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Houston Area Transportation Leaders Comment on Texas High Speed Rail

Who? Alan Clark is the director of transportation planning for the Houston-Galveston Area Council & Jeff Collins, a board member for the Transportation Advocacy Group

Where? A discussion with Community Impact papers in the greater Houston Area

What did they say? 

Collins said: 

  • I am a big proponent of that project just because I see the potential benefit—not only to Houston [and] Dallas—but also the state of Texas with high-speed rail in place.
  • I do think it will get…

Japan Says 6 Things About Texas High Speed Rail

  1. A plan to use Japanese shinkansen technology for Texas high speed rail is moving forward as the project is acquiring land
  2. Tim Keith, CEO of Texas Central Partners, said that land has been secured  in Dallas to build a station
  3. construction of which is expected to start in 2017 for completion as early as 2021
  4. It will be the 1st US high spped rail to use Japanese shinkansen technology
  5. Texas Central Rail will seek foreign investors from ” sources such as overseas sovereign wealth funds…

3 Things the Lt. Gov. Said about Transportation in West Texas

 
  • Prop 7 will allow the state to put 2.5 million dollars more to transportation without increasing taxes.
  •  He also stressed that there was “not adequate transportation funding to West Texas in the past”
  • “Now that I’m Lieutenant Governor, we want to be sure that West Texas gets their fair share,”

News West 9 | Texas Lt. Gov. Discusses State Propositions at Odessa Country Club

City Council Moves Forward with Spaceport to Benefit Airport

Houston City Council this week approved changes to develop a spaceport at Ellington Field. City Council made these 5 moves:

  1. Houston City Council approved the $6.9 million purchase of a 53,000-square-foot building on the grounds of the future spaceport
  2. Only airport funds will be used for the purchase
  3. Creating development for incubators that will house early-stage companies
  4. A TIRZ, a Management District? No, its an  innovation district 
  5. Intent from anchor tenant-  Intuitive…

Local Gov. Trend: Deregulate Ride Share to Level the Field

Sarasota City Commissioners voted unanimously to deregulate all for-hire vehicle services to ensure both ride share and taxi cabs are permitted to conduct their business without government interference.

No regulations for cabs and ride share? Yes, indeed. Instead of choosing to regulate ride share, the city council de-regulated both types of transportation services.

What about  stronger background checks, insurance requirements and vehicle standards? “If they don’t have these…

Legal Trend: Ride Share Drivers Go to Court to Challenge Cabs

3 ride share drivers have partnered with the Institute for Justice to challenge Chicago’s “cab cartels.”

This week the federal judge ruled in favor of the ride share drivers by  throwing out most of the cab claims against Chicago’s ride share ordinance. 

What did the cabs allege against the city ride share ordinance? That the ordinance amounted to a taking of their property. 

One cab claim continues to move forward in court whether the ride share ordinance treats rideshare…

7 Results of Texas Variable Speed Pilot Study. 3+ Procurement Opportunities Abound.

What group studied variable speeds on Texas roads? Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Why? HB 2204 from 2013 legislation required it.

What roadways did TTI study? 

  •   Urban Congestion Site: Westbound (WB) State Loop (SL) 1604 between US 281 and IH-10, San Antonio

  •   Construction Work Zone Site: IH-35 northbound (NB), MM 297 – MM 301, Temple

  •   Weather-Related Site: Eastbound (EB) and WB IH-20 at Ranger Hill, Eastland County

What was the result? Yes,…

Lege Trend: NO HOV Lanes to ease congestion

No HOV lanes to help ease congestion? How is this possible?

California Legislature passed AB 210 that would prohibit HOV times at non-rush hour times. For those who don’t like double negatives, that means HOV lanes are only permissible during rush hour.

What statutory language did California use?

a high-occupancy vehicle lane shall not
be established....
 unless
the lane is established as a high-occupancy vehicle lane only during
the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as determined by...

Regulatory Trend: New Rules for Self Driving Cars in the West

Consumer Watch Dog is calling for California DMV to implement new rules regarding accidents with self driving cars. The new rules would:

  • Require the company to release the video of the traffic accident
  • Report all data the car has concerning the car crash

What do California DMV rules currently require of self driving car accident reporting?

  • 10 days to report
  • must report circumstances around the accident.

Who is testing self-driving cars in California?

  • 10 different companies including:…