Transportation

Lyft has been fighting a law suit over whether its drivers are employees or indpendent contractors. This determination is crucial to determine how much liability Lyft may have if something bad happens or in reimbursing its drivers for  expenses.

A San Fracnisco judge denied summary judgment motions and ruled that a jury should determine whther the ride share drivers are employees or independent contractors.

WallStreet Journal

Since the times of yesteryear ,and the Trans Texas Corridor, toll roads have fallen out of favor. As of 48 hours before bill filing deadline, there are 32 ways to stop tolls, stop enforcing certain tolls, or remove authority from toll roads.

How to chip away at or eliminate toll roads:

• No eminent Domain Authority for Tolls
  • HB 565
  • HB 1004
  • HB 2619
  • SB 444
  • SB 938
• Sunset/ More Transperancy for Tolls
  • HB 572
  • HB 2620
  • SB 939
  • SB 1046
• Make Tolls Do More Work
  • HB 790 Noise Abtements
  • HB 1394/ SB 557Require advisory committees when tolls enter new lands
  • HB 1837 increase the vote threshold for approval to 3/5
  • HB 2549, HB 3108 make it harder to collect unpaid tolls
  • SB 57 data security
• Limit / Cease their revenue
  • HB 1350
  • HB 1734
  • HB 1834
  • HB 2273
  • HB 2427
  • HB 2611
  • SB 1182
  • SJR 43
• Limit/Stop Tolled Lanes
  • HB 1835 no lane conversions
  • HB 1838 toll the bell for toll roads
  • HB 2612
  • SB 485
  • SB 937
  • SB 1238
  • SB 1240

Senator Ellis has filed SB 1167. He creates a pilot program to allow for testing of self driving cars in Texas.

Under his pilot, certain people, that get a self driving car designation for their drivers license, and are either:

•  DPS
• TXDOT
• self driving car manufacturers OR
•  self driving car upfitters

will be permitted to test drive the cars of the future in Texas.

Previously on Information Intelligence:

Leading the pack with HB 933, Guillen throws Texas hat into the ring for testing self driving cars and creates a border security pilot program. 

Here’s what else has happened with self-driving car regulations throughout the US:

• North Dakota | Information Intelligence
• California | Information Intelligence

A legislative move in California is seeking to level the playing field between ride share drivers and taxi drivers. The bill died in committee last session. 

This sessions’s Assembly Bill 24 “requires amateur drivers to submit to drug and alcohol testing, undergo criminal background checks overseen by the California Department of Justice and enroll in a Department of Motor Vehicles program alerting employers after DUI arrests.”

US DOT is allowing cities and states to require that local workers are utilized on transportation projects which receive federal funding. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the beginning of the pilot program this week. The one-year pilot program only applies to transportation funding received from the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.

Governing

Senator Nichols SJR 5 & SB 5 would add $2.5Billion to TXDOT funding by dedicating motor vehicle sales tax to TXDOT. TXDOT would be prohibited from using the funding for toll roads.

Dallas Morning News 

After passing restrictive local regulations that could cease Uber, Lyft, and ride share operations. San Antonio is proposing revisions that, if approved Thursday, would:

• strip away insurance requirements
  • no longer require excess coverage of $2000,000 when the driver has no rider 
  • maintains commercial liability coverage at $1 million when there is a rider in the car
  • no longer requires an additional $1 million in coverage for uninsured or underinsured motorists
  • no longer requires $50,000 in comprehensive collision coverage
• ease the permitting process
  • random drug testing for ride share drivers
  • drivers will not have to prove English proficiency
  • drivers will not be required to have a fire extinguisher
  • in lieu of drivers meeting with police in person, ride share companies will vouch that their drivers have complied
  • drivers can begin once they pass the ride share company’s background check
    • for full permitting, within 14 days, the driver must pass the city’s background check
• reconfiguring the fees the companies would pay to operate
  • fees will be assessed by size of ride share company
  • $625 for up to 10 drivers to $25,000 for more than 300 drivers

San Antonio Express News

Courtesy of the new LBB report that examines 34 transportation funding options:

