requirements for availability, accuracy, integrity, etc. for civil applications.
• Section 5 – Operating Plans: Summarizes the plans of the Federal Government to provide PNT systems and services for use by the civil and military sectors. This section also presents the research and development efforts planned and conducted by DoD, DHS, DOT, and other Federal departments and agencies.
• Section 6 – PNT Architecture Assessment and Evolution: Summarizes the activities and plans of the Federal Government to implement the National PNT Architecture.

The FRP also contains appendices covering System Parameters and Descriptions, PNT Information Services, and Geodetic Reference Systems and Datums.

Section 5.1.2 of the FRP recognizes the need to mitigate disruptions to GPS. Like all radio-based services, GPS is subject to interference from both natural and human-made sources. A loss of GPS service, due to either intentional or unintentional interference, in the absence of any other means of navigation, would have varying negative effects on operations. As stated in the FRP, the U.S. Government encourages all GPS users to be aware of the impacts of GPS interference and incorporate or integrate alternative PNT sources where needed to ensure continued operations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), for instance, is currently developing requirements and recommendations for future alternative PNT solutions that address mitigations for GPS disruptions.

Sub-sections of section 5.1.2 document sector-specific mitigations and operational procedures to mitigate vulnerabilities to GPS. The FAA currently maintains a ground-based navigation aid infrastructure that serves as the aviation backup to GPS.  The ground infrastructure, as documented in the FRP, includes Very High Frequency (VHF) Omni Directional Ranging (VOR), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), and the Instrument Landing System (ILS).  The FRP also documents research into use of multi-sensor PNT systems such as inertial navigation systems, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), and map matching.

Modern transport-category aircraft with inertial systems may be able to continue navigating safely for a period of time after losing PNT position updating, depending on the route or procedure being flown. In some cases, this capability may prove adequate to depart an area with localized interference, or alternatively the flight can proceed under visual flight rules (VFR) in appropriate weather conditions. However, inertial performance without PNT updates degrades with time and will eventually fail to meet airspace requirements.

Integrated GPS/inertial avionics, as well as improvements in antennas and algorithms, could provide increased interference resistance, effectively reducing the area affected by GPS jamming or unintentional interference. Industry research is proceeding to enhance these technologies, with an expectation that they might be marketed to a broader cross section of the aviation community at some point in the future.  

GPS enables the safe and efficient movement of waterborne commerce along the U.S. Marine Transportation System, and is especially critical as ports become increasingly congested with larger containerships, tankers, and passenger vessels.  In the event of a GPS disruption, methods of conventional navigation, such as shipboard radar, visual aids to navigation, fathometers, and paper charts, may help maintain the flow of commerce along waterways and in ports.  However, ports may have to reduce the number of allowed vessel movements, and port congestion may become even more problematic and costly, in addition to an increased risk of maritime accidents.  In addition, USCG exercises a certain amount of control over the waterways, under the authority vested in the Captain of the Port, and may close waterways or restrict marine activity during adverse conditions or special operations.

Surface transportation agencies are working with industry to ensure that safety-critical systems that use GPS and its augmentations consider the loss of these PNT services and are able to mitigate its effects. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) encourages an integrated approach to technology by railroads that incorporates systems that are interoperable, synergistic, and redundant. These technologies and procedures include dead reckoning from fixed points using wheel tachometers, inertial navigation systems (INS), sensor circuits, signaling systems, and dispatcher operations. These redundant systems and procedures ensure the safe and efficient operation of the railroad system during the loss or disruption of GPS.

Because it is expected that signal availability from GPS may not be adequate for surface users experiencing canopy or urban canyon obstructions, the integration of complementary and/or alternate systems that perform a verification test on the GPS navigation solution and that support continued operation in the event of degradation to the GPS signal will be employed in a multi-sensor system-of-systems configuration.

The PNT EXCOM is currently investigating use of an eLoran system to serve as a backup PNT capability to GPS. In March of 2015, the Department of Transportation invited comment from the public and industry regarding consideration of an eLoran system as a backup PNT capability to GPS.

