Pro-Con Arguments Used in the East to Support Direct Auto Sales + A compromise deal

State: Connecticut

What are the arguments supporting direct sales of vehicles in Connecticut?

  • Opposing direct sales shows an opposition to technology and dissaudes tech start ups from 
  • Denying Connecticut residents the ability to buy directly in Connecticut costs Connecticut jobs and revenue
  • neighboring state Massachusetts is getting the sales and the revenue

 

What are the arguments opposing direct sales in Connecticut?

  • job losses
  • job loss argument is maintained by auto dealers and by business groups such as the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce & Connecticut River Valley Chamber of Commerce

A compromise offered: Allow existing dealers to sell these cars

Hartford Courant | Auto Dealers Fighting Tesla Pitch to Sell Cars Directly to Customers

State Senate Unanimously Votes Against Mileage Tax

State: Connecticut

Is the opposition uniform and bipartisan? yes

What triggered it? A federal subsidy to study a switch to mileage based taxation

What warning are some legislators offering? If there isn’t a transportation funding solution soon, the state moves closer to more tolls on highways

Connecticut Post | Senate votes to prohibit ‘mileage’ tax

 

Procurement Trend. State Department of Transportation Wants to Connect All Cars in a Work Zone

Where is this happening? Michigan

What company is the private partner with Michigan? 3M

What’s the collaborative goal?  “To implement connected vehicle technology on a stretch of work zone on Interstate 75 that is more than 3 miles long”

What is 3M bringing to the table in this partnership?

♦  Advanced all-weather lane markings

♦  Retroreflective signs with smart sign technology

♦  Dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) devices for vehicle-to-infrastructure communications

♦  ANSI-compliant apparel for workers with 3M Scotchlite reflective material

Equipment World | Michigan DOT, 3M partner on connected work zone for I-75 modernization

Business Trend. Company Sponsors State Department of Transportation Road Side Assistance Program

State: Connecticut

Company: State Farm

What does the partnership entail?

  • Renaming the agency’s Connecticut Highway Assistance Motorist Patrol (CHAMP) to the CTDOT State Farm Safety Patrol

Is this new for State Farm?  No, it has Partnerships in 15 other states, including:Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania

Benefit to the state: State can continue providing the same high-level of service, while actually reducing costs to the state’s taxpayers

Equipment World | State Farm sponsorship continues Conn. DOT’s roadside assistance, traffic control program

Legal Trend. Public Transportation Gathers Data on Riders. Riders Sue. 3 Pieces of Informed Intel for Ordinance and Bill Writing.

Where: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay Area

The data privacy issue: Plaintiffs allege that BART captures riders unique mobile identification numbers and locations

What state law is in play? California’s advertising and privacy laws, plus the Cellular Communications Interception Act, which the state Legislature passed in 2015 to protect against unreasonable searches that could violate the Fourth Amendment

 

The Recorder | Privacy Lawyers Accuse BART of Snooping on Riders

Lege Trend. Big Trucks. Bigger Loads. 5 Key Points from the Agreed to Bill

SB 1524 creates this 5 point regulatory scheme:

  • $6,000 annual fee for permits allowing heavier truck weights for containerized imports and exports, limited to designated corridors within 30 miles of a port
  • 50% of the revenue  goes to the state highway funds
  • 30% to counties with the routes
  • 16% to municipalities
  • 4% to the Texas Department of Transportation for administration.

 

informed:intel April 25, 2017:

SB 1524 allows for heavier loads on big trucks when:

  • $5000 annual permit is purchased
  • traveling on a dwsignated corridor
  • within 30 miles of a port of entry/border

Supporters say:

  • anticipated 500,000 TEU increase in annual containerized exports of plastic resin
  • $100 Billion in new or expanded plant capacity along Texas coast
  • the rise in plastic resin is due to cheap natural gas feedstock
  • American Chemistry COuncil warned that without allowing for larger loads would harm the economic advantages of the Gulf Coast
  • Other states on the gulf provide for the same 100,000 load limit

SB 1524 | Texas | 2017 

JOC | Container shipping and trade news and analysis| Texas moves to raise truck weight limits for resins, other cargo

Local Government Trend. Airport Gets $2M in fees per month from ride share

Airport: SFO (San Francisco)

The fee placed on ride share at the airport: an airport fee of $3.80 paid by the rider

Total fees since late 2014: $39 million

What entity administers the fee? Its a 3 step process that works like this:

  • The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Sub-Committee  in San Francisco on approved an extension of the contract between the airport and a nonprofit, the Airport Research and Development Foundation
  • The Airport Research and Development Foundation assesses and collects fees from Uber and Lyft trips at the airport.
  • The airport staff created a tracking system to monitor ride-hail trips to the airport, so the fees could be collected

San Francisco Examiner | SFO cashes in on ride-hails: Uber, Lyft pay $2M per month

Anatomy of a bill. SB 2205. Self Driving Cars.

SB 2205 in the stealth like manner of an electric vehicle is on Saturday’s General State House Calendar. So, let’s take a peak at this legislative trend as it moves in Texas:

SB 2205 will:

  • allow for no humans in an operating self driving car
  • it loops in commerical self driving cars- bonjour garden center delivery services
  • the owner is considered the operator whether or not the owner is in the vehicle
  • if its operating on a highway it needs:
    • insurance
    • to comply with federal guidelines
    • a functioning recording device