Category Archives: roads

Lege TREND. Disguising a Gas Tax Bill for Transportation in a School Finance Deal. Here's How:

Where:  Utah

The legislative compromise: The Utah Legislature and Supports of Increasing School Funding made a deal that would:

  • put a 10cent gas tax question to the voters and then require legislative implementation after the vote
  •  the Legislature in exchange:
    • froze the state basic property tax rate for 5 years
    • created a new tax rate for the weighted pupil unit thereby creating a $292 million increase in education funding.
    • if the gas tax is approved, funds would be divded like this:
      • 70…

Texas Bond Elections on Transportation in November

  • Arlington $137,835,000 for street improvements
  • Austin $160,000,000 for transportation
  • Cibolo $4,750,000 for projects including road repair
  • Collin Co. $750,000,000 for roads and parks
  • Corpus Christi $52,000,000 for street improvements
  • Corpus Christi $22,000,000 for new roads
  • Duncanville $6,600,000 for street improvements
  • Edinurg $30,000,000 for roads and drainage
  • Hutto $70,000,000 for roads and drainage
  • Longview $27,090,000 for street improvements
  • Pflugerville $21,100,000 for…

Local TREND. Ride Share Wants Tolling?

In Seattle, Uber is supporting tolling for:

  • congestion pricing 

Are they doing this elsewhere? Yes, $10 M committed nationally to support sustainable mobility

Why does ride share support congestion pricing tolls?

  • the company supports “sustainable mobility” issues
  • the company supports measures to reduce congestion

The Hill | Uber to lobby for road tolling in Seattle

Regulatory TREND. EV Charging Lanes Coming to the Land of Lincoln?

Illinois Tollway Highway Authority is considering incorporating EV charging into its I-294 modernization. 

 EV methods being considered are:

  • EV charging lanes
    • informed:intel gave you info on the lanes first tried in Sweden around Arlanda airport near Stockholm
  • EV charging stations
  • EV super charging stations

Roads & Bridges | Illinois Tollway may add EV charging to I-294

Campaign TREND. Texas Talk. Dedicating Severance Tax to the Permian Basin. 4 Key Points to the plan.

State Representative Landgraf proposes a change to transportation funding to help rural west Texas that includes:

  • Let oil producing areas retain a small percentage of severance taxes
    • The Rainy Day Fund has $11 Billion balance
    • $7-$8 billion is the standard for emergencies
  • Dedicate the severance tax revenue “to the region where it’s generated”
  • The dedicated revenue would pay for: 
    • adequate infrastructure
    • first responders
  • “save lives and allow commerce to travel more freely”

 

Odessa…

TX Attorney General Opinion Request. Counties and County Truck Weight Enforcement

Requestor: Liberty County Attorney

Questions for the Texas Attorney General to answer: 

  • Can County law enforcement enforce weight restrictions or do they need DPS certification?
  • Can DPS revoke a law enforcement’s authority to enforce weight restrictions that were granted by a county commissioners court?
  • Does a county commissioner court’s grant of authority equal to authority under Texas Transportation Code§ 621.402(e)?

RQ-0251-KP

Business and Regulatory TREND. EV Transportation Corridor. WHO. WHAT. WHERE.

WHO: Nissan and EVgo

 

WHAT:

  • Transportation corridor to connect the cities of Boston and Washington
  • 9 electric vehicle fast-charging stations
  • 52 total fast chargers 
  • The…“I-95 Fast Charging ARC”
  • 4+  EVs simultaneously charge at a power output of 50 kW

 

WHERE: I-95 & EVgo’s charging network has 1,000 fast chargers stations spanning 34 states

NGT News | New EV Charging Corridor Launches Between D.C. and Boston

Local TREND. 3 Arguments Against Red Light Cameras. Texas Governor Abbott. 2 Legislative Solutions.

Safeguarding, Securing, Serving, a report by Texas Governor Abbott calls red light cameras:

  •  expensive
  • increase accidents
  •  pose constitutional issues
The 2 legislative solutions proposed:
  • ban red light cameras in state law
  • preempt local governments from using autmated traffic enforcement

Ft. Worth Star Telegram | Gov. Greg Abbott says it’s time to turn off red light cameras in Texas

 

TX Attorney General Opinion Request. County Duty to Maintain Public Roads

Requestor:  Bosque County Judge

Question to answer: is the Commissioners’ Court required to maintain this road, a public, third class road?

What’s happening in Bosque County?  A public road, the ownership of which has been litigated, has a gate across it thanks to a landowner. The commissioners court has been asked to remove the gate to allow public access. 

RQ- 0245-KP