— Congress may look to resurrect a fee on electric vehicles that didn’t make it into the GOP megabill, as a way to help fix the dwindling Highway Trust Fund.\n— DOT’s OIG is reviewing circumstances related to January’s deadly midair collision between a military helicopter and passenger plane. The Army hasn’t launched its own audit yet.\n— The FAA wants to extend limits on flights into Newark Liberty International Airport through late October next year, as construction on a major runway continues to cause delays.\n\nYou’re reading Morning Transportation, your Washington policy guide to everything that moves. We’re glad you’re here. Send tips, feedback and song lyrics to Sam at [email protected], Chris at [email protected], Oriana at [email protected] and Pavan at [email protected], and follow us at @SamOgozalek, @ChrisMarquette_, @Oriana0214 and @pavanmacharya.\n\nFEDERAL EV FEE IN SIGHT: Republicans in both chambers are interested in resurrecting a new fee on electric vehicles that didn’t make it into the GOP megabill (H.R. 1), as a way to help shore up the Highway Trust Fund’s revenue deficit, Chris writes. There’s a lot to be worked out, but both House Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Senate EPW Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said they’re interested in exploring some kind of fee on EVs (with Graves going farther, saying he’s also interested in a fee on hybrids).\n\nTHAT DOESN’T MEAN IT’LL BE EASY: A fee tailored to electric vehicles could be an attractive way for Republicans to raise money, especially if it can be messaged as making liberals pay their fair share for wear and tear on roads. But a broader fee that would have captured every car, even ones that use only gasoline, went down in flames. A narrower one could have a better chance, but some Republicans will balk at any fee.\n\n$64 BILLION: That’s how much the Congressional Budget Office previously estimated would be collected through 2034 as a result of a fee on EVs and hybrids included in an early version of the megabill. But that’s a far cry from the $150 billion the CBO estimated will be needed for the next surface transportation bill (absent spending cuts).\n\nMORE EYES: DOT’s Office of Inspector General is looking into how the FAA manages the crowded airspace around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Oriana reports. It’s the latest effort by federal officials to understand why an Army helicopter and commercial airplane collided near Washington. The audit will focus on the process the FAA uses to allow some traffic to be exempt from a requirement to use a location-transmitting technology called ADS-B.\n\n— The audit makes good on half of a request Republican and Democrat senators made in June, when they asked the OIG’s offices at DOT and Army to inspect the circumstances around the crash. The Army hasn’t launched its own audit yet, which Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) — ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee — called out in a statement Friday.\n\n— FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a statement that ‘we welcome the scrutiny’ and added the agency would ‘cooperate fully’ in the OIG’s investigation and ‘not hesitate to take action if we identify risk’.\n\nMORE LIMITS: The FAA wants to extend limits on departures and arrivals into Newark Liberty International Airport through late October 2026, according to a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. The number of flights into the airport has been limited — to 28 departures and 28 arrivals per hour when construction is underway — since May, largely due to long delays prompted by intermittent construction on a major runway and technology issues involving air traffic control communication.\n\n— With the new update, departures and arrivals would continue to be reduced when construction on the runway is ongoing — but can include more flights outside of the construction period.\n\nDON’T BE THE NEXT NEXTGEN: In a letter response to the House T&I aviation subcommittee, the Modern Skies Coalition, an umbrella group for dozens of aviation industry groups including major U.S. airlines and some associated unions, last week outlined priorities for lawmakers to consider aside from funding a new air traffic control system.\n\n— Some of those priorities include forming detailed plans, ensuring FAA and contractors stick to timelines, and safeguarding ‘continuity of funding’ to execute the project. In all, the industry members stress that the oversight needs to be there in order for the air traffic control revamp to not end up like the NextGen program, which MT readers know has faced delays, cost overruns, and insufficient resources.