Category Archives: legislative trend

TREND. Amend statewide ride share laws with more reporting. Safety First.

After passing statewide ride share laws states, like North Dakota, seek to amend their laws.

What do states want to change about their ride share laws?

  • More detailed information about ride share driver incidents
  • Greater detail on the severity of incidents
  • Ensure disclosure of the number of traffic violations
  • More details about the statewide number of drivers to compare the incidents to those in the overall driving public

WDAZ | Lawmakers may boost reporting requirements for Uber, Lyft next…

Local Trend. Statewide Ride Share law. Local Ballot to Accept Ride Share. At issue: Local Taxes.

The October ballot in Ketchikan Alaska will ask its citizens whether to permit ride share operators.

Alaska has a statewide rideshare law, but a skeptical mayor and city council want local input. 

The skepticism, you ask? Whether ride share companies will remit local sales taxes.

SF Chronicle | Alaska city leaders put ride-sharing ban on ballot

+1 Palmetto State Raises the Gas Tax.

South Carolina’s gas tax increase, the first in 30 years, went into effect on July 1, 2017. 

Revenues will be dedicated and prioritized including these qualifications for projects:

  • Roughly 1/2 of funds will go to prioritized SC DOT projects
  • The remainder will go to Country Transportation Committees projects

Equipment World | South Carolina DOT awards first projects from new roads bill

State Reg. Trend. Smart Roads. The Numbers behind the trend.

Delaware DOT is partnering with agencies, automobile manufacturers and technology companies, and network segmentation to fine tune smart roads. The test road- a restretch of I-95.

Why the rush to start testing smart roads?

  • 220 million connected cars will be on the road by 2020
  • 3/4 of the 92 million cars shipped globally with have connectivity
  • 62% of consumers say hackers will breach connected cars

State Tech | The Connected Vehicle Revolution Makes Cybersecurity Top of Mind

Researchers Say Policymakers Must Consider Bikes in Self Driving Car Laws. 3 reasons why:

  • bikes are the fastest growing mode of transportation in the US
  • bikes and cars share the road, and most self driving cars will pass a bike only when 3 feet clearance exists
  • Bikes more more erratically than cars, and self driving cars need to be programmed to predict the more nimble movements of bikes

NPR | Bikes May Have To Talk To Self-Driving Cars For Safety’s Sake

How Wine Country is Expediting EV Charging Station Permits via a statewide bill. Read the bill.

In 2015, California passed Assembly Bill 1236 that asks towns under 200,000 to provide for expedited permits for EV charging stations. 

What did AB 1236 require small cities to do to make more EV charging stations a reality?

  • provide a “submittal check list” for EV station applicants
  • applicant approval through the issuance of a non-discretionary permit such as a building permit
  • limit permit denials  to whether the EV station would have an “adverse impact upon the public health and safety.”

So…

17 States Address Data Security and Self Driving Cars. 1 State Declares the Data Private. What you need to know:

17 States have laws concerning when self driving car data can be accessed.

The 17 states are: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington

Only North Dakota refers to the self driving car data as private data.

Bryan Cave LLP | Data Privacy Issues of Self-Driving Vehicles

Regulatory Trend. How one state is directing charging stations

State: Minnesota

How is Minnesota trying to direct charging stations for EV cars? By guiding private investment

What state action furthered the guiding of private investment?

  • MN partnered with WI, IL, IN, MI and the city of Detroit to designate a stretch of Interstate 94 the “Great Lakes Zero Emission Corridor”
  • the Zero Emission Corridor led to MN DOT erecting signs highlighting nearby electric charging options.

Star Tribune | With more electric cars coming, Minnesota officials consider…

AG Opinion Request. Testing the Waters on Manufacturers & Dealerships.

Opinion Request, RQ-0170-KP, from texas Department of Motor Vehicles wants the Attorney General to answer this question:

  • Whether wholly owning a motor vehicle manufacturer results in affiliation with that manufacturer for purposes of section 2301.476(a)(2) of the Occupations Code.

 

What does DMV point out in its opinion request?

  • Forest River (FR) is a vehicle manufacturer
  • Berkshire Hathaway Automotive  (BHA) operates dealerships
  • Berkshire Hathaway (BH) owns Forest River
  • BHA is a…

Vehicle Tax Trend. Tax all the vehicles- all shapes, all motors.

Oregon became the first state to tax adult bikes of $200 or more. Each bike will be taxed $15.

Oregon does not levy a regular sales tax. The $15 tax is dedicted to Connect Oregon program, that funds projects serving multiple modes of transportation.

The rational for the tax: because bikes who use roads should contribute too.

City Lab | Oregon (Yes, Oregon) Just Put a Tax on Bicycles