There were approximately 200 responses to the Federal Register Notice.  Most responses were not application-specific, other than for maritime use.  The aviation community, in general, favored use of existing ground-based navigation aids.

In closing, I would like to say a few words about the Nationwide Differential GPS (NDGPS) service which augments GPS by providing increased accuracy and integrity using land-based reference stations to transmit correction messages over radiobeacon frequencies.

As discussed in Section 5.3.4 of the FRP, DHS, in coordination with DOT, is analyzing the future requirements for NDGPS to support investment decisions beyond Fiscal Year 2016. Future investment decisions might include maintaining NDGPS as currently configured, decommissioning NDGPS as currently configured, or developing alternate uses for the NDGPS infrastructure.

Discussion on the future of NDGPS, as well as on a backup PNT capability, is planned for the next meeting of the National Space-Based PNT Executive Committee in September.

Thank you and I look forward to answering your questions.

# # #

STATEMENT OF

THERESE MCMILLAN,
ACTING ADMINISTRATOR
FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS,
U.S. SENATE

April 21, 2015

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today to report on the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) progress toward implementing the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).  We are pleased for the opportunity to discuss the Administration’s surface transportation reauthorization proposal, the Generating Renewal, Opportunity, and Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency, and Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Communities throughout America (GROW AMERICA) Act. It builds on the strong foundation MAP-21 provided for public transit, recognizing transit’s growing presence across the country.

In 2014, Americans took 10.8 billion trips on transit - the highest annual ridership number since 1957. Public transportation is a way of life in urban areas, a lifeline in many towns and rural areas, and a quality of life improvement for many fast growing communities. In addition, many working families, seniors, veterans, individuals with disabilities, tribal residents, and others rely on public transportation for their mobility needs. Transit is a driver of local and regional economic development, helps reduce highway congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, and provides people better access to job centers, schools, medical services and other vital daily activities.

Approximately half of all transit riders do not have access to a private vehicle, making public transit a primary means of connecting to their local community. FTA anticipates that demand for public transportation service will continue to rise. Now is the time to deliver the policy and funding solutions America needs to improve our national transportation network, invest in our collective future, and grow the economy.

MAP-21 took effect on October 1, 2012, and authorized $10.6 billion in FY 2013 and $10.7 billion in both FY 2014 and FY 2015 for public transportation. FTA is effectively and efficiently administering those federal dollars through its formula and discretionary grant programs. We also continue to make significant progress on an aggressive timetable towards implementing new safety authority through the rulemaking process and developing related guidance with input from affected stakeholders.

Last year, the Administration proposed the GROW AMERICA Act, which was a comprehensive four-year, $302 billion reauthorization proposal calling for substantial funding increases as well as critical policy reforms. Congress passed a short term extension with status-quo policies and flat funding, which did not address America’s infrastructure funding challenges. In March 2015, the Administration submitted to Congress an updated version of GROW AMERICA, consistent with the President’s FY 2016 Budget Request, which adds additional funding certainty by requesting a six-year, $478 billion multimodal proposal, including $115 billion to support our Nation’s public transportation systems. 

The GROW AMERICA Act continues the focus on FTA’s three key priorities: improving transit safety – FTA’s highest priority; addressing a transit asset maintenance backlog that’s more than $86 billion and growing; and building system capacity to meet growing ridership demand.

To that end, the President’s FY 2016 Budget Request seeks $18.4 billion to maintain existing transit systems in a state of good repair while expanding transportation options. The proposal increases average transit spending by nearly 76 percent above FY 2015 enacted levels, which will enable transit agencies to address immediate repair needs, enhance core capacity and plan for expansion to improve connectivity in suburbs, fast growing cities, small towns, and rural communities. GROW AMERICA also supports economic competitiveness by creating ladders of opportunity through workforce development initiatives and ensuring that manufactured products are produced in the United States. These transit investments will play a critical role in supporting communities around the country.