• Redirect Motor Vehicle Sales and Use Tax
  • $332.2M-$1,229.,5M to State Highway Fund (SHF)
• Redirect Motor Vehicle Rental Tax
  • $30.8-$80.3M to SHF
• Redirect Revenue from the Automotive Oil Sales Fee
  • $20.3M to SH
• Rededicate a portion of the battery sales fee to transportation
  • $12.1M to SHF
• Redirect & Increase the New Resident Use Tax
  • $50.6M to SHF
• Implement a Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax
  • $380M to SHF
• Index Motor Fuels Tax to Vehicle Fuel Economy
  • $343.1M to SHF & $114.4 to Available School Fund (ASF)
• Index Motor Fuels Tax to Average Wholesale Price of Fuel
  •  $22M to SHF & $74M to ASF
• Index Motor Fuels Tax to Producer Price Index
  • $156.4M to SHF & $52.1M to ASF
• Index Motor Fuels Tax to Consumer Price Index
  • $142.5M to SHF and $47.5M to ASF
• Increases Motor Fuels Tax, for each 1cent increase revenue of
  • $253.5M to SHF & $84.5M to ASF
• Apply Motor Fuels Tax to Fuel Used to Propel Rail Cars
  • $193.1M to Rail Relocation & Improvement Fund
• Increase Liquified & Compressed National Gas Tac and Diesel Fuel Tax Based on Energy Content:
  • $125.1M to SHF & $41.2M to ASF
• Repeal Motor Fuels Tax Exemptions
  • $78.8M to SHF
• Decrease Motor Fuel Tax Collection Allowance
  • %1.1M to SHF & $17.1 to ASF
• Redirect Revenue from Certain Special Vehicle Permits
  • $54.5M to SHF
• Index Motor Vehicle Registration to Fuel Efficiency
  • $868.1M to SHF
• Increase Motor Vehicle Registration Fee by $5
  • $249.M to SHF
• Index Vehicle Registration Fees to Standard Presumptive Value
  • Cannot Be Determined
• Scale Vehicle Registration Fees to Vehicle Emissions
  • Cannot Be Determined
• Expand the Delinquency Penalty for Late Vehicle Registrations
  • Cannot Be Determined
• Establish an Inefficient Vehicle $100 Surcharge Fee
  • $115.3M to SHF
• Establish an annual  Vehicle Equalization Fee of $100 on vehicles not powered by motor fuels & $50 fee on hybrids
  • $25.2M to SHF
• Establish a Fee on Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
  • $1.8-$5.1M to SHF
• Eliminate SHF appropriations to agencies other than TXDOT
  • $1,329.7M to SHF
• Increase the Vehicle Certificate of Title Fee 
  • $98.8M -$118.7M to SHF
• Generate Revenue from State Ferry Operations
  • $95M to SHF
• Increase Drivers License Fee to $36, Occupations License to $25, Commercial License to $90 and duplicate license fee to $15
  • $80.2M to Texas Mobility Fund (TxMF)
• Increase the Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection Fee by $1.5 annually and by $4.25 for 2 year inspections
  • 62.1M to TxMF
• Adjust Highway Maintenance Fee to include distance traveled
  • $6.5M to SHF
• Generate Revenue from Advertising
  • Cannot Be Determined
• Remove the Motor Vehicle Sales and use Tax Exemption on Hydrogen Powered Vehicles
  • No Signifiant Fund Increase
• Establish Impact Fees to Fund Transportation
  • Cannot Be Determined

Attorney General Opinion, KP-004, tells us without a constitutional amendment, a county probably cannot:

• Create a County Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zone
• Create a County Transportation Reinvestment Zone
• Create a County Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone

The AG rational is that:

• Article VIII, Section 1(a) doesn’t permit counties to create these zones
• Because the Constitution requires taxation to be equal and uniform
• And, a county reinvestment zone would treat property inside the zone and outside the zone differently

• HB 856 (Sanford) Requiring that regional transportation planning organizations stream and archive videos of their meetings on their publicly accessible website
• HB 1834 (Sanford)  Requiring a County Commissioner Court resolution of approval for toll projects. Further requires toll roads be paid in full within 20 years and that the toll road transition into a non-toll road
• HB 1835 (Sanford)  Prohibiting the conversion of current free lanes  to toll lanes
• HB 1836 (Sanford)  Directs 10% of sales taxes to be utilized for the construction and maintenance of non-toll highways
• HB1837 (Sanford)  Requires 3/5 approval of commissioners court for all toll road study, design, and construction 
• HB 1838 (Sanford) Requires that all current toll roads become free roadways within 30 years
• HB 1734 (Shaheen) Cessation of tolls
• HB 1183 (Shaheen) Requiring CDAs obtain county commissioner approval for any new toll project 
• HB 202  (Leach) Dedicating 1/2 of the motor vehicle sales tax to the State Highway Fund for maintenance and construction of non-tolled roadways  
• HB 203 (Leach) Dedicating auto parts sales tax to the State Highway Fund for  maintenance & construction of non-tolled roadways. 

Texas Turf  Leach Sanford Shaheen Press Release

An earnest supporter of property rights, Representative Will Metcalf filed HB 1889 that requires municipal or county approval before construction of the railway. Representative Metcalf is strongly opposed to taking private lands for private enterprise. 

Metcalf’s opposition to high speed rail is noted at NoTexasHighSpeedRail & Texas Turf.

The growing list of supporters for Senator Nichols SB 5 & SJR 5:

• Texas Association of Business 
• Texas Association of Realtors
• Texas Trucking Association
• San Antonio Chamber of Commerce
  • Dallas Morning News
• Move Texas Forward 
  • Texas Food & Fuel Association
  • Texas Association of Builders
• Majority of Texans  Poll by Texas A&M Transportation Institute 

The results of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s Transportation Policy Research Center transportation poll:

• Nearly 2/3 support increased funding for transportation statewide.
• A majority also support increased funding for public transportation.
• “Of the options offered, respondents favored dedicating the motor vehicle sales tax to transportation needs; they least supported raising the vehicle registration fee from $65 to $115.”
• From a list of 15 different ways to improve transportation in the state, better traffic signal timing and clearing accidents more quickly were the most popular ideas.
  • Building more toll roads was the least-supported option.

Texas A&M Transportation Institute

California taxi drivers filed suit claiming unequal protection under the laws, because of the unequal regulation on taxi drivers versus Uber/Lyft drivers. 

The goal: Treat taxi regulation and ride share regulation equally. 

Courthouse News Service

North Carolina Department of Transportation has the authority to determine what land is in a transportation corridor. Sounds innocuous. But, by classifying land as in a transportation corridor, it can also trigger land use restrictions. The land use restrictions tend to make the land cheaper for the state to buy later. Good for the state to keep transportation project costs down, not good for landowners who think their land is more valuable. 

