Montogomery County voted for the 3rd time to oppose high speed rail. This week’s vote was at the request of Representative Steve Toth.
Community Impact | Montgomery County Commissioners Court continues opposition to high-speed rail
Category Archives: local government
Lege TREND. Statewide ride share rules for fairness and taxes
Oregon HB 3023 (2019 | OR) will create a statewide ride share system but also allow:
- 10-cent surcharge to fund programs for disability transportation or other local programs
KATU | Oregon legislators considering new statewide licensing for Uber, Lyft
Local TREND. Fees on Ride Share.
Los Angeles County approved a TNC tax. Details are not approved, a 20-cent per trip fee is estiamted to generate revenue of $401 million over 10 years.
Long Beach Post | Should drivers be charged to use roads? Metro moves to study the idea
Local TREND. +1 Large City Moves into Congestion Pricing
Los Angeles County, in the run up to the 2028 Olympics, approved a study of congestion pricing.
Revenue estimates for the congestion pricing would generate: $9.6 billion and $83 billion over a period of 10 years.
Long Beach Post | Should drivers be charged to use roads? Metro moves to study the idea
TX Attorney General Opinion. County Roads v. Public Roads.
KP-0240 is about whether a pulic road with a gate on on it, can the county open the gate, effectively treating the road as a county road.
What did the Attorney General Opinion say about what the county can or cannot do with the gate on the public road? Until the road is a county road, or the county is party ot a court order, the county cnanot open the gate
What do I need to know about public roads and county roads from a regulatory/legislative approach?
- Texas statutes use “county road” and…
Lege Trend. Anatomy of a Statewide Scooter Bill. Applies liability to Operator.
Indiana’s HB 649 (2019 | IN) would:
- exempts schooters from motor vehicle requirements
- classifies e-scooters as bicycles- stop lights and bike lanes matter
- exempts e-scooter firms from financial responsibility for accidents
- liability is on the operator
- sets standards such as:
- maximum speed
- number of wheels
- proper lighting
- weight
Regulatory TREND. 3 Recommendations. Regulatory Report. Utility Investment in EV Charging.
Who is making recommendations? Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection
What are the 3 recommendations for utilties to invest in EV?
- transportation electrification
- establishing statewide sales goals
- expanding an alternative fuel investment grants program for municipalities, businesses and organizations
3 Ways the EV investment can benefit utilities:
- invest in EV infrastructure to benefit drivers and the grid
- support fleet EV purchases for government
- Innovative financing…
Local TREND. Hacking of Scooters.
Researchers discovered that Xiaomi’s popular M365 scooter can be hacked to control accelerating and breaking.
Wired | A POPULAR ELECTRIC SCOOTER CAN BE HACKED TO SPEED UP OR STOP
Lege TREND. Anatomy of statewide scooter regulation bill.
Tennessee is considering statewide regulation of scooters that would:
- treat scooters like bikes
- reduce confusion about the rules of riding e-scooters
- promote sustainable forms of transportation
- No scooter can be used by more people that it was designed for.
- Scooters should be ridden as close as practical to the right-hand curb or edge of the road, unless passing another vehicle traveling in the same direction, making a left-hand turn or when needing to avoid an object, vehicle or…
+1 High Speed Rail Project in Texas. Existing Infrastructure. New Kid on the Block.
Virgin Trains USA looks to conenct Dallas, San Antonio & Austin by high speed rail.
An SEC filing also lists a Dallas Houston high spped rail route.
From the SEC filing: “by using existing infrastructure, we believe we can plan, permit and build new rail service significantly faster and cheaper than alternative express passenger rail projects in these areas.”