I. SAFETY

Public Transportation Safety (49 U.S.C. 5329; Section 3008 of GROW AMERICA)

MAP-21 amended 49 U.S.C. 5329 to give FTA authority for the first time to establish safety criteria for all modes of public transportation, and to establish minimum safety standards for public transportation vehicles used in revenue operations.

Keeping rail public transportation safe requires a partnership between FTA, transit agencies and those states that have state safety oversight (SSO) obligations. FTA will serve as a leader, facilitator, and final regulatory authority; transit agencies will be held responsible for the safe operation of their systems; and the SSOs will act as effective day-to-day safety oversight regulators capable of holding transit rail systems accountable and ensuring they comply with minimum state and federal safety standards.

Following the August 2013 publication of an ANPRM on safety, FTA published the SSO Program Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on February 27, 2015, outlining a program that will replace the existing outdated regulatory framework with one designed to better evaluate the effectiveness of a rail transit agency’s system safety program. This new framework will support the flexible, scalable principles of Safety Management Systems (SMS) to focus on organization-wide safety policy, proactive hazard identification and risk informed decision-making as part of risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion.  Comments are requested on the SSO NPRM by April 28, 2015.  Relatedly, FTA intends to launch an SMS Implementation Pilot Program to assist transit agencies of all sizes and operations, including bus-only, in the development and maintenance of their Safety Management System.

FTA also recently published the Final Interim Safety Training Certification requirements designed to enhance the technical competencies and capabilities of individuals responsible for direct safety oversight of rail transit systems at agency, state and federal levels, and of individuals who conduct safety audits of these systems. These requirements become effective on May 28, 2015.

We intend to issue additional guidance and notices of proposed rulemaking in 2015, about such issues as the National Public Transportation Safety Plan, the Public Transportation Safety Program, the Transit Agency Safety Plan, the National Public Transportation Safety Certification Training Program and the Transit Asset Management Plan. Together, this framework will ensure safety standards are in place at each transit system across the country to protect the riding public and transit agency employees.

In the meantime, in order to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of public transit safety operations, FTA is utilizing its new safety authorities to collaborate with the Chicago Transit Authority to examine their safety program, and to conduct a Safety Management Inspection of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which began in early March 2015.

While MAP-21 gave FTA the authority to establish safety regulations, it did not provide FTA with expanded enforcement tools to ensure compliance with such regulations.  To that end, the GROW AMERICA Act bolsters FTA’s safety authority by allowing for the imposition of civil and criminal penalties and establishes emergency authority for FTA to restrict or prohibit unsafe transit practices.  It also includes data confidentiality for our grantees and an opt-out provision from the law’s SSO Oversight program. This will apply to states with fixed guideway public transportation systems, whether in operation, under construction, or in design, with fewer than one million combined actual and projected revenue miles per year, or which provide fewer than 10 million combined actual and projected unlinked passenger trips per year. FTA will oversee the safety of these exempted systems.  The GROW AMERICA Act would also provide resources to fully carry out the safety program, including providing an appropriate level of assistance to states and individual transit providers, while also enhancing safety data collection. 

II. TRANSIT ASSET MANAGEMENT

State of Good Repair (49 U.S.C. 5337 & 5339; Section 3010 of GROW AMERICA)

Returning transportation assets to a state of good repair is a strategic goal for the Department of Transportation (DOT) and a high priority for FTA.  Well-maintained infrastructure investments can have long-term economic benefits for the Nation, but those benefits are not fully realized because of years of underinvestment and neglect. This is evident in the DOT’s 2013 Conditions and Performance Report to Congress, which found an $86 billion maintenance backlog of rail and bus assets that are in marginal or poor condition. The backlog continues to grow at an estimated rate of $2.5 billion per year under current investment levels.

MAP-21 requires transit agencies to develop a Transit Asset Management plan to help them strike a better and more informed balance between preservation and expansion needs in the context of a safety-first performance culture. Strategic and targeted investments focused on replacing and rehabilitating aging transit infrastructure are needed to help bring our Nation’s bus and rail systems into a state of good repair. Having newer and more reliable track, signal systems, vehicles and stations will help ensure the safe, dependable and accessible transit service demanded by the American public.

