2 Rural Responses to Texas High Speed Rail + Response from TX High Speed Rail

Resident of Waller county at a meeting about the use of eminent domain for proposed high speed rail:

  • “No private company should have the authority of eminent domain”
  • We have planes, we don’t need trains

The written response from high speed rail:

  • The counties along the route will receive a “financial windfall from high-speed rail, which will provide thousands of jobs and an economic impact of $36 billion over the next 25 years”

KBTX | High speed rail causes uproar in Waller County

KHOU | High speed rail causes upset in Waller County

Local Leader Trend: TX Transportation Funding Should Shift. 5 Bits Informed Intel.

Who is proposing a shift in state transportation funding? Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner

What is the impetus for his transportation funding proposal? Mayor Turner asserts that widening highways adds to more congestion. “These types of projects are not creating the kind of vibrant, economically strong cities that we all desire”

Under Mayor Turner’s transportation funding proposal, what should be the focus of transportation funding? Shift from automobiles and toward alternatives

What transportation alternatives are suggested? commuter rail, high-occupancy vehicle lanes, park and rides, and local transit

How have the paradign shift in transportation funding been received?

  • Harris County Commissioner Raddack: ” “This is Texas. People either want to own a horse or a car,” Radack said. “The most rapidly growing area, by far, of our region is the unincorporated area of Harris County.”
  • “Making a major change in how the money is invested would be a big challenge,” said Alan Clark, director of transportation planning at the Houston-Galveston Area Council.
  • Clark Martinson, general manager of the Energy Corridor District, called Turner’s speech “the boldest, best thing I have heard from a mayor in the 30 years I’ve been in Houston.”

Houston Chronicle | Turner calls for change in transportation philosophy

Trend: Reduce Traffic by Increasing Parking at Meters to $8/hr. 4 Bits Informed Intel.

What cities are imposing $8/hour meter rates?  Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Seattle

Is there a trendy name for $8/hour meters? Oui, Oui, it’s called so-called demand-price parking.

How does it work? Parking meters on busy streets that are close to shops and restaurants get a higher price per hour. Lower parking rates are availableon less busy streets  a few blocks away.

What are the goals? Is it revenue? The stated goals are:

  • reduce congestion
  • encourage aprking space turnover
  • help area businesses that benefit from parking space turnover

Stateline | Cities Try $6, $8 Hourly Parking to Cut Congestion, Pollution

Regulatory Trend: INTERIM. Self Driving Cars. Computer is the Driver.

In response to a proposal from google, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the driver of a self driving car is the car’s computer.

The machines are taking over the world. 3 Keys from the federal regulators that will matter in Texas:

  • States and the feds are tackling laws and rule making. The ruling for google is limited to its application.
  • Google’s home state, California, has a propsoed rules that require a human driver in the vehicle.
  • The level of human interaction with self driving cars has to be considered for all aspects of driving in regulations. The laws and regulations proposed throughout the U.S. have different standards for steering & braking all of which still require a degree of manual control.

Engadget | US regulators: Google’s self-driving car AI ‘can be a driver’

Autoblog | US regulators: Google’s self-driving car AI ‘can be a driver’

Statesman | Government will consider Google computer to be car’s driver

New Senate Select Committee: Ports. Economic Competitiveness.

Members of the Senate Select Committee to study ports are:

  •  Brandon Creighton (chair)
  • Jose Menendez (vice chair)
  • Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa
  • Lois Kolkhorst
  • Eddie Lucio Jr.
  • Jane Nelson
  • Larry Taylor

Here’s what the committee is to study:

  • study the economic benefit of the Panama Canal expansion to Texas ports
  • Include in their study inland ports
  • Determine what will keep Texas ports comeptitive
  • “Senate is leading the charge to keep Texas the leader in exports and imports in our nation”

Lt. Gov. Patrick | LT. GOVERNOR PATRICK CREATES NEW SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON TEXAS PORTS

Congressman Encouraging State Legislators to get an A.G. Opinion on High Speed Rail. 5 Bits informed intel.

  • Congressman Kevin Brady is encouraging legislators to seek an A.G. Opinion on high speed rail in Texas
  • What’s the issue that has Brady up in arms? Eminent Domain. Specifically state granted eminent domain powers.
  • Who recevived the letter from Congressman Brady? 
    • Charles Schwertner
    • Trent Ashby
    • John Otto
    •  Leighton Schubert
  • What is Congressman Brady’s concern? Whether the rail works for local communities, and he does not believe a rural train route works for local communities
  • its not Congressman Brady’s first rodeo, he was similarly proposed during a rail proposal in the 1990s.

KBTX | Congressman calling for attorney general’s opinion on high speed rail through the area

Houston Press | WITH PRIMARY LOOMING, CONGRESSMAN KEVIN BRADY WADES INTO THE BULLET TRAIN FIGHT

California High Speed Rail Now on Longer Time Line but Less Costly

California high speed rail authority Chairman Dan Richard said in testimony to an Assembly transportation committee:

  • its going to take longer
  • we’re already 2 years behind and there is no estimate on how much longer it will take
  • costs are going down

L.A. Times | Bullet train may take longer to build but cost less than originally estimated, official says

Gizmodo | California’s Bullet Train Is Delayed, and Nobody Knows How Long It Will Take

INTERIM 6 Points from Austin Mayor Adler on Ride Share

Austin Mayor Adler has a piece in Trib Talk about ride share entitled, Innovation is the way forward for Austin and Uber/Lyft. 

His main points:

  • an election is costly, and that money could be spent on other projects
  • forcing a hand on ordinances isn’t the Austin way
  • he wants to keep Uber and Lyft in Austin
  • he supports independent, third-party, cross-platform, virtual badges or validators that we call the Austin Thumbs Up! badge via 
  • Austin Thumbs Up! would utilize 3rd parties to verify a person voluntarily passed a fingerprint background check
  • he prefers incentives over mandates

 

6 Points from Sen. Konnie Burton Op Ed on TEX Rail

  • 27 miles of rail has an enormous price tag of $998.78 million
  • local officials are aggressively pushing it & have not secured funding
  • “our community” hasn’t signaled a “desire” for mass transit, even Travis County voted before they approved rail & we haven’t
  • local officials are  entering into a deal with the” irrational and fiscally irresponsible federal government”
  • it won’t have an impact on traffic congestion based on the environmental impact study
  • rail projects attract high earners and “neglects the needs of our most vulnerable”

Ft. Worth Star Telegram | TEX Rail is moving full-speed ahead, but should it be stopped?