As we’ve seen in Texas, restricting how land can be used is controversial. People sue. People change the law. Think of the landowners who sue when fracking bans are placed on their land,  because they are unable to make the highest and fullest use of their land. Land is valuable to the people who own it and they want to make decisions about their land.

NC Courts looked at lands designated as within transportation corridor plus the land use restrictions, and said that’s effectively the state using eminent domain. This means compensation for eminent domain dates to designating the property within a transportation corridor, not when eminent domain discussions begin. It matters to the value of the property to landowners and how much a governmental entity will have to pay to acquire it. 

NewsObserver

Empower Texas has a litany of transportation reform ideas:

• Before more funds, restrict the impact of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) to undermine sound policy
  • The problems with MPOs:
    • MPOs are federally mandated
    • Federal government is allowed to indirectly control transportation
    • They are composed of “bureaucrats from transit agencies, toll authorities and TxDOT”
    • MPOs “can hold TxDOT funds hostage”
• Restrict TXDOT projects that include partnerships with MPOs
• Statutorily remove the authority the state grants to MPOs and COGs
• Stop COGs and MPOs from expanding their reach to include economic development

Empower Texas

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is examining transportation reinvestment zones. TTI  Senior Research Scientist Rafael Aldrete is leading the project & is asking for information from counties and cities. The goals of the study:

• identify the advantages
• identify disadvantages and
• identify lessons learned by local governments and other agencies that have considered or may be utilizing TRZ financing.

TTI 

New information emerges about the path of Texas first high speed rail line between Dallas and Houston. The route will:

• Follow utility corridors
• “Alignment through commercial areas around U.S. 290 and Loop 610 in Houston”
• Elevated tracks along I-10 to access downtown Houston.

The goals:

• follow existing utilities and railroad tracks 
• minimize impact on residential areas

Administrative Process and Timeline:

• Late 2015 a draft environmental analysis will be made public
• Federal Railroad Administration will have to approve the line
• Funding will be private through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation

Houston Chronicle

SB 579 (Watson) & HB 1432 (Howard) would permit a $10 Travis County registration fee to fund Travis County transportation funding, or permit a $20 fee with voter approval.

The added transportation funds would go to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, would be utilized for transportation bond packages, which may include tollroads.    

Other counties have been granted the similar registration fee surcharges, including Cameron, Hidalgo, Webb, El Paso and Bexar.   Statesman 

Refreshing Recollection: Vehicle User fees are proposed as a state wide solution in California, in combination with local sales tax increases dedicated for transportation.  Information Intelligence

57% of southerners in Georgia support paying more at the pump for road improvements. 

Georgia Chamber of Commerce commissioned the poll and found:

• 51%  said the state transportation budget  is not enough
• 53% support the General Assembly raising an additional $1.5 billion/year for transportation.

Atlanta Business Chronicle 

California is working on a 3 tiered approach to transportation funding:

Tier One: The State     The state portion of transportation funding will be based in a $52 vehicle user fee.

Tier Two: Cities     Cities are turning to financing models to improve transportation funding.

Tier Three: Regional     Regional local governments are putting a 1/2 cent “quality of life tax” for transportation projects. it will require a 2/3 vote from local residents.

UT San Diego

Uber & Lyft are extremely convenient for passengers. Their ease stems from their apps which quickly bring transportation to you. As a result, Uber/Lyft drivers are glued to their apps awaiting new fares. This focus on the next fare is leading to distracted driving, new laws and law suits. 

In December 2014, a lawsuit was filed against a Lyft driver when the driver’s Lyft app was open when an accident occurred. In the same month, an Uber driver allegedly hit and killed a 6 year old in a San Francisco crosswalk.  These incidents raise the following policy and legal issues that are being addressed across the country:

• Are Uber/Lyft drivers employees?
• Are Uber/Lyft drivers independent contractors?
• What liability does Uber/Lyft have when a driver cause an accident?
• How do no texting laws and regulations apply to app use by Uber/Lyft drivers?

New York Law Journal

Its deja vu all over again. A foreign company finances a new transportation proposal. The foreign company has eminent domain authority. Opposition forms. Opposition gets stronger. The ultimate result: All eminent domain authority is repealed for the project.

10 years ago, it was Spanish Company, Cintra, and Trans Texas Corridor. Today it’s Japanese financed Texas Central Railway, which is proposing high-speed rail to connect Texas major metropolitan areas.  

Previous opposition to the rail had been rural land owners, but newly organized opposition group, NoTexasCentral.Com, is suburban and urban based.

Houston Chronicle Kuff’s World

Tax experts say 12 states may likely raise the gas tax this year. It’s a bipartisan group, including:

• Georgia
• Idaho
• Iowa
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• New Jersey
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Utah and
• Washington.

Special Commissions have been studying transportation funding in these states:

• Georgia
• Louisiana
• South Dakota
• Wisconsin

Governing 

To avoid raising taxes, Republicans in Connecticut unveiled a plan that is:

• 30 years
• $37 Billion
• Relies on general obligation bonds.
• Reinstates the “Transportation Strategy Board” which will assist in approving transportation funding projects.

Governing 

Hartford Courant 

Republican Iowa Governor Branstad supports the 10 cent gas tax hike legislative leaders are pushing.