FTA is actively working to implement this new National Transit Asset Management System through the rulemaking process, supplemented by technical assistance and outreach to grantees. Given the diversity of transit systems, from complex urban rail and bus networks, to demand response van systems in rural communities, a flexible approach will be paramount. FTA expects to issue a NPRM later this year, addressing the extensive comments received on the October 2013 Advanced NPRM, which aligned the transit asset management process with the need for strengthening transit safety. Additionally, on January 28, 2015, FTA published in the Federal Register final guidance to assist recipients applying for funding under the State of Good Repair Formula Grant Program.   

However, under MAP-21, our efforts still do not go far enough to address the backlog of maintenance. The current State of Good Repair Formula Grant Program focuses on rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems that are at least seven years old. The preservation needs of non-BRT bus services were severely impacted in MAP-21, with the decrease in funding for the Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Grant Program. The need for additional investments and innovative policies that address the backlog for all bus and rail maintenance still exists, and much more work remains to be done. To that end, the GROW AMERICA Act proposes a total of $7.6 billion in fiscal year 2016 to support FTA’s State of Good Repair efforts, and includes $5.7 billion for State of Good Repair Grants (49 U.S.C. 5337) and $1.9 billion for Bus and Bus Facilities Grants (49 U.S.C. 5339), with incremental increases in each fiscal year through the end of the authorization. 

All of these actions, taken together, reflect the U.S. Department of Transportation’s strategic commitment to address the infrastructure deficit in a holistic fashion—and to help the industry employ better metrics that enable them, in turn, to be better stewards of their assets.   

III. BUILDING SYSTEM CAPACITY

Core Formula Programs (49 U.S.C. 5307, 5310, 5311; Section 3003, 3004 of GROW AMERICA)

FTA’s formula grant programs provide the critical funding for the day to day business of transit agencies across America. MAP-21 retained the program structure for the formula programs with a few exceptions, which were implemented quickly in 2013. The Urbanized Area Formula Program (5307) provides critical capital funding to transit agencies for recapitalization needs. The Rural Formula program (5311) provides capital and operating funding to transit agencies serving in rural areas, tribal lands and Appalachian states. The Enhanced Mobility of Seniors & Individuals with Disabilities Formula Program (5310) provides funding for transit services that specifically target serving the elderly and disabled.

Since FY 2013, FTA has obligated more than $10.8 billion in funding for these three formula programs. GROW AMERICA builds on the baseline provided by MAP-21 by requesting a 2% increase for FY2016, with moderate increases thereafter for the life of the authorization.

Capital Investment Grants (49 U.S.C. 5309; Section 3002a of GROW AMERICA)

Not long after the enactment of MAP-21, FTA streamlined its New Starts and Small Starts Capital Investment Program through a final rule and accompanying guidance. The changes are helping local project sponsors shave up to six months off the time required to move major projects through the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Program pipeline. Sponsors who choose to use the optional simplified travel model developed by FTA – a significant streamlining tool - may develop ridership forecasts in as little as two weeks, a dramatic timesaving from the two years it can take using traditional forecasting models, while saving as much as $1 million on related model forecast development costs. Additionally, FTA now has a more straightforward approach for measuring a proposed transit project’s cost-effectiveness, considers an expanded range of environmental benefits, and has simplified the administrative reporting process.

In April 2015, FTA requested comments from the industry on interim policy guidance that, when finalized, will continue to address MAP-21 provisions that govern the CIG program. The guidance provides a deeper level of detail about the methods for applying the project justification and local financial commitment criteria for rating and evaluating New Starts, Small Starts, and Core Capacity Improvement projects, and the procedures for getting through the steps in the process required by law. FTA is proposing to use simple eligibility parameters, simplified evaluation measures, and expanded “warrants” based on readily available, easily verifiable data to make the process less burdensome  and time consuming for project sponsors who qualify.

