Oregon’s proposed transportation funding package includes a 20cent gas tax increase that is phased in from 2026-2032, title and registration fee increases, & a pay as your drive fee phased in based on type of vehicle. EVs would get the pay as you drive fee first, followed by hybrids.
High vision trucks
Together for Safer Roads has formed to improve garbage truck safety by proposing higher vision windshields. Traditional garbage trucks with plain old windshields have a 23% higher pedestrian accident rate. London began requiring high vision garbage trucks and has seen a 49% reduction in the number of fatal collisions involving large trucks and a 64% reduction in crashes causing severe injuries where vision was a factor.
Together for Safer Roads Launches TSR Direct Vision Leadership Council
Trucking subscription service
Volvo is starting a subscription service for trucking. Bonjour, Volvo on Demand. The big truck: Volvo’s battery-electric trucks. The benefit to customers is eliminating the upfront cost of buying a big ‘ol truck.
“Volvo on Demand is designed to remove barriers to adopting battery-electric trucks by offering a flexible, all-inclusive service model,” Logan Andrew, eMobility territory finance manager East for Volvo Financial Services.
Trucking Dive | Volvo debuts first customer for truck-as-a-service subscription
Hacking cars
Drive a subaru? Wired tells us hackers can remotely access your car to unlock it, start it, snd access your location history. How? A vulnerability in its Starlink service.
VMT vs. EV fee
Hawaii, Oregon, and Utah allow EV drivers to choose a flat EV fee or a vehicle miles traveled fee (pay as you drive). Massachusetts is also considering a similar system with S1925 (2025 | MA).
Governing | Road User Fees Still a Tough Sell in State Legislatures
Autonomous Vehicle partnerships
GM, Gatik and Torc have joined forces with Nvidia to advance self driving vehicle technology. Gatik will be able to offer “Level 4 autonomous trucks at scale for the company’s customers, which include Walmart, Kroger, and Tyson Foods. “
Tech Crunch | GM, Gatik, Torc team up with Nvidia to accelerate self-driving
Cities banning EV chargers in parking garages
After a fire at an EV charger in a Chicago suburb, the city council moved to halt new EV chargers in public parking garages. Also, in Illinois, State Farm removed EV chargers at its corporate parking in Bloomington. Something to watch.
Daily Herald | Why one suburb is banning EV chargers from public parking garages
John Deere pays white hat hackers
Since 2022, John Deere has paid more than $1.5 million to white hat hackers through its Bug Bounty program with HackerOne. John Deere is driven to proactively identify improvements and bolster information security.
John Deere | Hacker Heroes: John Deere’s Bug Bounty Program Boosts Cybersecurity
Colorado barrier
Meet Pretred. Pretred makes roadway barriers from recycled tires. Pretred says its Colorado Rubber Barrier is “the world’s first rubber barrier for use on U.S. roadways as a suitable alternative to concrete.”
Equipment World | The “Colorado Barrier” Becomes First Rubber Barrier Approved for U.S. Roads
Texas joins EV charging roadway future
Engineers at the University of Texas El Paso are developing dynamic wireless power transfer technology. This technology allows EVs to charge while driving via transmitter pads within the road surface.
EV Magazine | University of Texas: Developing Tech to Charge While Driving