Category Archives: legislative trend

3 Points. East Texas Editorial Opposed to High Speed Rail.

Tyler Morning Telegraph editorial opposing Texas Centrail Rail raises these 3 points:

  • This isn’t a rural-urban issue. This is a property rights issue.
  • You can’t say this is a private enterprise, promoting free market when you use eminent domain, because eminent domain is the opposite of free market.
  • This is crony capitalism with the government  “thumb on the scale”

Tyler Morning Telegraph | Editorial: Texas bullet train an example of crony capitalism

6 States. New Electric Vehicle Fees.

Considering implementing an electric vehicle fee in 2017 are:

  • Indiana 
  • South Carolina
  • Kansas
  • Tennessee
  • New Hampshire
  • Montana

How does this compare to the current electric vehicle fees? 10 states have electric vehcile fees which range from $50 to $300

Utility Dive | Report: Six states propose new electric vehicle fees

Sierra Club | Flurry of State Bills Introduced, Likely Backed by Oil Industry, to Penalize Electric Car Drivers

+ 1 State. High Speed Rail.

the State:  Washington

The move toward high speed rail: The Governor calling on $1 million in the Transportation budget to study high speed rail between Seattle and Vancouver

What specifics will the study include:

  • Does the short ditance make rail as competitive as air travel
  • Can high speed rail work with existing rail
  • Proposed station sites
  • Environmental impact
  • Latest high-tech options
  • Projected ridership demand

Construction Dive | WA governor allocates $1M for high-speed rail study

 

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…

Emerging Trend. Swap State Fleets for Ride Share. 3 Key Points.

The State: Arizona

The legislative proposal: 

  • Swap 20% of the state fleet for ride share or contract with companies to manage the service
  • Creates a pilot program for state workers to use rental cars, fleet management services, ride hailing services or private-public partnerships

​Has the legislator had success with cutting government vehicle costs? Yes, as a city council member in Chandler, AZ he cut the city vehicle use costs by 22%

Arizona House Bill 2440 (2017)

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

Mile High State Considering Adding "Idaho Stop" to Road Laws. What is an Idaho Stop?

What is an Idaho stop & does it have anything to do with potatoes or mountains?  No potatoes. No mountains. An Idaho stop allows a bicyclist to treat a stop sign as a yield and a red light like a stop sign.

Which state is considering allowing cyclists to have their own interpretation of stop signs and red lights? Colorado

The Denver Post | Should legislature let Colorado cyclists use discretion at stop signs? (3 letters)