Transportation legislation: how do you ticket a driverless car?

San Bruno, CA police officers witnessed  a driverless car make an illegal u-turn. Law enforcement pulled the car over, and discovered there is no way to cite the car for an illegal u-turn when there is no driver. 

Look for this loophole to be corrected. 

The San Francisco Standard | ‘No driver, no hands, no clue’: Waymo pulled over for illegal U-turn

Evacuation route planning

Louisiana is considering temporary lanes for evacuation routes. The temporary lanes would  be wider shoulder lanes. 

In 2022, Louisiana studied the state’s Contraflow plan, which requires certain metrics to be met before all lanes are redirected to out flowing lanes of traffic. 

“The task force also introduced a strategy used in Texas and Florida: widening existing highways so the shoulders can be used as additional travel lanes to relieve congestion. The strategy is known as “evaculanes” or “emergency shoulder use.”

Governing | Louisiana Considers Temporary Lanes to Replace Outdated Evacuation Method

Road funding with weed dollars

Bipartisan support of a marijuana tax increase to fund road projects in Michigan is moving forward. The Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act, includes a 24% tax on wholesale cannabis purchases and is estimated to generate a hefty $420 million per year.

Hoodline | BIPARTISAN SUPPORT IN MICHIGAN LEGISLATURE FOR MARIJUANA TAX HIKE TO FUND ROAD PROJECTS DESPITE INDUSTRY CONCERNS

Delivery scaling: robots, drones, and drivers

Uber is investing in Flytrex to scale its delivery services. This is the company’s first investment in a drone delivery company. The strategy is “to create a multimodal delivery network that extends beyond cars, bikes and couriers to include sidewalk robots and drones. ” 

Restaurant Dive | Uber invests in Flytrex to scale drone delivery

Lithium mining and EVs.

In 2024, GM bought a 38% stake in Lithium Americas for $625 million. Now, the Administration is seeking a 10% stake in the mining company in exchange for renegotiating the repayment period of a $2.26 billion Department of Energy loan for development of a lithium mine in Nevada.

Tech Crunch | Trump administration wants 10% stake in Canadian lithium miner that sells to GM

Passenger rail caucus

Wisconsin Legislature has a new caucus- the Passenger Rail Caucus. Beyond the usual passenger rail support, it also includes wanting transportation options for people who don’t want to drive, can’t drive, or maybe you think your elderly parents shouldn’t be driving.

Wisconsin Examiner | Legislature’s new passenger rail caucus wants to see train service open the throttle