Safety Regulation + Ride Share = No Ride Share. What drove away the sharing economy?

Quebec has a requirement that requires taxi drivers and ride share drivers to complete driver safety courses. 

In addition to 35 hours of driver safety training, ride share would also be required to:

  • annual car inspections
  • background checks done by police officials

Wall Street Journal | Uber Threatens to Leave Quebec Over Driver Rules

 

Local Trend. 2/3 of all Traffic Tickets Go To Ride Share? Revenue Source for Cities?

San Francisco Police Department says that 2/3 of its traffic citations are issued to ride share drivers. 

How can you speed through the Streets of San Francisco? Tickets include:

  • Illegal U-turns
  • blocking traffic (remember loyal informed:intel subscribers SF city ordiance sought dsignated ride share drop offs on side streets)
  • blocking bike lanes

What do the traffic citstion numbers look like?

  • April 1 to June 30 accounted for 2,656 traffic violations
  • 1,723 — or nearly 65 percent— ride share drivers

Washington Post | San Francisco police say most traffic tickets go to Uber and Lyft drivers

1 Man. North Texas Self Driving Car Rules. 5 Things to Know.

How is DFW handling self driving vehicles in North Texas? With an automated vehicles department within theNorth Central Texas Council of Governments. It’s a department of 1 man.

What has this Department of 1 employee accomplished for self driving car policy?

  • established an “automated vehicle program,” approved by the Regional Transportation Council
  • secured funding for low-speed automated vehicle pilot programs
  • secured funding to support the use of Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth as a test corridor for transportation technology.
  • pilot programs will include encouraging “local cities to make their traffic signal data accessible to the developer community to support connected vehicle applications”
  • reserved funding to research or reinvent “people mover systems using automated vehicles,”

GovTech | Dallas-Fort Worth Region Plots Practical Course for Autonomous Vehicles

Local Trend. City Creates Smart Transportation Corridor. What it Means by the Numbers.

  • 2.3 miles of roadway
  • 18 intersections will have advanced technology
  • Goal is to reduce by 25% stop and wait times  without increasing travel speeds
  •  $3 million project came from $150 million in bonds Atlanta voters approved in 2015

Atlanta’s Smart Transportation Corridor will be a partnership with Georgia Tech.

Construction Equipment News | Atlanta creates Smart Corridor to improve traffic, prepare for driverless vehicles

LOCAL TREND. 3 Ways Smart Tech Manages Traffic for Columbus OH & Las Vegas NV

Columbus, Ohio and Las Vegas, Nevada are both toying with smart technology to improve traffic.

Three things to know about the traffic technology testers:

  • Each city had to bolster its tech infrastructure to allow for the massive amount of data needed to handle common traffic issues with technology.
  • After infrastructure comes connectivity. Connected vehicles, autonomous cars, traffic monitoring devices all need to communicate with one another, & the communication must be safe and free of interference.
  • City fleets become tech testers. City fleets are adapted to relay information and to see how helpful traffic management can be rolled out in the city.

State Tech Magazine | Smart Technology Makes Managing Traffic a Breeze for Transportation Departments

4 Unanswered Policy Issues with Hyperloop

Hyperloop does not have the policy foundation of other types of transportation system. This leaves 3 areas of policy wide open:

  • There is no policy framework for implementation
  • There is no policy framework for safty standards
  • There are no policy stnadards for regulation, operation and maintenance of hyperloops
  • Does hyperloop qualify for eminent domain authority?

Dallas Morning News | Meet the Dallas urban planner behind Texas’ pursuit of the hyperloop

 

6 Things to Know about the Lonestar Hyperloop Bid

  • Texas hyperloop proposal would connect, Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Laredo.
  • Its 1 of 10 bids approved worldwide
  • AECOM, who placed the Texas bid, had 5 of 10 winning bids.
  • AECOM has also been involved with One Wolrd Trade Center, London’s Olympic Park and Etihad Rail
  • Texas geography, strong economy, and population growth are key components to hyperloop’s success in Texas
  • Hopes to supplement  Texas Central Railway

Dallas Morning News | Meet the Dallas urban planner behind Texas’ pursuit of the hyperloop

Texas begins Rule Making on Ride Share. 5 Key Bits Informed Intel.

The proposed rules: 

  • Concern 16 Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Chapter 95, §§95.1, 95.2, 95.10, 95.20 – 95.23, 95.30, 95.31, 95.40, 95.50, 95.51, 95.70 – 95.72, 95.80, 95.90, 95.91 and 95.100, regarding the Transportation Network Companies program.
  • Reflect stakeholder meetings from July 6, 2017
  • Follow HB 100

The publication date: Stpember 15, 2017 Texas Register

Earliest Possible Adoption of Rules:  October 15, 2017

Fiscal Implications Contained in Rules: None to local governments. TDLR will need a new FTE and computer equipment for operation for a total of  $104,458 during the first year 

Comments on the proposed rules: submitted by mail to Pauline Easley, Legal Assistant, General Counsel’s Office, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, P.O. Box 12157, Austin, Texas 78711; or by facsimile to (512) 475-3032, or electronically to erule.comments@tdlr.texas.gov. The deadline for comments is 30 days after publication in the Texas Register.

Texas Register | September 15, 2017 | TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATION