Monthly Archives: June 2016

Local Governments to Be 1st with Full Use of Self Driving Cars

Which cities wants to get into self driving cars and ride share? San Francisco, Portland, Kansas City, Columbus, Denver, Austin and Pittsburgh

What sparked local government use of slef driving cars? U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge

What is the Smart City Challenge? eliminating or greatly reducing congestion, traffic fatalities and carbon emissions

What grants are available? $40 million in fundingicon1.png to connect transportation assets into an interactive…

Funding Space Travel in Texas. Texas Losing to Florida. The Key intel:

Space X wants the Texas Spaceport Trust Fund funded. Here’s what you need to know:

  • 2015 Legislature put $0 into the Texas Spaceport Trust Fund
  • Florida funds its space fund at the rate of $20 million per year
  • Florida funds are used for public-private partnerships
  • SpaceX has 500 employees in Central & South Texas
  • SpaceX invested $70 million at the MacGregor facility
  • Space X partners with  250 Texas vendors

RioGrande Guardian | SPACEX CALLS ON LEGISLATORS TO SUPPORT TEXAS SPACEPORT…

Traffic Cameras. For the good of safety? For the good of revenue? 3 Pieces of Intel.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed traffic camera data from Maryland, where speed cameras are used in addition to other traffic camera enforcement:

  • Slower Traffic Speeds. A reduction in speed in work zones occurred
  • No Deterrence. No reduction in the number of speeders or repeat speeders
  • Safety Improved. Work-zone deaths fell by 38%

Wall Street Journal | Traffic Cameras: Safety Tools or Cash Grabs?

1 Key Element Missing from Self Driving Car Laws

Data Security is the 1 key element missing from the 7 states that have passed self driving car laws.

Cars can be hacked. Cars contain data. The data your car’s computers contain can be used for:

  • direct & targeted marketing
  • cam be accessed by hackers

California is addressing vehicle data via regulation by requiring:

  • notice and consent
  • before information can be collected from operators
  • this excludes information that is needed to operate the vehicle

The Guardian | Self-driving cars:…

Campaign TREND. 5 trending transportation funding methods.

The Colorado U.S. Senate race features candidates touting new transportation funding mechanisms like:

  • Cut agency costs to spend more money on road construction
  • the federal government should not fund construction on state roads
  • the feds should fund road maintenance of federal roads and return the remainder of gas tax revenues to the states
  • switch to a vehicle miles traveled taxing system
  • expand energy production to public lands and use the tax revenue for transportation

Denver Business…

New Kid on the Block. Fortune 500 Aviation Engineers Leave California for Texas.

What: Jacobs Engineering, a Fortune 500 company

What does Jacobs Engineering do? “monumental transportation and energy projects across the globe”

Where is it moving from? Pasadena, CA

Where is it moving to?  Dallas, TX

The economic Incentives?  $277,500 grant from Dallas’ economic development committee

Community Impact Newspaper | CA: Jacobs Engineering Plans to Move Jobs From Pasadena to Texas

INTERIM. Ride Share Bill Debate Gets Mean Fast in the West. 3 Pieces of Informed Intel.

California Assembly debate over a ride share bill that would allow companies to check criminal backgrounds of drivers in state criminal background check systems turned nasty.

The 5 reasons why debate took a mean turn:

  • Legislators say the author promised to provide liability immunity for companies that did not use the state criminal background check
  • The author said he never made a promise to limit liability for companies
  • The nasty debate, resulting in admonishments from leadership, caused…

Self Driving Cars. Honking. 3 Pieces of Intel about Self-Honking Cars.

Google is programming self driving cars with the ability to honk. Here’s what you need to know when Texas considers self-driving car bills again in 2017:

  • Google is pre-programming 2 honks:
    • a friendly “quiet two pips” to alert other drivers
    • af ull-on “loud sustained honk” for emergent situations
  • the human driver offers feedback to allow the honk or not
  • the honking system identifies false positives like cars making 3 point turns

Trusted Reviews | Google has taught its…