legislative trend – Page 55 – InfoHive

San Antonio to Laredo High Speed Rail. New Plan. 5 Key Points.

Projected path will be San Antonio to Laredo to Monterrey
Will carry passengers
Will also carry cargo
State Representative Richard Raymond has signaled confidence in the plan
Congressman Cuellar has had talks with TXDOT and officials in Nuevo Leon, Mexico

High speed rail will take the same amount of time to get to Houston or Dallas in door-to-door travel time
Does not solve roadway traffic congestion
high speed rail “solid embankment may interrupt agricultural operations”
high speed rail solid embankment may interupt migration patterns of local wildlife”
” disrupt the peace and quiet for families used to living in rural areas”
Negatively impact rural proeprty values
taxpayer subsidies
impair private property rights

Oregon is the only state to be testing, pay as you drive, taxing structure for its citizens.

How does it work? A green box is attached to a car’s steering column, and reports speed, braking, and distance to a 3rd party contractor.

The fee for pay as you drive in Oregon? 1.5 cents per mile.

Unlike the gas tax a Prius and F-150 would pay equal amounts.

It changes driving habits. One Prius driver reported breaking less.

A non-GPS device option will be available for statewide use, to…

Transportation funding is a Return on Investment:
- it is an enhanced tax base
- promotes new development
- provides a safe, efficient and reliable mode of transporting raw materials, finished products and people
Delays in transportation cost people and businesses money
Fuel efficeint cars are good for the environment and our pocketbooks but bad for transportation funding, and we can fix that

The Los Angeles Times in a special piece dove deep into the California high speed rail project and found it likely over budget & late.

5 reasons why:

No Settled Route. The deadline for phase 1 is 2022, and there is no set route throught the mountains. To connect L.A. and S.F. via high speed rail will require 36 miles of tunnels into the mountains.
Rising Costs. The 1st phase, according to a confidential 2013 report, is 31 % over budget. The state has not used the state’s main project…

“flow of traffic” programing for freeway/ highway driving, this means so the car goes with the flow of traffic at a rate of speed higher than the speed limit
- How do you write a law to allow the car to move at the faster than the posted speed limit sign?
Tailgating
- Self driving cars can be closer to the cars around it without causing accidents

Michigan legislature is poised to approve a transportation funding shift from user fees to general revenue funded transportation.

What does Michigan’s new transportation funding bill look like?

$1.2-billion road funding plan
$600 million in general fund dollars being dedicated to roads each year, starting in 2020-21
It would “vault Michigan from 17th to 5th in the nation in terms of how much general fund money it earmarks for transportation”

What’s the opposition? Democrats, the…

What agency is talking cybersecurity & cars? The FTC

What committee heard from the FTC? Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

What did the FTC testify to?

FTC is the “the nation’s lead privacy and data security enforcement agency”
Proposed legislation is weaker than the FTC rulemaking on “connected cars”
Proposed safe harbor for auto manufacturers that submit privacy policies to the Department of Transportation was too…