GROW AMERICA proposes to expand the CIG program by increasing the program funding level to match the growth in projects seeking funding. FTA has seen a steady rise in the demand for projects seeking Capital Investment Grant funding and a significant increase of projects requesting to enter project development since the passage of streamlined Capital Investment Grant program requirements in MAP-21. The FY 2016 CIG Annual Report includes many projects seeking construction grant agreements, and FTA has seen 44 new projects overall since MAP-21 took effect.

GROW AMERICA would also create a streamlined review process for simple, low-risk, cost-effective projects in smaller communities by adding a Very Small Starts category. Very Small Starts projects would be new corridor or regional-based bus services with premium features located in small urban or rural areas. 

Rapid Growth Area Transit Program (49 U.S.C. 5314; Section 3011 of GROW AMERICA)

GROW AMERICA proposes a new Rapid Growth Area Transit competitive program that will provide $500 million in capital funds in fiscal year 2016, with incremental increases each fiscal year through 2021, to help fast-growing communities introduce new BRT systems as part of their transportation mix.  BRT systems are a proven way to expand mobility relatively quickly and affordably, helping communities to get ahead of congestion and develop a transit-oriented culture as an integral part of their growth management strategy.

IV. ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS

Workforce Development (49 U.S.C. 5322; section 3005 of GROW AMERICA)

MAP-21 formally established the Innovative Transit Workforce Development Program under 49 U.S.C. 5322, which provides funding to transit agencies and partners with solutions to pressing workforce development issues. Program funds are used to address serious shortages in the skilled transit workforce—estimated to be 5,000 to 6,000 workers— by fostering job growth and a stronger workforce through ladders of opportunity initiatives that teach individuals technical skills to support the transit industry in the 21st century.

Rapidly changing technology and growing transit ridership along with plans to expand service has heightened the need for continued training in a variety of public transportation occupations. A new generation of workers must refine their skillsets to meet future demands and contribute to building our nation’s 21st Century transportation infrastructure.  GROW AMERICA will expand FTA’s workforce development efforts with a program that will fund and support innovative transit-focused training programs and apprenticeships, particularly at the regional and/or national level The Act will also establish a new Public Transit Institute to replace the current National Transit Institute (NTI), that allows FTA to expand training to cover blue-collar transit workforce training in addition to the management-level courses now offered by NTI. 

Local Hiring (49 U.S.C. 5325; Section 3007 of GROW AMERICA)

Currently, federal requirements prohibit the use of local-hiring preferences. It is important that we support local hiring as an effective tool to help men and women who are ready to work to obtain jobs, and job training, in their communities.  The GROW AMERICA Act allows the use of local hiring preferences in contracts using FTA funds for projects over $10 million when the work is in an area with a low per capita income or higher than average unemployment.  The local-hiring preferences are designed with flexibility and as such may not require the hiring of workers without the necessary skills, and the use of such preferences may not compromise the quality, timeliness, or cost of the project.

Emergency Relief (49 U.S.C. 5324; Section 3009 of GROW AMERICA)

A final rule establishing procedures governing the implementation of the Emergency Relief program became effective on November 6, 2014.  On February 4, 2015, FTA published its proposed “Emergency Relief Manual: A Reference Manual for States & Transit Agencies on Response and Recovery from Declared Disasters and FTA’s Emergency Relief Program”.  FTA sought public comment through April 6, 2015, and expects to finalize the guidance later this year.

While Congress appropriated $10.9 billion for Hurricane Sandy emergency relief efforts, these funds are only available for areas affected by Sandy. Congress did not appropriate funds for FTA's Emergency Relief program in FY 2013, FY 2014, or FY 2015, leaving the agency with no funds to immediately address any new disasters that that impact the transit industry. GROW AMERICA proposes that $25 million be appropriated in each fiscal year 2016 through 2021 to capitalize the program so that FTA stands ready to respond.

