The Pivot, a podcast about businesses pivoting, Surprise! Has a fascinating bit about the use of Uber’s back end software as a valuable tool for transit entities.
New York Magazine The Pivot Podcast | 125 Facebook’s Cultural Crisis
Anatomy of a Local Ballot Measure to Increase Ride Share Fees
Where: Berkeley, CA
The final ballot proposition approved for November 2020?
- Rides starting in Berkeley will have a 50 cent fee per private trip
- Pooled trips will be levied a 25 cents fee per pooled trip
- Ride-share vehicles that are wheelchair accessible are exempt
The tax/fee will be paid by the service users & the TNC will be responsible for remitting the fees to the city.
Was the fee part of a bigger transportation plan? yes, a sustainable transportation road map
Daily Cal | Berkeley City Council approves ballot measure that could tax Uber users
+1 City Increases airport fees for ride share
The city: Houston
What will the new fee be? $3 at IAH and $2.75 at Hobby
The revenue estimates? $11.8 million in fiscal year 2020-21 + just under $60 million over the next five years
Is there a revenue source that is not COVID related that is being filled? Yes, in 2018, 897 taxicab operators failed to pay permit fees, leaving $983,000 uncollected
Community Impact | Uber and Lyft users in Houston to see higher fees for airport rides
COVID response. Pull back on ride share regulations.
Where: California
What: California Air Resources Board had proposed that ride share move to 80% of EV vehicles by 2030
Why the change of course to lower the 80%? Acknowledging the COVID effect on ride share, the required EV levels for ride share were lowered to 60%
How does an EV requirement for ride share help clean air? Data shows that ride share has higher emissions than the driving it replaces because of wait times
Have ride share companies taken on EV themselves? Yes, Lyft has called for all EVs by 2030
KQED | California Dials Back Plan to Require Uber, Lyft Go Electric
Wired | California’s Air Pollution Cops Are Eyeing Uber and Lyft
Self Driving Cars to Race in Indianapolis
What self driving car race? The Indy Autonomous Challenge on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October 2021
The top prize: $1.5 million
Barrons | Self-Driving Cars Will Race in Indianapolis. Tesla Can’t Take Part.
COVID Supply Chain Benefits to Port of Houston
Who is touting the economic benefits to the Port of Houston due to COVID trade wars? commercial real estate firm CBRE
What benefits do they see Houston, and Texas, offering?
- “Houston is a prime trading location, with the ability to efficiently reach all directions on the globe,”
- “Significant logistics capacity”
- Available land
- Lower asking rents
- Growing population
- Lower costs for truck and rail transportation costs than from the East and West Coast
Houston Chronicle | Houston may benefit as supply chains shift due to COVID, trade wars
Railway Age | FreightWaves SONAR: California Gov. Urged to Reverse Ports’ Receding Market Share
COVID Partnership. Rideshare + Contact Tracing
Who: Uber
What is Uber’s contact tracing partnership? Quietly offering, free of charge, local health authorities information of riders or drives who have been in contact with a COVID infected person
How are the numbers of this contact tracing shaping up?
- 560 coronavirus-related requests from public health departments
- covering 29 countries
- Most requests are processed within 2 hours
Reuters | Uber offers COVID-19 contact tracing help amid chaotic U.S. response
Meet A High Speed Rail Ally
Who: Sunrise Movement, sunrisemovement.org
Where can I find the Sunrise Movement? On twitter & instagram @sunrisemvmt + its You Tube Channel
What is the Sunrise Movement’s mission? “We’re building an army of young people to create millions of good jobs and stop climate change in the process.“
How does this fit with high speed rail? High Speed Rail identifies as a transportation solution to address climate change. See the tweet.
.
State EV Project. Full Steam Ahead. $8.5 Million + 1200 miles
Where: Florida
What do I need to know about Florida’s new EV charger rollout?
- Announced in July
- New fast electric charging stations along Interstates 75, 4, and 95
- The state is funding it with $8.5Million from the VW settlement
- Will cover more than 1200 miles
- Will increase accessibility to public fast chargers by more than 50%
- Includes an EV super chargers at every service plaza on Florida’s toll turnpike
- Projecting 4.5 million electric vehicles on Florida roads by 2030
Ways to Locally Regulate Smart Street Lights
Where: San Diego
What are smart street lights? street lights with high-tech sensors equipped with cameras, microphones, and other technology
What ordinances is San Diego proposing to regulate smart street lights?
- Regulate the use of smart light data
- Data collected includes raw data and images related to pedestrian and vehicle movements, parking availability, temperature, and humidity
- Create a “privacy advisory commission” of technical experts and community members to review surveillance proposals + provide advice and assistance
What are the policy goals of the regulations?
- protect the safety of our communities
- protect the civil liberties of our communities