4 Reasons Texas Concerned Citizens are Targeting High Speed Rail

A group of former CEOs and executives formed a group that thought it would support high speed rail for the economic devleopment opportunities for Ellis County.

Once it was determined that Ellis County wouldn’t see economic development as the train speeds through, the group shifted course to killing high speed rail.

The group wants to keep high speed rail out of Ellis County because:

  • agriculture contributes $160 million to the Ellis County economy
  • land will have to be aquired in Ellis County from its farmers
  • farms will be split in 2
  • rail will be will be “a literal and figurative barrier to future growth, relegating Ellis County to a semi-rural purgatory”

Local communities,  Palmer, Ferris & Ennis , banded together to create the Community Development Sub-Regional Planning Commission in hopes of stopping high speed rail. The group believes the same tactic was used by sub regional planning commissions to stop TransTexas Corridor. 

Dallas Observer

Texas Central Railway Shifts to some Public Funding?

The Dallas Observer points out that the funding message for the team bringing high speed rail to Texas has shifted from all private fudning to exploring certain public funding options.

Public funding options for high speed rail include:

 

Americans for Prosperity Enter Palmetto State Gas Tax Debate

The gas tax is taking center stage for campaign season in South Carolina. “Anti-tax activists are working the phones to secure GOP senators’ opposition in 2016, when every legislator is up for re-election.”

The message: Reform the system. Don’t add more money. No new taxes. Governance reforms include:

  • abolishing both the legislatively appointed DOT commission and the State Infrastructure Bank (which funds transportation rojects)

The Chamber of Commerce retorts that reform is needed along with funding. That only a two proing approach will solve the transportation funding crisis.

AP via ABC News 4 South Carolina

 

Lege Trend: Peachy Transportation Laws Impact Local Governments in 2 Ways. Ends Aviation Exemptions.

Georgia this year overhauled transportation funding by passing HB 107, that will:

  • phase out the State’s 4% sales and use tax on motor fuel
  • raises the excise tax to $0.26 cents per gallon on gasoline and $0.29 per gallon on diesel, dedicated to transportation funding
  • creates an up to $100 fee on heavy trucks
  • eliminates the $5,000 state income tax credit for buying an electric vehicle
  • total-electric car owners will now pay a $200 annual fee ($300 for commercial vehicles)
  • adds an additional $5.00 per night statewide hotel/motel tax dedicated to transportation; and
  • sunsets a 1% sales and use tax exemption for aviation fuel.

The impact to cities and counties is as follows:

  • cap local sales and use taxes for the price of motor fuel at $3.00 per gallon
    • Above $3, no local sales and use tax will be collected on that amount
  • expands the ability of counties and cities to create a transportation special purpose local option sales tax
    •  the tax rate is to be a fractional rate of 0.05%, up to a maximum rate of 1.0%

PFI Blog

Golden State in Special Session on Transportation Funding & Governance. 2 Governance Proposals.

Last week we talked about business & labor leaders in California proposing an increase in fees and taxes to generate $6 billion for road funding.  This week the California Economic Summit’s Infrastructure action team suggested transportation governance overhaul including:

 

  • “Creating additional regional financing authorities authorized to build and maintain transportation and goods movement projects—and to enter into public-private partnerships to fund these projects, conduct environmental analysis on a regional scale, and tap new user-generated revenue streams to support the investments.
  • Expanding the authority of new Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs) to invest in state roads and highways, railroads, and ports. While state law prohibits this type of investment today, lawmakers should reconsider these restrictions—and allow more communities to use EIFDs to support road and goods movement projects by tapping local resources and revenues generated from the increasing value of the land.”

 California Economic Summit

Regulatory Trend: Update to Ride Share Rules from the Silver Mine State

Nevada’s proposed rules for ride share regulations have now been published. The rules include:

  • $300,000 application fee + a levy of 1% of annual revenue
  • Drivers could face a $50 fee the first year and $10 annual renewals

Procedural hurdles for the rules:

  • public hearing
  • consideration by state lawmakers on the Legislative Commission.

AutoBlog

Trend: Private Rail Rising in the East

Boston Surface Railroad Co. is planning a commuter rail line that would shuttle passengers between Worcester, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. It’s about 45 miles.

Significant private investment in passenger rail is rare. The goal is to be up and running by 2017.

Not be outdone, All Aboard Florida is working on a $2.25 billion project to build a passenger rail from Miami to Orlando. It  also wants to being operating a limited route by 2017.

ABC News

Hacking Cars. Manufactures Proactively Fix Systems to Protect Vehicles From hackers.

Onstar–the savior for people who lock their keys in the car.  Onstar–the way for hackers to take over your car.

Until this week, hackers were able to take control of opening cars, turning on the ignition, and locating the vehicle. The hack took $100 of equipment but was an otherwise easy path to taking over Onstar.

Findlaw

Researchers testing the Tesla system also identified a potential vulnerability and sent out a wireless update to Tesla systems.

TechCrunch

What Collin County Dwellers Think of High Speed Rail

  • “I would vote for the free enterprise model”  but, “you are stuck upon arriving at the train station to proceed on foot, bus or by taxi to your final destination.”
  • “it will bring new business and new tourists to both cities and to College Station.”
  • “high-speed rail is a necessity”
  • “This is another example of some folks deciding they want their money-making project at the expense of landowners who are forced off their land with no benefit to themselves or to their communities. The court judgment on eminent domain awarded to Trans-Canada/XL Pipeline has opened up land use to anyone who wants it for any private project like power lines, wind farms, pipe lines, high speed rail or any other private business foreign, domestic or combination. This one is Japanese. Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas corridor was Spain and the XL was Canadian.”
  • “I smell a backdoor, government-funding rat, I’m always leery of a private concern using the government’s power of eminent domain.”
  • “this state needs to move into this century regarding transportation. All over this state, roads are too crowded, and more efforts should be made to improve our transportation systems.”
  • “I don’t see any real benefit here.”
  • “Waste of money”
  • ” If private companies want to build it, let them. Just don’t tie up our money on something that will never be profitable.”
  • “It is the future.”
  • “it would be easier to take a position if we had detailed cost estimates including confirmed revenue assumptions and sources.”
  • “The anxiety of rural communities fearing loss of revenue and farmers arguing against the rail line because it will divide their property should be taken into account, but should not stop the project.”
  • ” Of all the high speed-rail projects proposed in the U.S., this has the best chance of working and the state should support this effort, if only to demonstrate what can be done and again show Texas as a progressive state.”

Dallas Morning News