New CEO at Texas Central Rail (Texas High Speed Rail Project) & Support from a libertarian leaning Senator

Tim Kieth is the new CEO at Texas Central Rail. He is:

  •  from Dallas
  • previously at RREEF/Deutsche Bank Infrastructure Investments, serving as global chief executive officer for 10 years

Texas Central Rail also garnered a $75 Million investment from:

  • John Kleinheinez
  • Drayton McClain
  • Jack Matthews

One notable supporter, Senator Don Huffines, breaking from other conservative Senators Like Kolkhorst, who filed bills this year to limit the rail’s eminent domain authority: 

Today’s announcement demonstrates that Texans are willing and eager to invest in a private sector, free market solution to moving Texans across our great state. I applaud Texas Central Railway for developing the project to this point and look forward to boarding a train from Dallas very soon. This private sector project will help decrease our reliance on the overcrowded, underfunded, outdated interstate highway system that is in desperate need of more funding, expansion, and repair. 

Christian Science Monitor  WFAA  Houston Press  Dallas Morning News Star Telegram  Dallas Business Journal  Progressive Railroading Texas Central Rail Press Release

New Ferris TX City Manager Challenged on Stance on High Speed Rail

Ferris City Council named Carl Sherman the city’s new City Manager. He is also mayor of DeSoto, an uncompensated position.

During the vetting process, Sherman was asked about his stance on high speed rail, something Ellis County Commissioners Court opposes. Sherman said he will be too busy running the city to get into politics like high speed rail.

Waxahachie Daily Light

High Speed Rail: Magnolia & Montgomery County are Watching You.

Montgomery County and the city of Magnolia formed a regional planning commission to monitor the proposed high speed rail project.The current path of the high speed rail proposal does not cross Magnolia or Montgomery County.

Both local governments appear to be opposed to the high speed rail and its taking of private land. As such, the city and county are being vigilent just in case. 

Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal: ” We are committed to opposing any routing of high speed rail through western Montgomery County, and the regional planning commission is a tool that will help us in that goal”

KBTX Byran College Station

Lege Trend: Laws Against Hacking a Car. Hackers Can Take Over your Car.

A reporter for Wired details what parts of a car hackers can control while you’re driving. It’s like a self driving car, driven by criminals with you in it.

Hackers are able to control a vehicle’s:

  • A/C system, changing the temperature in the car
  • The radio, changing channels and volume control
  • Windshield wipers
  • Windshield washer fluid blurring the windows
  • dashboard functions
  • steering
  • brakes
  • transmission

All of the car functions above can be controlled from a laptop by a nefarious hacker. Wired. 

Congress is trying to stop it with the Spy Car Act.   Sens. Ed Markey & Richard Blumenthal  would require the Federal Trade Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop standards to protect drivers’ privacy and to guard against a potentially deadly hack of a vehicle. The Hill   Ft Worth Star Telegram 

El Paso Missing $20M in Transportation Funding

The case of the missing $20 Million of federal trasnportation dollars for El Paso:

The hub-bub? A claim “that the city lost more than $20 million in federal money for critical transportation projects through the Metropolitan Planning Organization due to errors on funding applications.”

The other side: The funds aren’t lost. We’ll correct our mistakes (deadlines not met, application problems), and get the money a little later. No biggie.

El Paso Times  KVIA

Regulatory Trend for Ride-Share: Feds Issue Standards on Employees v. Independent Contractors. Big Deal for Ride Share.

To clear up the national confusion on whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division set out to address the confusion with a 15-page memo of guidance.

15 pages of a guidance…from the government. How can this not go wrong? 

NFIB said, ““The guidance is going to make it harder to classify workers as independent contractors,”

National Home Builders Grand Pubah said, ““I’m appalled by the procedures they’re following,”

The 15 pages of guidance are said to hit these industries hardest:

  • technology
  • construction

WallStreet Journal  US Dept. of Labor Wage & Hour Division 15 page memo  Law360

Regulatory Trend for Ride-Share: $7.3M Uber Fine. Information Reporting.

 California Public Utilities Commission, which has oversight of ride share and taxis, ordered Uber to “pay a $7.3 million fine and hand over required information about safety and accessibility — or shut down in the ride service’s home state.”

Other ride share companies had provided the California Public Utilities Commission information, including:

  • number of customers requesting rides in vehicles  accommodating people with disabilities
  • how often they complied with requests from people with disablities
  •  the number of rides requested & accepted within each ZIP code
  • report the cause of every traffic incident involving one of their drivers.

Next step: Appeal of the fine.

Governing     The Recorder     LA Times