Category Archives: 2017 issue

Local Gov. Trend: Public Private Partnerships in Airports.

City: St. Louis

Public Private Partnership Proposal: to lease its airport to a qualified airport manager backed by private infrastructure funds

Benefits of the P3 for Airports:

  • Cities can produce resources without adverse budget or ratepayer impact
  • Allows a broader allocation of resources when cities are starved for infrastructure investment

Governing | A Way to Unlock the Value of an Airport

Sen. Huffines: 5 Reasons High Speed Rail Should have Eminent Domain Power.

  • Population growth requires that innovative transportation be accommodated
  • High Speed Rail proposal is privately funded
  • Private companies exercise eminent domain all the time in Texas with no gross mismangement
  • Private rail has exercised eminent domain for more than 100 years
  • Texas has property owner protections

Dallas Morning News | Why it’s perfectly appropriate to allow a private railroad to use eminent domain

Comptroller: 5 Benefits to Texas. Expanded Panama Canal.

  • “any substantial increase in that trade could add billions to the state economy”
    • In 2015, $204 billion in international trade passed through Texas seaports
  • Greater efficiencies of Neo-Panamax ships could lower shipping cost by 30%
  • Lower costs can add 10% increase in Asian container traffic 
  • Capital Improvements. $48 billion on capital improvements during the next five years in Texas Ports to accomodate Neo-Panamax ships
  • New Development. $335 million marine terminal along the Houston Ship…

3 Issues with Ride Share to the Emergency Room

  • All emergency care facilities do not provide the same services
  • If a patient ride shares to the emergency room, and the patient needs a different hospital, then the person will be put in an ambulence
  • The extra 30 minutes of additional transportation can be a matter of life or death

WTOL 11 | More people are choosing Uber and Lyft for trips to emergency room

KTRK | ABC 13 Hou| GROWING NUMBER OF MEDICAL PATIENTS USING UBER OR LYFT FOR TRIPS TO THE ER

Legal Trend. High Speed Rail. Open Records. Eminent Domain.

Opponent to Texas Central rail are seeking disclosure of Texas Central Railway’s feasibility study held by TXDOT.

What arguments do the opponents make for disclosure?

  • Disclosure should occur because the rail is using eminent domain
  • Disclosure should occur because the rail is going after taxpayer dollars

What are the arguments to protect the information from disclosure?

Texas Central Rail shouldbe granted the same privacy protections that a business would be granted.

KBTX | Texans Against…

Trend Spotting. Ride Share. New Never Seen Before Requirements on Ride Share.

An alderman in Chicago wants to impose the following requirements on ride share in the Windy City:

  •  illuminated signs “visible from 50 feet away” for each driver/vehicle
  • pick-up only from side streets instead of major thoroughfares, just like taxis do

The policy reasons: to make it easier for police to identify ride sahre drivers

The cost of illuminated signs: $80

Chicago Sun Times | Alderman wants Uber, Lyft vehicles to have illuminated signs

How did Hawaii Keep Uber & Lyft Out of certain areas?

2 Ways Hawaii is keeping Uber and Lyft out of its airports:

  • By requiring that only commercial vehicles that have transportation-charter party permits can provide rides
  • Requiring all cars to have transponders to track how many vehicles are available at airports 

Pacific Business Journal | Commercial vehicle protocols keeping Uber and Lyft from operating at Hawaii’s airports