Category Archives: roads

Regulatory TREND. LEGE TREND. Procurement TREND. Switching to a 5 Step Contracting Process that Shifts Liability.

State: Arkansas

New transportation construction contract process: construction manager/general contractor (CMGC) form of contracting

Why the switch? liability and risks of cost overruns move to the contractor

What parameters did the Legislature put around the new contracting method?

  • 3 projects only
  • totaling no more than $200 million

How does it work?

  • Design Phase: contractors submit requests for proposals

  • After the design phase: contractor submits its cost estimate to build the…

TX Attorney General Opinion. What you Need to Know about the Constitution & Tollroad Funding. The 2019 legislative fix.

The question the Texas Attorney General Answered: whether the Texas Transportation Commission may use Proposition 1 and Proposition 7 funds on toll projects.

What complicated the question & answer: That roads in Texas are often mixed, partially free and partially tolled. 

Why do roads that have tolled and free lanes make the answer more complicated? There is no guidance in statute and no guidance in case law for whether a “toll road” and “toll project” are the same and thus the constitutional…

EV Charging Roads. The future of transportation procurement. Just the Facts:

Where have EV Charging roads been installed? Stockholm Sweden

What does the partnership look like to develop the road?

  • eRoad Arlanda is the development partnership
  • eRoad Arlanda partnered with  PostNord, the first company to use the new electrified roads

How long of a stretch of road has EV charging? 2 kilometers

How does it work? 

  • A track is laid into the roadway to allow for charging while driving
  • The track is only active when the vehicle is over it and charging
  • The vehicle…

Lege Trend. State Increases Gas Tax. Initiative & Referendum to Stop the Tax Increase. The Where. The What. The How.

Where: California

What: California Legislature passed a gas tax increase 

How is the inititiative and referendum moving to repeal the gas tax?

  • California’s Congressional Delegation is Supporting the initiative & referendum by Give Voters a Voice
  • State Republican party strategists fear conservative voters will stay home if the open primary doesn’t qualify a conservative candidate for the general election

Sacramento Bee | Gas tax repeal gets more cash from California GOP

Connecting a State's Large Cities Roads Trains and Planes. Anatomy of the Bill in the Cherokee Rose State

Georgia is considering HB 134 (2018) that will:

  • Allows voters in 13 metro counties  to vote on a 1-cent sales tax
  • Allocates $100 million to expand transit
  • Create the Atlanta-region Transit Link with a 16 member board that will:
    • Serve the needs of hardworking Georgians
    • Respond to the demands of our employers and workforce
    • Reduce traffic congestion

13WMAZ | What does Georgia’s new transportation bill mean for you? 

TX Attorney General Opinion. Big Trucks. Overweight Truck Enforcement. 4 Key Points.

Texas Attorney General Opinion, KP-0189, answers this question from the Liberty County Attorney:

Whether an elected constable and deputy constables may simultaneously serve under the sheriff, specifically to perform tasks related to the duties of a weight- enforcement officer under Transportation Code chapter 621 

What does the Opinion say?

  • A Sheriff’s deputy is specifically listed in Chapter 621 of the Transportation Code to serve as wieght-enforcement officers & there is no prohibition of…

Local Government TREND. +1 County Moves to Block High Speed Rail by Protecting its Roads. 4 levels of protection:

The County: Madison County Texas

The high speed rail project: Texas Central Partners’ Dallas to Houston High Speed Rail

The 4 Levels of Madison County road protection:

  • No county road will be closed
  • No county road will be vacated
  • No county road will be altered
  • No county road will be abandoned  to accommodate the proposed high-speed rail route

Madisonville Meteor | County takes stand on railway

Local TREND. Infrastructure Impact Fees. What? How? Who is paying the fee?

Where: San Francisco Board of Supervisors

What’s an infrastructure impact fee? a fee to to ameliorate the impacts of ride share

What 5 impacts do ride share have on local government?

  • reduced pulic transportation revenue
  • increased traffic congestion
  • increased traffic safety issues from collisions
  • increased traffic safety issues for pedestrian safety
  • increased road wear and tear

What entities are a proposed infrastructure impact fee to be levied against? Ride Share

San Francisco Examiner…

Regulatory TREND. 3 Study Results. Colorado Pay As You Drive vs. Gas Tax

Colorado Department of Transportation released the results of a pay as you drive pilot study & here’s the results:

  • There will be credit for any payment of the gas tax
  • Participants reported that the pay as you drive system is fair
  • CDOT remains unsure about the future of the pay as you drive program

The parameters for the pilot:

  • 4 months
  • Participants from 27 Colorado counties
  • Participants reported how much they drove by:
    • using GPS tracker
    • photographing their odometer
    • other technology…

3 Points About Pay As You Drive in California

  • Caliornia’s pilot pay as your drive program is called the  California Road Charge Pilot Program
  • The state policy support arguments for pay as your drive: fairness as pay as you drive accounts for EVs, hybrid and feul efficient vehicles
  • The opposition to taking the pay as your drive statewide: the privacy issues of mileage trackers.
    • will mileage trackers be placed in cars? will they track GPS locations?
    • will mileage trackers be installed at gas pumps and charging stations?
    • will…