Monthly Archives: October 2017

TX A.G. Opinion: Enforcing Big Truck Weight Enforcement on the Gulf Coast.

The opinion requestor: Liberty County Attorney

The issue that the Liberty County Attorney wants the Attorney General to answer: Whether an elected constable and his deputies may simultaneously serve under the sheriff, specifically to perform tasks related to the duties of a weight enforcement officer. 

Why Liberty County Attorney thinks an elected constable can also serve as a weight enforcement officer?  Article XVI, Section 40 oft he Texas Constitution does not prohibit an elected constable…

5 Issues that Legislators & Regulators will face with EV Charger Stations.

 

  • ​ Will regulators/legislators allow utilities to rate-base infrastructure costs?
  • Will regulators/legislators permit a shift in costs from private installers and owners onto the general rate base?
  • Can investments be recovered through performance-based regulations?
  • How to incentivize investments by rewarding social benefits without exposing ratepayers to undue risk?
  • Will regulators and utilities adopt the free and open-source Open Charge Point Protocol to support interoperable…

Trend. Rulemaking. Billboards. Texas. Everything bigger in Texas? 3 Key Points from Supporters.

TXDOT proposes billboards rules that permit billboards to 85 feet high.

A Sunset bill author, TX Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville says:

  •  Intent was to only grandfather in existing signs above the 42.5 foot limit. 
  • New billboards would have to comply with current 42.5 foot limit according to Sunset 
  • Existing signs below 42.5 cannot exceed 42.5 feet

What’s the property right issue at play? Existing billboards that were built under 1986 rules that had no height limitations

The…

The Big Loophole in Self Driving Car Regulations and Legislation.

What’s missing from most state and federal self driving car regulations and legislation?  Big Trucks.

Self driving truck economuy is growing and the regulations and legislation are not keeping pace, or so say lawyer sin this field in California, the first state to implement self-driving car regulations.

The Recorder | We Asked California Lawyers for Views on the New Driverless Rules. Here’s What They Said.

Local Trend 3 Cities that get Extra Ride Share Data & How Cities Get the Data.

These cities regularly get ride share tip information:

  • New York City
  • Chicago
  • Portland, Oregon

2 Methods Cities are Getting Additional TNC data:

  • From data produced through secure servers
  • Some cities have negotiated various confidentiality agreements

The Recorder | Uber and Lyft Resist Regulators’ Appeal for Data Sharing

 

East Coast City Looking at Congestion Pricing to Raise Transit Funds. Can your city enact Congestion Pricing for Drivers?

New York Governor Cuomo is has called for a study to look at congestion pricing in New York City.

How would congestion pricing work?  Two ways to phrase it:

  • Creates a toll system to enter congested portions of a city.
  • Creates a user fee for access to a central business district

What would NYC’s congestion pricing fund? mass transit

Do other cities have congestion pricing? Yes, Stockholm Sweden

Could a city in your state impose its own congestion pricing?…

CBS New York | Cuomo…

Local Government Trend. The Low Down on connected transportation data exchange.

The City: Columbus OH

What’s a connected transportation data exchange? The Smart Columbus Operating System is a system to share near-real-time data on traffic 

How does it work? it will collect data from cars that  transmit metrics like time, speed and location with road-side units. The data will be overlayed to create a regional transportation outlook

But, how does the city get the car data? 

  • From volunteers who volunteer their vehicles. Columbus is looking for 3000 volunteers
  • school…

3 Points. New Study. ROI for High Speed Rail.

The new study: Framework for Assessing the ROI for High-Speed and Intercity Rail Projects by the American Public Transportation Association

3 economic impacts considered beyond travel time & cost efficiency:

  • cost-benefit
  • economic impact
  • social impact analysis 

What does this new analysis include?

  • regional connectivity
  • global competitiveness effects
  • broader consideration of the public’s desire to meet and exceed longer term environmental, economic and mobility goals for future…

5 Bipartisan Texas State Reps. Interim Study Request on Toll Roads

Texas State Representatives Minajarez, Pickett, Dale, Oliverson & Goldman

are requesting the following interim charges:

  • Study how toll road operators, or authorities calculate toll rates in Texas, and ensure there is transparency in the process.
  • Study the Minajarez amendment to S.B. 312 85(R) to see if it applies to all toll roads in the state, or to just the TxDOT operated toll roads and toll lanes.
  • Study the possibility of the consolidation of Texas Toll Pay by Mail into a single back…

8 Ways to Stop Red Light Cameras from TX Sen. Huffines letter to TXDOT

Huffines points to a KXAn investigation revealing 3 of thr 50 cities using red light cameras are doing so lawfully.
 
How is he defining lawfully? Compliant with Transportation Code Section 707.003 requiring a traffic engineering study of red light camera ingtersections before installation.
 
What 8 things does he want TXDOT to do?
  • he wants TXDOT to confirm whether they review the Trasnportation Code 707.003 study
  • review all the red light cameras to see if they comply with…