\n\nDEFCON 2025: U.S. maritime was an unexpected center point of this weekend’s DEFCON conference in Las Vegas, John Sakellariadis reports, where 30,000 of the world’s best hackers gather to find flaws in complex hardware and software systems. Hackers at the conference spent hours finding software holes in commercial ships and U.S. ports (that are increasingly hooked up to the internet) that bad actors could exploit to commit crimes, such as redirecting the flow of goods away from the ports to which they are meant to go.\n\n— The U.S. Coast Guard has taken note of the threat of cybercrime, issuing a rule last month requiring U.S.-flagged ships and ports to beef up their network security (Congress also gave the Coast Guard an additional $25 billion in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Act to enhance cybersecurity).\n\nKEEP ROLLING: Elon Musk’s improving fortunes this August got a little bit better last week. Tesla can continue to have its robotaxis on Texas roads, even after state regulations related to autonomous vehicles change at the start of next month. According to a Texas government website, Tesla’s Robotaxis are now licensed with the state, a requirement for all companies operating driverless vehicles in Texas moving forward.\n\n— Tesla began operating AVs in Austin, Texas earlier this summer. The city has been one of several nationwide to see a significant deployment of robotaxis.\n\nTARIFF DELAYS: Though Japan and the U.S. appeared to reach a trade deal last month to lower tariffs across the board (including a decrease for autos from 27.5 percent to 15 percent), some of those changes didn’t show when President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs went into effect last week (Japan says the U.S. will fix the ‘regrettable’ error). Delays in meeting the terms of these deals ‘reduces the credibility’ of any other trade agreements Trump reaches with other countries, Chris Douglas — a University of Michigan-Flint economist with expertise on tariffs — told Pavan.\n\n— If U.S. automakers start to lose faith in Trump’s ability to strike and maintain deals, Douglas said they may have further motivation to pass on tariff costs to consumers — rather than eat those costs as they are doing right now in hopes agreements will be reached (GM took a $1 billion tariff hit in the second quarter; Ford paid $800 million in tariff costs during the same time).\n\nICYMI: DOT wants input on developing a strategic plan for fiscal years 2026 to 2030, according to a notice posted to the Federal Register on Friday. The plan is mandated by federal law, and each agency must update theirs at the beginning of new presidential terms. The department says it expects to post the finalized plan to its website around February of next year.\n\n— ‘Boeing’s $4.7 Billion Spirit AeroSystems Deal Cleared in U.K.’ Wall Street Journal.\n— ‘Delta and Alaska Air Square Off in Battle for Seattle.’ Wall Street Journal.\n— ‘Jaguar Land Rover Backs Guidance Despite Hit From Tariffs and EV Transition.’ Wall Street Journal.\n— ‘Lyft Bets on Robotaxis to Drive Revenue Growth.’ Wall Street Journal.\n— ‘Japan Says Trump to Correct ‘Extremely Regrettable’ Error in Tariff Order.’ New York Times.\n— ‘China's car sales growth slows in July, with weaker hybrid demand.’ Reuters.\n— ‘Drones Hover Over CATL Mine as Lithium Market Anxiety Rises.’ Bloomberg.\n— ‘The House Lawmaker With a Secret Helicopter.’ NOTUS.\n— ‘Coast Guard discloses role in probe of Chinese ship-to-shore cranes.’ POLITICO Pro.

Weekly Transportation

Congress is considering resurrecting a fee on electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids to address the Highway Trust Fund's revenue shortfall, with bipartisan interest from transportation committee leaders. The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated $64 billion in revenue from such a fee by 2034, though the $150 billion needed for surface transportation funding remains a gap. The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General is reviewing FAA procedures related to the January midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, including exemptions from ADS-B technology. The FAA plans to extend flight limits at Newark Liberty International Airport through late October 2026 due to ongoing runway construction. The Modern Skies Coalition urges better oversight of the NextGen air traffic control system to avoid past failures. At DEFCON 2025, hackers identified cybersecurity vulnerabilities in U.S. commercial ships and ports, prompting the Coast Guard to strengthen network security and receive $25 billion in funding. Tesla has obtained state licensing for robotaxis in Texas, allowing continued operations despite upcoming regulatory changes. U.S.-Japan tariff reductions were delayed by President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, reducing trade agreement credibility and potentially leading automakers to pass costs to consumers. The DOT is seeking public input on a strategic plan for surface transportation from 2026 to 2030.