Alternative suggestions to the gas tax hike include legalizing marijuana and dedicating the tax revenues to transportation projects.  The Gazette

In December, San Antonio City Council passed new ride share ordinances that effectively shutter Uber and Lyft on March 1st. The ordinances are called the most restrictive regulation in the country. Why? Here’s what the ordinance does:

• Charges a fee of $175 permit fee for drivers. (Houston charges $11; Austin $0)
• Requires higher Insurance levels than taxis
• Require a 10-fingerprint background check for drivers
• Require third-party inspections for ride-share vehicles

Another contingent of new Council Members,  Alan Warrick and Roberto Treviño, wants to keep Uber & Lyft by:

• Focusing on innovation
• Stressing that retaining ride share will show the city is modern and ready for professional Millennials

San Antonio Express News   My SA on the December Ordinance  

Texas Association of Realtors & San Antonio Realtor Board President say that additional transportation funding in SB 5 & SJR 5 will create additional economic benefits such as:

• Jumpstart new residential and commercial development
• Attract New Employers to new commerical development

San Antonio Business Journal

California has a transportation funding shortage. Like Texas, the gas excise tax has not kept up with roadway needs as cars became more fuel efficient. 

The Speaker of the California House proposes an approximate $1 per week fee on drivers. The fee is expected to bring in about $1.8Billion per year dedicated to transportation. 

A variety of options exist as to how the fee will be assessed, including:

• vehicle mileage fee
• vehicle license fee
• attach the fee to motor vehicle insurance
  Sacramento Bee

Put 800 people together, many of whom are conservative, and momentum builds to oppose a  private entity from using eminent domain to build a new transportation network.

What don’t people like about private companies using eminent domain?

• Rep. Will Metcalf: 

  “I am not a happy camper,” said state Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, adding he is frustrated by the lack of transparency on the project. “They are moving forward and we need your help.

  “I don’t believe private enterprise should have eminent domain power. In regard to the 10th Amendment, I talked a lot about this during my campaign; we are living it here today. Federal overreach, they are bypassing us at the state, the county, and that is not OK.”

• Former Montgomery County Judge: ” one of the biggest threats to the county I have seen in years” It’s extreme, folks.

• Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley: Determined to stop the project

• Rep. Mark Keough vows to stop the project

• County Commissioners passed a resolution opposing the project.

The 10th amendment is increasingly popular symbol of federal intrusion. It’s like a rally cry for conservatives.  Montgomery County Courier 

Instead of restructuring, raising, revamping, or otherwise gussying up the gas tax, Scott Walker is proposing transportation bonds to fund Wisconsin’s transportation needs.  Bond lawyers everywhere are rejoicing. 

The state’s transportation indebtedness will raise 30%, but overall debt for the state will decline in Gov Walker’s plan. 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Arizona regulators were ticketing ride share drivers while hey hammered out regulations. Governor Davey put an end to it because ticketing ride share drivers stifles a growing business. 

The 2 sticking points for legislative negotiators:

1. insurance coverage requirements for ride share

2. regulating safety for passengers

Fox Business

Georgia House has proposed to generate $1Billion in transportation funding by leaving the gas tax and imposing a  state excise tax of 29.2 cents per gallon of gas. Local governments would lose $500M in the tax swap.

The proposal allows the local governments to impose new taxes. 

Tea Party supporters oppose the scheme because it is:

• a “scheme”
• would raise taxes on gas by more than 7 cents
• grants tax breaks for large corporations.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

What do the laws define?     transportation network companies

What elements make up a transportation network company?

• a service
• No vehicle ownership by the service network company
• No employment of drivers
• Relies on software to connect passengers to riders

What requirements are placed on transportation network companies?

•  criminal background checks for drivers
• vehicle inspections
• driver training programs
• insurance policies.
  • Colorado, the first state to pass laws on ride share requires up to $1 million in liability insurance

WSJ with a pretty graphic on the high compliance level by ride share company, Uber

Leading the pack with HB 933, Guillen throws Texas hat into the ring for testing self driving cars and creates a border security pilot program. 

Here’s what else has happened with self-driving car regulations throught the US:

• North Dakota | Information Intelligence
• California | Information Intelligence

Minnesota is considering a gross receipts tax on gas to make up for a transportation funding deficit. 

The gross receipts tax would be a 6.5-percent sales tax at the wholesale level.​ 

The chamber of commerce in Minnesota describes the gross receipts tax as:

• not transparent
• will lead to higher prices at the pump
• revenues will be unstable

Inforum

Georgia House unveiled a transportation funding plan this week which:

• Eliminates the Georgia gas tax and replaces it with a 29.2 cents per gallon excise tax
  • Including a 6-cents-per-gallon local excise tax on gasoline, subject to public votes in cities and counties
• Create an alternative vehicle fee
  • Annual vehicle assessment on electric-, propane- and natural gas-powered vehicles – but not hybrids – of $300 for commercial vehicles and $200 for non-commercial vehicles.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

One transportation & eminent domain bill is very popular: HB 565 by Burkett. The bill revokes eminent domain authority from a private toll company. 

Here’s why Burkett says it is important: 

• The problem is a private company overseeing a project with eminent domain authority (hello, pipelines, are you listening?)
• If property is taken for public needs, it should be “fair and transparent”
• Toll roads are wearing out their welcome
• It will be a big transportation session

Dallas Morning News

Refreshing Recollection.   Previously on Information Intelligence.