Buy America (49 U.S.C. 5323(j); Section 3006 of GROW AMERICA)

The Administration remains committed to preserving and creating home-grown jobs that support our domestic manufacturing industry and position the United States to take the lead in transportation-related innovation. Therefore, GROW AMERICA proposes to increase the domestic content requirement for manufacturing rolling stock components and subcomponents further than the current standard of 60 percent. With a phased increase, by 2020, 100 percent of the components and subcomponents for rolling stock, by cost, including rolling stock prototypes, will have to be produced in the United States. Final assembly in the United States remains a requirement, as under MAP-21.

Public-Private Partnerships (49 U.S.C. 5315)

FTA also recognizes the value of public-private partnerships as a means of augmenting public investments in infrastructure. On August 25, 2014, FTA published a final circular on Joint Development that clearly explains how FTA funds and FTA-funded property may be used for public transportation projects that are related to and often co-located with commercial, residential, or mixed-use development. The circular emphasizes the concept of “value capture,” which encourages FTA grantees to leverage Federal investments to capture revenue that can in turn be used to offset capital and operating expenses.

Additionally, FTA held an Online Dialogue with stakeholders on Public Private Partnerships in January 2015, and is using the information learned to develop a NPRM on Public Private Partnerships. We expect this rulemaking to address major barriers to utilizing this financing method, and propose methods to ease and encourage their use.

V. RESEARCH, PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT

Research (U.S.C. 5312; Section 3009 of GROW AMERICA)

GROW AMERICA includes $60 million in FY 2016 increasing to $70 million in FY 2021 to support research activities that improve public transportation systems by investing in the development, testing, and deployment of innovative technologies, materials, and processes. FTA partners with public institutions, transit agencies, non-profits, universities, and other entities, awarding funding for activities that improve safety, state of good repair, and help to advance transit vehicle and system technology.

Fixing and Accelerating Surface Transportation (FAST) (49 U.S.C. 5602; Section 1401 of GROW AMERICA)

GROW AMERICA includes a new $1 billion per fiscal year competitive grant program designed to spur major reform in the way States and metropolitan regions make transportation policy and investment decisions, and to encourage new and innovative solutions to transportation challenges. The FAST program will be jointly administered with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), each overseeing $500 million, to encourage the adoption of bold, innovative strategies and best practices in transportation that will have long-term impacts on all projects across the transportation programs. 

Performance-Based Planning & Accelerated Project Delivery

MAP-21 transformed the Federal-Aid Highway program and the Federal Transit program by requiring a transition to performance-driven, outcome-based approaches to key areas. With respect to planning, the statute introduced critical changes to the planning process by requiring States, MPOs, and providers of public transportation to link investment priorities to the achievement of performance targets for safety, infrastructure condition, congestion, system reliability, emissions, and freight movement.  FHWA and FTA jointly issued an NPRM on Metropolitan Transportation Planning, and Statewide and Nonmetropolitan Transportation Planning in June 2014, and are on target to issue a final planning rule later this year. The two agencies also jointly issued a final rule in October 2014 that creates five new categorical exclusions for transit projects, thereby shortening the environmental review process by requiring minimal analysis and documentation, where appropriate. These types of actions effectively cut red tape for funding recipients, reduce the administrative burden on state and local governments, and expedite results for the American public.

VI. CONCLUSION

The May 31^st expiration of the extension of MAP-21 offers an important opportunity to recalibrate the way our government evaluates and invests in our federally funded public transportation infrastructure. From a transit perspective, MAP-21 included provisions enabling FTA to focus limited resources on certain strategic investments and policies. The Administration’s comprehensive six-year reauthorization plan set forth in GROW AMERICA will provide FTA with the additional tools necessary to improve the riding experience for millions of Americans by repairing and modernizing transit systems and expanding capacity for generations to come.

I am committed to working together with this Committee to achieve our mutual goal of addressing America’s urgent need for investment in transit infrastructure. Thank you again for inviting me to testify on this important topic, and I will make myself and my staff available to answer your questions.

