InfoHive – Transportation – Page 204 – Just another WordPress site

Hyperloop Contest at Texas A&M. Who. What. Where. Why.When. How high Speed Rail is Involved.

Who? Elon Musk

What? Hyperloop design challenge , featuring US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, who supports high speed rail & issued a report that high speed rail will be instrumental in US transportation by 2045.

Where? Texas A&M

When? January 28 & 29, 2016

Why? The A&M “qualifying teams will get a chance to test the pods on a one-mile test track at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. in June 2016.”

How does high speed rail factor into this? In addition to the support of the US Secretary of Transportation for high speed rail, hyperloop can be viewed as a version of high speed rail.

Business Insider Australia | There will be a special guest at Elon Musk’s Hyperloop contest

Lege Trend: State Switches Away From User Fees to Fund Transportation to Rely on …

Michigan legislature is poised to approve a transportation funding shift from user fees to general revenue funded transportation.

What does Michigan’s new transportation funding bill look like?

$1.2-billion road funding plan
$600 million in general fund dollars being dedicated to roads each year, starting in 2020-21
It would “vault Michigan from 17th to 5th in the nation in terms of how much general fund money it earmarks for transportation”

What’s the opposition? Democrats, the chief opponents, say it moves money from education & public safety.

Why the move away from user fees?

“user fee revenues have diminished as more fuel-efficient and alternative fuel vehicles like hybrids and electrics”
Inflation has also held down user fee revenues

Detroit Free Press | Michigan poised for big shift in how it pays for roads

Regulatory & Lege Trend: Cybersecurity. Auto Manufacturers. Regulatory Oversight.

What agency is talking cybersecurity & cars? The FTC

What committee heard from the FTC? Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

What did the FTC testify to?

FTC is the “the nation’s lead privacy and data security enforcement agency”
Proposed legislation is weaker than the FTC rulemaking on “connected cars”
Proposed safe harbor for auto manufacturers that submit privacy policies to the Department of Transportation was too broad
The propsed legislation significantly limit consumer protections
“Prevent the FTC from taking action related to privacy issues beyond a manufacturer’s cars, including its use of consumer data collected from its websites”
Proposed legislation permits retoractive cahnges to privacy policies by manufacturers
The proposal included a creation of a council to develop cybersecurity best practices for the industry with too many industry representatives

Imperial Valley News | FTC Testifies on Proposed Legislation Addressing Privacy and Security in Connected Automobiles

National Law Review | FTC Sees Disconnect on Proposed Connected Cars Legislation

Lege Trend: Sales Tax for Road Funding. County Based Funding with Pros & Cons.

Utah voters will be asked to approve whether counties can add a 0.25 percent general sales tax, excluding food, to be used exclusively for transportation at the county level.

Opponents Say:

Burdens taxpayers
Taxpayers will soon pay more in fuel tax & property taxes
Utah should instead advocate for a Oregon-style vehicle-miles-traveled system.

Supporters Say:

Necessary to help address population growth, deteriorating roads, and insufficient funds
A fuel tax increase alone is not enough to keep up with transportation funding needs.
Counties need adeqaute funding so that they don’t put off maintenance work, making it more expensive.

LandLine Mag.com | ELECTION 2015: Utah counties to decide on transportation tax

The Other High Speed Rail. $468 Billion Price Tag. 3 Things to Know from California.

What’s the high speed rail in Claifornia? A state backed project connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco.

California has been looking for building partners and the responses questioned the state financing. The issues raised:

whether fare revenues would cover operating costs
can this be done without public subsidies, which the project is prohibited by law from using?
can the first 300-mile segment between the San Fernando and Central valleys turn a profit like the project claims? questionable.

What is California’s financial obligation to the project?

California will provide up to $500 million per year until at least 2020
The funding source will be “from money it expects to collect from companies to offset carbon emissions”

Governing | A Bullet Train Into a Fiscal Swamp?

6 Poll Results on Support of Transportation Funding

AAA released its polling information on transportation funding this week showing huge support for transportation funding:

70% think the federal government should invest more than it does now for roads, bridges and mass transit systems
91% think it important to conduct routine maintenance and repair of roads and bridges, such as fixing potholes, repaving roads, etc.:
70% rate it important to expand public and shared transportation, such as busses, commuter rail and support for car-pooling
67% find it important to conduct traffic safety training programs on topics such as the dangers of speeding, distracted driving and driving while impaired
65% find it important to reduce traffic congestion and travel time by expanding lanes and adding lanes reserved for high-occupancy vehicles
64% think it important to improve transportation information technology, such as automated road and traffic warning signs and route mapping software

Sierra Sun Times | AAA Says Americans Overwhelmingly Support Increased Transportation Funding

Lege Trend: New Transportation Method Legalized. Marty McFly Relieved.

California Legislature legalized motorized skateboards. The legislation would:

require motorized skateboards, or other similar contraptions, to follow bike lane rules
allows for local control, enabling localities to ban their use

Economic Reason behind the legislation– tech start ups working on electric skateboards.

WallStreet Journal | Electric Skateboards Legalized in California, Reversing Ban

California’s Assembly Bill 604

7 Points: Economic Study Supporting TX High Speed Rail

$36 Billion impact over 25 years
All counties, not just those with stations, will reap economic benefits
Texas Central Rail will pay property taxes in all counties
Those property taxes are going to local schools too
Economic boon is higher in localities with stations which will see commercial and residential economic benefits
10,000 full time jobs during construction
$10 bllion in eocnomic output

Houston Chronicle | Study finds high-speed rail line an economic shot for Texas

Dallas Morning News | Study: High-speed rail would spur billions in economic benefits

Texas Central Rail | Discover the Benefits