How would Empower Texas improve transportation funding? By doing this:

• reduce motor fuels sales tax diversions, which will trigger:
  • eliminating non-essential programs and agencies
  • dedicating future revenue streams to transportation
  • reforming the budgeting process to prioritize core conservative principles
  • enacting stricter spending growth limits
• extend 2014’s Prop 1 spending restrictions to ALL STATE FUNDS for use only on:
  • road maintenance
  • non-tolled expansion
  • retiring debt
• limit funding only to projects that reduce congestion
  • Bye-bye rail projectb
• reform CDAs to limit toll road abuse
  • Note: tollroads may be ok if they are built with private funds/debt

What would Empower Texas have the Legislature avoid?

• higher taxes
• rainy-day raids
• expansion of “regionally managed” toll lanes

Empower Texas

One of the most elegant amendments in recent years was the amendment authorizing red light cameras. The amendment made no mention of red light cameras, cameras, or electronic enforcement.

SB 340 wants to be the final nail in the coffin to all electronic traffic enforcement and electronic license plate readers. The bill by Senator Huffines would end fines & violations based on these electronic enforcement mechanisms. 

California DMV issued an advisory that any time a car transports people for compensation, the car requires a commercial registration. Today the Ubers and Lyfts of California do not have commercial registration for their peer-to-peer ride-sharing.

Lyft responded by explaining that treating ride share companies like taxis undermines rules established by the California Utilities Commission. 

In 2013 Governor Brown signed a compromise measure on insurance coverage required by ride share. Assembly Bill 2293.   Sacramento Bee

What transportation funding options does Texas have:

• Bond issues
• Public-private partnerships and
• Massive voter support last November for using $1.7 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund

TXDOT Chairman Houghton says it’s not enough. What options did he offer:

• He avoided talk of the gas tax
• He supports solutions that “will require new thinking, planning and new funding.”

NBCDFW

Twitter, bringing people together, 140 characters at a time: 

Glenn BeckVerified account‏@glennbeck

.

@elonmusk, this goes against everything Texas is supposed to stand for — How can I help? http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/15/us-autos-tesla-texas-idUSKBN0KO2MF20150115 …

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley unveiled a tax trade plan which:

• Increases the gas tax by 10 cents, AND
• Cuts the income tax.  The State 

She’s not alone among Republicans. Her fellow Republican Governor’s open to gas tax hikes are:  South Dakota  Utah  Iowa Tennessee  

The supporting arguments for a gas tax increase:

• Need for transportation infrastructure
• The gas tax has been untouched for years in their states. 

Texas Central Railway has clarified its website regarding eminent domain. The clarification was picked up by the Dallas Business Journal.  

Texas Central Railway (TCR)  stresses that eminent domain is a last resort after all voluntary options are exhausted.

TCR further offers this message on private property rights:

“The project is committed to respecting and honoring the private property rights of our fellow Texans. This reflects our personal values and simply makes good business sense. As such, the project is committed to negotiating and settling with landowners fairly and transparently and in a way that seeks ‘win-win’ solutions.”

Rail is coming to Texas. High Speed Rail is working hard to become a reality. Commuter rail is growing, and joining this push is Lone Star Rail District.

Lone Star Rail District wants to link San Antonio and Austin via commuter rail. Think CalTrans from San Francisco’s penninsula. 

Lone Star Rail is having a series of 5pm public meetings to build support:

• Jan. 20, Carver Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry Street, San Antonio
• Jan. 21, Carver Museum and Library, 1165 Angelina Street, Austin
• Jan. 26, San Marcos Activity Center, 501 E. Hopkins Street, San Marcos
• Jan. 27, Elgin High School (5:30-8:30 p.m.), 14000 County Line Road
• Jan. 28, Georgetown Chamber Events Center, 1 Chamber Way, Georgetown
• Jan. 29, Seguin, Coliseum, 950 S. Austin Street, Seguin

Austin Business Journal

Stands to reason that kilts may be more popular than  toll roads based on a recent TXDOT meeting inDallas.  TXDOT proposes toll lanes for portions of Interstate 35E and U.S. Highway 67 in Southern Dallas. People were not pleased.

80 people showed up to voice opposition. including, the Dallas Zoo, which was not thrilled about making it harder for people to get to the zoo, but because TXDOT borrowed the Zoo’s giraffe logo for the project. Reasons for the opposition:

• harm economic development of the outlying areas
• unfair to not allow all citizens equal access to the roadways
• the problems for delays in the roadways in downtown Dallas, not the roads in Southern Dallas
• the elusive specter of eminent domain to obtain land

3 projects that recently proposed tolls were recently called off in the Dallas area. Citizens objected to the tolls. Local governments in the area objected to the toll lanes.  

Dallas Morning News

8 Reasons why the Gas Tax should be abolished courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

• Cars are more efficient, eroding the projected growth of the tax 
• Purchasing Power of the Gas Tax has slipped
• Diversions
  • 1/4 the federal gas tax is diverted to:
    •  mass transit in 6 metro areas &
    •  other programs:  street cars, ferries, sidewalks, bike lanes, hiking trails, urban planning and  landscaping nationwide
• Federal spending on “other programs”  has increased 38% since 2008, while highway spending is flat.
• Texas recovered only 88 cents of every dollar
• 7 states and Washington, D.C. eceived more than twice as much.  
• “States can build cheaper in any case, since the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rules and Buy America procurement provisions that accompany federal funding don’t apply.”

WSJ

South Dakota like every state needs transportation funding. When Governor Daugaard layed out his tranportation funding plan, he said,

“there is a difference between being ‘cheap’ and being ‘frugal.'”

