Category Archives: 2017 issue

36th State Passes Statewide Ride Share Regs. 4 Key Points.

The 36th state to pass statewide ride share regulations: New Jersey

The statewide ride share regulations in New Jersey:

  • insurance coverage standards of $1.5 million in commercial insurance per ride
  • mandatory background checks by the ride share company with disclosures and approval by to the state attorney general
  • To balance the needs of the limoisine industry it cut insurance requirements when no passanger is present and expempting rides from the sales tax
  • $25,000 permit fee for companies

​…

FASTR. New Kid on the Block. Connected Car Data Security.

What is FASTR? The Future of Automotive Security Technology Research

What are FASTR’s goals? 

  • deliver precompetitive technological building blocks
  • to assist automotive manufactures across their supply chains
  • to offer multilayered security throughout vehicles to preserve data confidentiality, system integrity and system availability

What companies are members of FASTR?

  • Uber
  • Intel
  •  internet of things (IoT) provider Aeris
  • Rambus
  • Karamba Security

FASTR.org

SC Media | Uber, Intel and IoT…

Wharton. 5 Points. Regulate Ride Share without Killing It.

A Wharton School of Business, President Trump’s Alma Matter, features an interview with Wharton’s Kevin Wherbach offering these tips and examples to foster nascent industry:

  • Look to the FCC and its treatment of Skype. Skype didn’t fit neatly in industry categoried and regulations. FCC VOIP regulations were written such that the door was left open and Skype flourished by working with regulators.
  • Don’t rush to impose traditional rules on ride share companies like Uber.
  • Anti-trust case against…

5 Points from State Rep. Byron Cook. High Speed Rail Op-Ed

  • The “Japanese – Texas High Speed Rail Project” is too good to be true
  • It is a “bullet aimed at property owners ”  to the benefit of “commercial real estate venture or for the state’s master transportation plan for the future.”
  • The project is touted by “private real estate speculators”
  • Reliance on Japanese rail technology has 2 problems:
    • its not compatible to existing rail in Texas
    • “future generations of Texas rail customers hostage to a monopoly railroad technology with NO competitive…

New Ride Share Trend. Data. Cities Want Data. 3 Bits Informed Intel.

The city seeking ride share data: New York City

What the city did to get to the data: Adopted regulations to require ride share companies to provide the city with drop off location data

The policy goal: Combat driver fatigue by keeping taxi, Uber and other for-hire-vehicle drivers from working more than 10 hours straight.

Crains New York Business | City to Uber and Lyft: Hand over your trip data

Hoosier Legislature. Ups the Ante on Eminent Domain for Railroads. Read the Bill before it arrives in Texas.

Indiana’s House Bill 1260 requires railroads to demonstrate public use before proceeding with eminent domain. 

WIMS AM 1420 | H.B. 1260 co-authored by State Rep. Jim Pressel goes to Senate

Chesterton Tribune | Soliday bill would require public need prior to eminent domain taking by RRs

NW Indiana | House approves rail eminent domain changes

5 Elements for Connected Car Legislation.

What elements do these groups need to consider in their recommendations for regulation?

  • identify what’s necessary to isolate critical systems in a vehicle from the rest of its software
  • relevant standards for firewalls and anomaly detection systems
  • techniques to prevent or discourage malicious intrusions
  • best practices for storing the data generated by connected cars
  • timeline for implementing all of this

Where did these criteria for connected cars come from? The  Security and Privacy in…

Case Study. State Moves to Limit & Expand Eminent Domain. 2 Ways it would impact roads & rail.

The State: North Carolina Legislature is considering HB 10 which would extend the authority of eminent domain by allowing it to connect customers. 

The bill’s language: “Connection of Customers. – For the public use, private condemnors, local public condemnors, and other public condemnors in subsections (a), (b), (b1), and (c) of this section shall possess the power of eminent domain and may acquire by purchase, gift, or condemnation any property for the connection of any customer or…

Legal Trend: Judge Dismisses Taxi Suit Against Ride Share Law

The State: Massachusettes

Why did the taxis sue to enjoin the law? They said the statwide regualtion of ride share companies treats taxis unequally

Why did a judge throw out a taxi lawsuit? There is no equal protection issue for taxis and ride share companies. 

The legalese: The state “differentiating between TNCs and taxicabs is rationally related to a legitimate government interest in ‘fostering a diverse’ transportation-for-hire market,” 

Boston Business Journal | Uber claims ‘victory’…