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF

ROBERT C. LAUBY
ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR RAILROAD SAFETY &
CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER,
FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
U.S. SENATE

“PASSENGER RAIL SAFETY: ACCIDENT PREVENTION AND
ON-GOING EFFORTS TO IMPLEMENT TRAIN CONTROL TECHNOLOGY”

June 10, 2015

Thank you, Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson for inviting me to appear before you today to discuss passenger rail safety.  I want to start by extending our deepest sympathies to the victims and their loved ones of the May 12th Amtrak accident in Philadelphia.  Safety drives everything we do at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and when an accident claims innocent lives and injures from so many it is truly painful for the FRA family.  I assure you that FRA will take every step it can to prevent accidents like this from happening again.

FRA continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident.  While it will take time to complete the investigation, FRA has not and will not wait to take actions that will improve the safety of Amtrak and other passenger rail operations.  For example, on May 16, 4 days after the accident, Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg directed Amtrak to take several actions before allowing its operations to resume north of Philadelphia.  We followed those directives with an Emergency Order (Emergency Order 31) on May 21.  Amtrak has complied with those directives thus far, and FRA will ensure that Amtrak follows through to fully implement them.

When we released the May 21st Emergency Order, we also stated that we were considering taking additional steps at other passenger railroads that may have similar curve and speed issues.  We continue our work on those directives and plan to release additional information about that work.

And while the cause of this accident has not been officially determined, we know that overspeed was a significant factor and that human error may be involved.  Human error, or human factor, accidents as described in our accident data base remain the leading cause of all rail accidents. They are also the most difficult to address.  Despite those difficulties, FRA is preparing a package of actions that we will finalize in the coming weeks and months aimed at addressing human factor safety issues – safety issues such as speeding, distraction, fatigue and training.  These actions may include additional emergency orders, safety advisories, rulemakings, voluntary agreements, or other initiatives.  

Beyond those next steps, I want to assure you that FRA is firmly committed to taking additional actions – as many as it takes – to mitigate the risks and hazards identified in the ongoing investigation. 

There has been a significant amount of public discussion about what could have prevented this accident.  Which specific technology?  Which new regulation?  The reality is that Positive Train Control (PTC) is specifically designed to prevent overspeed accidents.   If the cause of this incident was overspeed, it would have been prevented by PTC.  As this Committee is well aware, PTC is the single most important railroad safety technological development in more than a century, and it is absolutely necessary to ensuring the kind of safety that we expect on our rail system.  Safety is FRA’s highest priority and despite the challenges facing full implementation of PTC, FRA’s role is to enforce the December 31, 2015, deadline that Congress imposed, and to ensure that railroads implement PTC as safely and efficiently as possible. 

When railroads submitted their Initial PTC Implementation Plan (PTCIP) in 2010, they stated they would meet the 2015 deadline per the requirements of the Railroad Safety Improvement Act (RSIA).  All the submitted plans assumed that there would be few, if any technical and programmatic issues related to the design, development, integration, deployment, and testing that would require resolution. 

In 2013, U.S. Class I^[1] railroads operated approximately 162,000 miles of track, 60,000 miles of which potentially require the installation of PTC^[2] under the current laws and regulations.  Intercity passenger and commuter railroad operations account for an additional estimated 8,400^[3] miles of track that is required to be equipped with PTC.

FRA has been actively pushing the railroads to have PTC fully implemented by the deadline.  We have met with the railroads for years on this issue, we have hired staff to assist and oversee the implementation of the technology, we have urged the timely submission of PTC development and safety plans, we have discussed progress with individual railroads and with the Association of American Railroads (AAR), and we have worked directly with the FCC to resolve issues related to spectrum.  Acting Administrator Feinberg also established a PTC Implementation Team that is aggressively managing this critical, Congressionally-mandated safety technology that will reduce the risk of human factor caused accidents and save lives.