A record low number of Swedes died in traffic accidents in 2014. Sweden’s traffic fatalities run at 3 per 100,000. In the US, it is 11 per 100,000.  Sweden’s fatality rate is nearly 1/4 of the U.S.’s.

What did the Swedes do right that has so many Americans studying Swedish transportation?

• Engineering: roads that are designed for safety, not speed.
• Lower speed limits in crowded areas
• Safer pedestrian crossings with bridges and flashing lights 

Nordstjernan

Landowners are voicing concern about the impact of high speed rail on property values. Varied landowner comments on high speed rail include:  

• noise nuisance
• transportation benefit
• unknown impact on property values

​The selected routes impact the fewest land owners. Houston Business Journal    

Previous citizen meetings have focused on the effect of using eminent domain to build high speed rail. Information Intelligence

Building high speed rail takes land. Acquiring land is challenging,  it’s like trying to take a dog bone away from a possessive dog. The dog wants its bone. A landowner wants to keep his land in tact. 

Texas High Speed Rail has been meeting with citizens to discuss plans and address issues land owners may have.  Kudos to them for addressing the growing pains head on with Texans.

In California, high speed rail is in the building phase. In the building phase, they have been using eminent domain. Here’s the eminent domina breakdown:

• Latest eminent domain authorization is for 28 parcels
• In total, 120 parcels have been authorized for eminent domain.  

Fresno Bee

A Conroe company, Texas Air Shuttle, wants to be the Uber of the Sky for one flat price per month.  Dallas CultureMap

Technology moves faster than laws are enacted. Every state wants to be the one to pass laws that would allow testing of driverless cars.   So far 4 states plus D.C. have done so.

Jumping on this band wagon is North Dakota, because you could drive for miles without seeing another human, which makes it a very safe place to test driverless cars or big rigs.  Grand Forks Herald 

TPPF’s recommendations for transportation in 2015:

In an interview with Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Business, Senator-Elect Burton and Senator Hancock talk transportation funding:

• Senator-Elect Burton wants to dedicate the $4Billion motor vehcile sales tax to road projects.
• Senator Hancock points out that $4Billion is a lot of revenue to limit and will have broad implications on the budget. It will require a slow phase-in. 

Star Telegram

A select joint committee in Georgia studied increasing transportation funding. The committee’s report proposes a transportation funding plan that combines tax cuts and tax increases.  

Most interesting about the report is that for every $1 invested in transportation funding, between $4- $7.80 is returned in economic benefits generated.

Atlanta Curbed       Marietta Daily Journal       Atlanta Business Chronicle 

7 Companies are testing driverless cars in California. As a result, California is trying to get ahead of regulations before the cars hit the consumer market. 2 Questions arise:

1. How do you regulate?

• Do self driving cars obey all traffic laws?
• What if their computers freeze?
• Can they smoothly hand control back to human drivers?​

2. How do you verify the safety standards of the cars?  3 options:

• Follow the current U.S. system, in which manufacturers self-certify their vehicles;
• Opt for a European system, in which independent companies verify safety; or
• States could get into the testing business.

Detroit News

Taxi companies usually are subject to laws/regulations that require finger printing. Ride Share companies like Uber and Lyft usually use private security companies which they assert are better and quicker. 

Conclusion of the NYTimes Editorial: No background check is perfect.

NYTimes

Toll Authorities subject to Chapter 366, Transportation Code, will undergo Sunset review, at their own cost, under HB 572. 

Tollroads are as popular with Texans as garlic is with vampires.

HB572 by Burkett

The TransTexas Corridor met its end by way of negative public reaction. Texas still needs to build more roads and improve current roads. So what’s happened since Trans Texas was proposed? 

• From 2001 and 2012 Texas built more than 6,600 new highway miles, with and without tolls.
  • More than any other state.
  •  it’s among the lowest in the country when adjusted for Texas’ fast-growing population.
• These interests continue to compete for transportation projects
  • Worsening traffic
  • Concerns that the state’s strong economic performance could falter
  •  Business concerns that the state’s road network is unmanageable.

Governing Magazine and Texas Tribune 

In 2014, a private tollroad corporation proposed new toll roads in North Texas. Town halls were held. Fire Marshals shut them down as too many people turned out against new toll roads. City  councils in the proposed toll areas passed resolutions opposing the plans to use eminent domain. 

Toll road opponents and private property rights supporters united.  

The 2015 Legislature will consider HB 565, which  will stop private toll authorities from exercising eminent domain. HB 565

Bruce Bullock, director of Southern Methodist University’s Maguire Energy Institute, says oil prices will begin recovering in early 2015. 

He predicts the value of a barrel should increase to $75. Additional increases will depend on global oil demands.  Dallas Morning News

Minnesota Governor, a Democrat, is proposing a package of transportation funding proposals:

• Increase the gas tax, which currently sits at 26 cents
• Add a local transportation funding sales tax to support local mass transportation projects
• Dedicating leased motor vehicle tax to statewide transportation needs  

AP|Star Tribune

South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable sent a letter to TXDOT calling on more Prop 1 transportation funding dollars to support road improvements in Eagle Ford and Permian Basin oil producing regions. 

Letter highlights:

• “South Texas county judges, mayors and all elected officials, along with the oil and natural gas industry, put a premium on safety.”

