Author Archives: admin

New Senate Select Committee: Ports. Economic Competitiveness.

Members of the Senate Select Committee to study ports are:

  •  Brandon Creighton (chair)
  • Jose Menendez (vice chair)
  • Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa
  • Lois Kolkhorst
  • Eddie Lucio Jr.
  • Jane Nelson
  • Larry Taylor

Here’s what the committee is to study:

  • study the economic benefit of the Panama Canal expansion to Texas ports
  • Include in their study inland ports
  • Determine what will keep Texas ports comeptitive
  • “Senate is leading the charge to keep Texas the leader in exports and imports in our…

Congressman Encouraging State Legislators to get an A.G. Opinion on High Speed Rail. 5 Bits informed intel.

  • Congressman Kevin Brady is encouraging legislators to seek an A.G. Opinion on high speed rail in Texas
  • What’s the issue that has Brady up in arms? Eminent Domain. Specifically state granted eminent domain powers.
  • Who recevived the letter from Congressman Brady? 
    • Charles Schwertner
    • Trent Ashby
    • John Otto
    •  Leighton Schubert
  • What is Congressman Brady’s concern? Whether the rail works for local communities, and he does not believe a rural train route works for local communities
  • its…

California High Speed Rail Now on Longer Time Line but Less Costly

California high speed rail authority Chairman Dan Richard said in testimony to an Assembly transportation committee:

  • its going to take longer
  • we’re already 2 years behind and there is no estimate on how much longer it will take
  • costs are going down

L.A. Times | Bullet train may take longer to build but cost less than originally estimated, official says

Gizmodo | California’s Bullet Train Is Delayed, and Nobody Knows How Long It Will Take

INTERIM 6 Points from Austin Mayor Adler on Ride Share

Austin Mayor Adler has a piece in Trib Talk about ride share entitled, Innovation is the way forward for Austin and Uber/Lyft. 

His main points:

  • an election is costly, and that money could be spent on other projects
  • forcing a hand on ordinances isn’t the Austin way
  • he wants to keep Uber and Lyft in Austin
  • he supports independent, third-party, cross-platform, virtual badges or validators that we call the Austin Thumbs Up! badge via 
  • Austin Thumbs Up! would utilize 3rd parties to…

6 Points from Sen. Konnie Burton Op Ed on TEX Rail

  • 27 miles of rail has an enormous price tag of $998.78 million
  • local officials are aggressively pushing it & have not secured funding
  • “our community” hasn’t signaled a “desire” for mass transit, even Travis County voted before they approved rail & we haven’t
  • local officials are  entering into a deal with the” irrational and fiscally irresponsible federal government”
  • it won’t have an impact on traffic congestion based on the environmental impact study
  • rail projects attract high earners…

State Guts Mass Transportation Funding. 3 Bits of Informed Intel.

What state is gutting its mass transit budget? Colorado is moving a bill that would remove mass transit funding

What impact would this have on local government mass transit projects? 

  • There would be no state grants to local transit agencies
  • Transportation officials also say it means “lost funding opportunities for organizations that provide transportation services for the elderly and people with disabilities”

Which party is pushing this? Republican

The Gazette | Bill would gut…

3 Bits of Informed Intel on all the new Aerospace And Aviation Advisory Committee Appointees

  • Sharon Denny
    • McKinney
    • vice president of Strategy for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems
    • B.S. in journalism from the University of Maryland & a Master of Science in natural resource management strategy from the National Defense University in Washington D.C.
  • Amy L. Gowder 
    • San Antonio
    • vice president of Supply Chain Management for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
    • B.S.  in bioengineering from Arizona State University & a MBA from MIT
  • Cathy Kilmain, Ph. D.
    • North Richland…

Another Southern Republican State Moves to Raise the Gas Tax. 3 Bits of Informed Intel.

Loyal subscribers will recall thge luck Georgia had when it increased its gas tax when gas prices were low and taxpayers offered little objection.

Now, Alabama wants to follow suit with this proposal to raise the gas tax:

  • 5 cent increase in the gas tax
  • with the seal of approval from the Alabama Legislature’s Permanent Joint Transportation Committee
  • American Petroleum Institute says the total Alabama gas tax will be 44 cents, that is including 18.4 cents of federal gas tax

The Hill…

West Coast Bullet Train May Change Course.

After condemning 350 pieces of property to build the first 28 miles of track in Southern California, the first segment of operational track may be moved to San Francisco Bay Area.

Why the switch in starting track? The Los Angeles portion of the high speed rail is expected to be:

  • costly
  • time-consuming
  • geologically complex  with the Tehachapi and San Gabriel mountains and a large system of tunnels and aerial structures

East Bay Express | Monday Must Reads: Transportation Funding Hurt by…