For more than three years, FRA has been sounding the alarm that most railroads have not made sufficient progress to meet the December 2015 deadline.  We have noted that the certification and installation of PTC systems are significant undertakings.  FRA highlighted its concerns about PTC implementation in its August 2012 PTC report to Congress, as well as in the GROW AMERICA Act[4].  Among those are the following challenges:

• Design Specification Availability
• Back office Servers and Dispatch System Availability
• Track Database Verification
• Installation Engineering
• Communications Spectrum Availability
• Radio Availability
• Reliability and Availability
• Funding

FRA has long stated that a lack of public sector funding may cause unwanted delays in fully implementing PTC.  FRA has requested funding for PTC development and implementation grants in every budget request dating back to Fiscal Year (FY) 2011.  For the past two years, as part of the GROW AMERICA Act, FRA has requested $825 million to assist commuter railroads with the implementation of PTC, as well as additional funding to aid with the implementation of PTC on Amtrak’s national network. 

Despite a lack of federal funding directed to commuter railroads, FRA is using the resources it has available now to assist railroads in implementing PTC.  For example, FRA issued a $967.1 million loan through the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the nation’s largest commuter railroad provider, to facilitate the deployment of the technology.

In addition to the same practical and logistical project management challenges affecting the freight railroads, intercity and commuter passenger railroads face other challenges due to their public sector nature and heavy reliance upon operating subsidies.  These railroads must advance PTC system implementation within a fiscal environment already constrained by the limited availability of capital funds.  FRA expects that when PTC technology is fully mature, it will  have a positive, transformative impact on railroad safety and operating efficiency in the decades to come. 

If, on January 1, 2016, railroads required to implement PTC systems are in violation of this statutory deadline, FRA will take appropriate enforcement actions consistent with its statutory authority and regulatory oversight responsibilities to achieve compliance.  Stakeholders and the Congress have asked FRA for guidance on how to approach concerns about railroads not meeting the mandated deadline.  To address those concerns, the GROW AMERICA Act the Department submitted to Congress in April 2014 and March 2015 proposed that FRA be granted authority to review, approve, and provisionally certify PTC plans on a railroad-by-railroad basis.  FRA asked for this authority so that it could continue to assist the railroads to get PTC implemented as quickly as possible for it is only through implementation of PTC that accidents like the derailment of Amtrak train 188 can truly be prevented.

Provisional certification would also give FRA the authority to establish conditions to ensure railroads raise the bar on safety and establish appropriate back stops even as they continue to work towards full PTC implementation.  GROW AMERICA would also provide FRA the authority to establish implementation milestones, use alternative methods of protection in lieu of PTC systems to achieve safety improvements and require coordination between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to assess required spectrum needs and availability to implement PTC systems.  GROW AMERICA also proposes to provide more than $3 billion over 6 years to help pay for PTC implementation on publicly-funded commuter railroads and Amtrak routes.

To summarize, FRA has actively supported deployment of PTC through the issuance of performance-based regulations and technical assistance documents to aid railroads, manufacturers, and suppliers to achieve full PTC functionality and interoperability.  Over the course of several decades, FRA and the railroad industry have sponsored and conducted numerous research and technology demonstration projects to evaluate or improve upon signal and train control technologies that have evolved into what is now known as PTC.  Since 2000 FRA has published over 50 technical reports, several Research Results, and numerous other reports to support its rulemaking activities.  FRA has also built a PTC system test bed at its Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO.  This facility is available to the railroad industry as they work to successfully integrate and test all of component technologies necessary to achieve implementation.

The difficulties being encountered, while not insurmountable, are highly complex and require a significant investment of time, people, and resources to successfully resolve.  The public policy implications of railroads failing to meet the PTC deadline are serious.  FRA has been dedicating resources and working diligently to support the industry for years to achieve full PTC implementation where required by the statutory deadline.  If Congress provides FRA the authority and flexibility as requested in the GROW AMERICA Act, then PTC implementation can be managed safely, efficiently, and effectively.

In conclusion, safety will always be FRA’s first priority.  We appreciate this Committee’s attention and focus on issues related to railroad safety.  Again, I want to express our deepest sorrow for the victims and their families. We look forward to working with this Committee to improve our programs and make the American rail network as safe, reliable, and efficient as possible.  I am happy to respond to your questions.