• Increase in accidents in the region

• Roads were not designed to withstand the increased activity

• An investment in South Texas roads will help sustain long term economic development in a region driving the state’s economy.

• Only 15% of funds from Prop 1 will fund Energy Sector roads, & this should be reconsidered   Fuel Fix

Michigan passed new transportation funding mechanisms that will require voter approval. The proposal includes:

From Michigan Live:

• Convert existing 19-cent per gallon gasoline and 15-cent per gallon diesel taxes to a wholesale version. Gas taxes could top 41 cents by October 2015, but there would be no additional sales tax, and all resulting revenue would go to transportation.
• Eliminate some annual vehicle registration fee discounts, increase fees for heavy trucks and create new surcharges for electric and hybrid vehicles whose owners pay fewer fuel taxes.

• Strengthen warranty requirements for construction projects and require more competitive bidding.

• Fully restore the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit to 20% of the federal level. It was scaled back to 6% in 2011.

Leach’s transportation funding solutions:

• “Stopping diversions from the State Mobility Fund
• Dedicating some of the motor vehicle sales tax to the State Highway Fund (SHF) and
• Dedicating a larger percentage of the general revenue to the state’s transportation fund.” Community Impact for Collin County 

Leach’s soon to be filed transportation funding bill will:

• Dedicate 1/2 of the motor vehicle sales tax into the SHF

Explosive growth in North Texas has meant more strain on limited transportation funding.  

Collin County transportation funding solutions are:

•  Toll HOV lanes or new lanes on existing roadways
• Local residents oppose it, but it’s the only way to get additional funding until more state transportation funding happens

Collin County Officials Point to the Followign Transportation Funding Problems:

• “state budget dedicated to road funding has decreased from about 33 percent to about 9 percent”
• Insufficient fuel tax revenue from fuel efficient cars

Community Impact for Collin County

Washington Governor Inslee proposes a carbon charge on the state’s industrial pollution as a method to fund transportation.

The carbon fee will generate $7 Billion over 12 years, and will generate revenue equal to raising the gas tax by 12 cents.   AP via SeattlePi

Iowa also has a transportation funding crisis. Governor Brandstad is looking for a bipartisan solution.  

To get to the revenue levels Iowa needs, the following proposals fit the bill:

• 10 cent gas tax increase & index the gas tax to inflation
• “A “combination” tax that lowered the per-gallon tax to 16 cents and added a 5 percent sales tax on the retail price of fuel.”   Muscatine Iowa Journal 

Take aways from a Conroe forum featuring Senator Nichols and Representative-Elect Metcalf:

• $3.5Billion can be added to road funding by dedicating vehcile sales tax to TXDOT
• Cut unnecessary spending 
• To offset the hit to general revenue from dedicating the vehicle sales tax, Metcalf is quoted as saying “Our plan is to add 10 percent of the funds to the road funds over a 10-year span.”

[The Courier of Montgomery County]

On Monday, Governor- elect Abbott announced staff and legisltive plans, including adding $4Billion to the transportation coffers. He hopes to accomplisht his by:

• Dedicating sales taxes collected on vehicle sales to road construction and maintenance.
• Resulting in  more than $2 billion a year added to the  highway fund.
• Ensuring more of the gasoline taxes go to roads, without touching the gasoline taxes that fund DPS. [TX Tribune]

Ride sharing has new regulations in Dallas. The new requirements will take effect April 30th and include: 

• Ridesharing companies must provide primary insurance.
• All vehicles must pass inspection.
• Drivers would be required to have:
  • an operating permit,
  • a valid driver’s license,
  • limited traffic violations and
  • must undergo background checks. [Houston Chronicle]

Ride sharing is the future. How ride sharing fits into regulations and laws on transportation services varies and generates a lot of news. 

Ride sharing has dominated technology news this week:

• Investors Love Uber.  TechCrunch reports Uber getting $1.2B in investments and is valued at over $40B  [TechCrunch]
• Los Angeles and San Francisco District Attorneys had sent cease and desist letters earleir this fall. Now these D.A.s are suing for misleading safety practices [NY Times | BitsBlog]
• Portland, OR is also suing claiming illegal operations [NY Times | BitsBlog which posts a nice timeline of legal action] [WSJ]

Iowa Department of Motor Vehicles is releasing an app that will function as your driver’s license. No more getting ticketed for not having your driver’s license with you, unless your phone battery is drained. 

State officials assure that the app and driver’s license will be secure from data security breeches.  [Des Moines Register]

Raising the gas tax. Indexing the gas tax. Multiple states are wrangling with it. 

Highlights from Maine:

• Gov. LePage says he’ll veto any bill raising the gas tax
• Gas tax (federal and state) makes of 3/4 of  funding for transportation (including bridges)
• Maine’s gas tax is 30cents
• Maine use to index the gas tax, but stopped, proponents say indexing helped Maine keep up with transportation funding needs.  [Maine Public Radio]

A new report compares the “ueser pay” transportation funding streams of the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia and Japan.  The US has the lowest national gas tax rate of the countries examined. 

[Eno Center for Transportation PDF] [Streets Blog USA]

Building High Speed Rail faces challenges aquiring property. Rail takes a lot of land. 97% of Texas land is private owned. To build rail between Houston and Dallas requires crossing land owned by many landowners. 

Landowners are skeptical about eminent domain. They favor fairness and view eminent domain as inherently unfair. When eminent domain is exercised by a private company the skeptism raises to higher level like DefCon 1. 

