Transportation HUD/Energy and Water Development FY 24

H. Approp: Transportation and Housing and Urban Development FY 2024, March 30, 2023 

H. Approp: Energy and Water Development, FY 2024, April 17, 2023

This testimony to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development/Energy and Water Subcommittee for FY 2024 proposes spending for a Department of Energy/Transportation  solicitation(s) for $500 million in grants (each) to prototype a tethered electric car system in the first year, first on a testbed and then in one or more small town. Change in Appropriation Subcommittee jurisdictions, and requesting a Government Accountability Office study of the distribution of funds by region will provide the balance of my testimony.

To pay for this project, I propose Congress ELIMINATE ALL FUNDING for designing intelligent cars and some of the funding for developing charging stations and better batteries. Enough batteries have caught fire and have questionable supply chains and resource needs and enough automated cars have crashed into trees or humans to know that it is time to try something else. There are better modalities and they are available now. We said this a year ago and, at least as far as self-driving vehicles, this is still true. Indeed, projects to design these monsters are being ended left and right in industry.

Research funds can instead focus on the development of automated cars with central control (rather than its own AI) and energy distribution (rather than being hampered by economically damaging battery development). This  is old and proven technology, i.e., electric trains and buses.

The first set of grants would be given to automotive companies with a matching funds requirement to develop the technical specifications, prototype design and testing.

The second set of grants would go to small cities or towns with one or two major employers. Employers, municipalities, financial institutions and local retailers, as well as a consortium of car companies who performed well on the first set of grants, as well as state government and existing road providers, power and internet companies would partner with the Departments of Energy and Transportation to install and implement the system tested in round one. 

At least one grant consortium will be for cities in a predominantly rural area. This project will develop interfaces between urban/suburban and rural transportation systems, as outside of urban areas, use of the current gasoline based infrastructure will be required - or some form of hydrogen combustion with hydrogen produced by vehicles through electrolysis while attached to the electric grid system.

Second round projects will, if successful, be a guide for funding these systems in urban areas.

A third round of grants (possibly concurrent) will design and prototype interstate systems with separate electrified roadways for passenger cars, high speed rail, busses and trucks and freight rail. 

As in urban areas, these roadways would be covered with a roof deck upon which grass can be grown in climates that allow this, along with the deployment of solar panels over the grass. Such a mixture provides shade to the grass and cools the solar panels so that they can operate optimally. Irrigation systems may also be included to accomplish both.  

The final project would integrate the system with the banking system and include both individual car ownership and cars for higher. Individuals could own cars, while some vehicles would be for hire (with monitoring, but not drivers). Car owners could even rent their vehicles to the system. Debit cards or a link to checking accounts would pay for the car itself (either to rent or own), the roadway and the use of energy and computer services. 

Prices for accessing the road network would vary based on congestion and vehicles could be taken to a public transportation hub (which might be located at their children’s school), with the vehicle returning home empty or going to the next fare. If congestion is low, it may be affordable to drive to work. If it is high, prices for public transit and commuting would be adjusted accordingly.

Energy infrastructure to power the system and facilitate communication would also carry energy and data services, so add xFinity and Cox to the consortium. This also gives us the incentive to improve the grid.  We only need willingness to do this. The technology is already there.

DOTHUD: For FY2025 (if not sooner),  to better integrate water and transportation projects and to end the link between transportation and killing urban neighborhoods, I propose melding Department of Transportation funding into eliminating the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee. This allows for a holistic approach to design the roadway of the future with tethered electric vehicles...  

EW: For FY 2025 (if not sooner),  to better integrate water and transportation projects and to end the link between transportation and killing urban neighborhoods, I propose eliminating the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee and moving Transportation and Related Agencies funding to this subcommittee. This is especially important to facilitating research into tethered electric vehicles and funding resulting systems...

... Move HUD funding to Labor, Education and Housing to better link housing and anti-poverty programs in labor and education. We have learned that housing must come first. We provide and fund it last (which is is counterproductive). HHS and Veterans Affairs would be combined for more health care synergy and to break up the Labor-HHS bill, which is too large.

I suggest that the subcommittees and full committee request a Government Accountability Office Study on how money is allocated in each federal region and state. 

  Reporting should focus on where money is actually used to mandate how funds are spent. This should focus on who benefits from spending rather than who performs the work. Pilot projects, grants to improve the grid, water development and anything administered out of a regional office (or supporting it - such as telecommunications) could be classified regionally. Research grants would as well. Other items, including those involving production of nuclear fuel, would be counted outside regional estimates.

These data likely already exist or can be easily collected from departmental budget offices. This should be true for both planned spending and historical patterns. Committee staff would then amend these data to take into account the appropriations bill. In the future, submissions will include state and regional data in the current services budget, as well as the President’s proposals.

This information will allow the public and the committee visibility on the distributional equity of the appropriation. Again, this is not to force conformity, however it will allow adjustments to certain projects to assure adequate support for legislation. Information should be for the total appropriation in each region and state, with the number of Representatives and Senators listed for each region and state. 

Explanatory material would address any imbalances in spending (for example, the fact that Massachusetts contains a high number of research universities and associated corporations.