Category Archives: 2017 issue

TREND. 6 Reasons California is talking about scrapping its High Speed Rail

 

  • not feasible financially 
  • not feasible politically
  • its a costly failure, it’d be cheaper if California bought Southwest Airlines and flew Californians around
  • High Speed Rail project is a net greenhouse gas producer
  • The questions outweigh the answers, we need tangible gains from the project
  • let’s ask voters, again

Sacramento Bee | Should California Scrap its High Speed Rail?

Business TREND. 3 Reasons a rail project opposes another high speed rail project in Texas.

SNCF America says Central Texas Partners high speed rail proposal in Texas will:

  • Japan is not right for Texas. ” Texas Central “project is right for Japanese companies subsidized by Japanese taxpayers and wrong for Texas,””
  • Texans should decide on rail.  Texas should decide whether projects are high speed rail or  fast trains
  • Rail should connect to other projects. The Japanese high speed rail has an interoperability problem in that it cannot connect to other rail.

Dallas Morning News | Rival…

3 Ways Governments are Promoting EVs.

Looking to China and Norway, leaders in EV sales, shows these governments:

  • Norwegian government began promoting the use of EVs in 1989
    • early incentives
    • early promotion of the incentive programs
    • cut the annual registration tax on EVs
    •  exempted all EVs from road tolls
    • EV owners to bypass the 24% value added tax
  • Chinese government is focusing on promoting EVs through research and investments in EV manufacturing companies
    • China is implementing a program like California’s Zero…

New Study. Ride Share Less Likely to Take Advantage of Passengers.4 Points from the Academics in Boston.

MIT Researchers found that ride share drivers:

  • taxi drivers are more likely than Uber drivers to take advantage of a situation that offers opportunities to earn a higher fare
    • 7.4% deviation on average for airport pickups
  • when a taxi driver switched over to driving Uber, their behavior also changed to match the effect
  • Taxi drivers also tend to speed more than Uber drivers
  • Uber drivers do tend to be susceptible to detouring or driving more slowly to extend a metered airport trip when surge…

Regulatory TREND. Fall 2018 Opposition Arguments to Texas High Speed Rail.

Ellis County residents offered the following reasons to oppose Texas Central Rail high speed rail project:

  • local property taxes will rise because “nearby properties will be taken out of the tax base”
  • eminent domain a railroad could take a 2 mile on each side swatch of land
  • destruction of family farms
  • uncertainty  too many unknowns for the comfort level of residents
  • environmental concerns the train will cut species migration

Waxahachie Daily Light | Ellis County Residents Express new…

New White Paper from the Right 4 Reasons High Speed Rail Won't Work in Texas.

Whose study?Heartland Institute

3 Reasons High Speed Rail Won’t Work in Texas:

  • “cost estimate is likely far below the actual price”
    • cost estimates in other high speed rail projects have underestimated costs
    • Reason.com says it will cost tax payers $21.5 billion
  • Look at the problems California has has building its easiest leg through the Central Valley
  • Almost all rail in the US is expensive and underutilitized
  • “Texas Central seems hell-bent on using eminent domain to force property…

Open Records. Tesla v. Auto Dealer Lobbyist. What you need to know to be informed:

In a lawsuit over legislation that prohibits direct sales of Tesla in Michigan, the following entities have been ordered by court to turn over records:

  • An attorney-lobbyist for the Autodealer Association
  • specific auto dealers
  • Michigan Auto Dealers Association

Detroit Free Press | Judge: Tesla can view records lobbyist wanted kept secret

1st Operational Privately Owned High Speed Rail in the US. The benefits:

  • Helps Small Businesses.  By bringing new customers & improve quality of life
  • Capitalized its own infrastructure. Unlike CA and TX, the FL project already owned its rail lines
  •  Ease Traffic Congestion & Environmental Impacts. Sustainable alternative to motor vehicles

 

The 1st privately owned High Speed Rail details:

  • began service January 13, 2018
  • service runs from West Palm Beach and  Fort Lauderdale
  • beginning May 19 service expands to Miami
  • the entity behind high speed rail: All Aboard…