These challenges were highlighted in an interview with Representative-Elect John Wray, whois concerned about private entities exercising eminent domain. [Waxahatchie DayLight]

Roads in oil and gas producing areas of the state are receiving 2 new safety benefits:

• By emergency rule TXDOT lowered the speed limits on dangerous roads in oil and gas producing areas of the state by as much as 12 mph.  
  • The process to lower speed limits can be lengthy and crash data shows higher accident rates on these heavily traveled roads. 
• 15-20 % of the $1.7 Billion from 2014’s Prop.1 funding will go to the roads in oil and gas producing parts of the state. [Texas Tribune] [TXDOT Minute Order]

Ron Kirk will serve as  senior advisor. He joins Robert Eckles and Tom Schieffer.

Central Texas Railway has been hosting public forums to discuss its projected Dallas to Houston route. Landowners along the route have raised concerns. 

Building the bullet train requires land. Most land in Texas is privately owned by Texans, who love their land.  Acquiring land presents challenges.     [Dallas Morning News]

Taxi service in Nevada is regulated on at the state level. When Uber began operating in Nevada, the Attorney General filed 3 suits in Reno, Las Vegas, and Carson City respectively. How do we say forum shopping in Gaelic?

The Nevada Supreme Court stepped in and decided that the proper forum was Reno. The limos and taxis don’t want their business reduced, because competition is bad, and there are questions about how the state regulators acted. [CBS Las Vegas]

SB 184 and SJR 15 seek to:

• Increase budgetary transparency
• Add millions to highway coffers
• No new taxes, tolls, fees or debt [Austin Business Journal]

New Jersey needs more funding for transportation. Its a common refrain. New Jersey has the nation’s 2nd lowest gas tax at 10.5 cents. 

New Jersey has a Transportation Trust Fund, but the funds  go to pay transportation bond debt. Sounding familiar?

To fill transportation funding gaps, NJ raised its toll prices. It’s not enough.

The head of the Assembly’s Transportation Committee wants to increase the wholesale gas price. The cost to people in NJ will be about 80cents per day, but it will raise $1.25 Billion per year for transportation funding.

A couple weeks ago there was an election, and a lone Republican Governor lost his re-election bid in Pennsylvania’s. He had signed a nearly 30 cent increase in the gas tax. That’s on Chris Christie’s mind as NJ grapples with funding transportation. [NorthJersey.Com]

Nevada is a quirky state where the federal government owns most the land, and there is an extraterrestrial highway. Make sure you fill up before you start the drive, because gas stations are few and far between.  Roadside shops are fileld with plenty of alien costumes. 

A quirky legal battle is brewing in Nevada over state regulations for car services, like Uber and Lyft. 3 different lawsuits were filed by the Attorney General. Judges are fighting over:

• which case was filed first
• whether the cases should be consolidated
• whether the companies should be prevented from offering rides while the lawsuits continue
• how Nevada’s statewide taxi regulations fit with modern companies like Uber and Lyft. 

In the mean time, rides are still being offered. [Washington Post]

North Texas Regional Transportation Council cancels its plans to move forward with a rural tollroad and The Trinity Parkway tollroad proposal.

A couple months ago the Trinity project drew very vocal opposition because a private entity had authority to exercise the power eminent domain. [Dallas Morning News]

Transportation Funding, including fuel tax increase options, are being bandied about in IA, MI, MN, WI, NJ, SC… just to name a few.  

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association supports increasing the fuel tax. It says that its fair and efficient, as long as the additional revenue goes to transportation projects. [LandLineMag]

Texas Association of Business released its 2015 priorities. Funding for transportation and higher education top the list.

Texas Department of Transportation says it needs $5Billion more per year to maintain roads at the status quo.  [Texas Tribune]

52% of Americans support expanded federal funds for mass transit projects. The kicker- support of mass transit projects drops off when the projects lose money. [Rasmussen]

Governing looked at how well transportation measures fared during the election. Pretty well, it seems as roughly 2/3 passed. Governing highlights facts about Texas transportation dollars and Governor-Elect Abbott’s transportation funding strategy: 

• “Texas A&M University say the state needs $5 billion more a year just to keep congestion at current levels.”
• “Abbott has proposed changes to the state budget to direct more money toward transportation. He would put stricter rules on how money in the State Highway Fund is spent, which he estimates would bring in an additional $400 million a year.
• Abbott also wants to reroute more money from the state’s sales tax on motor vehicles — which brought in $3.9 billion last year — from general funds to the highway account. [Governing]

New Jersey proposes to fix a transportation funding gap with a “portion of the sales tax people are already paying for the electricity, hydrogen and natural gas they need to power their alternate fuel vehicles.” [NJ 101.5]
 

Transportation funding via a gas tax increase may be on the agenda of the lame duck Congress. The federal portion of the gas tax has not been raised since 1993. State rely on federal transportation funding for about 52% of their funding needs. [The Hill]

“American Road & Transportation Builders Association, a trade group, voters approved two-thirds of the transportation-related initiatives on the ballot Tuesday.”  Pundits say that as federal funding stalls, there is more of an impetus for state and local transportation funding measures. [Ft. Worth Star Telegram]

Add Empower Texas to the lsit of entities opposed to Houston’s foray into regulation of ridesharing. Empower Texas points to these problems with the regulations:

• Permitting and licensing process will cost Houstonians about $530,000 annually
• 8 temporary City employees for application processing, costing roughly $45,000
• Added regulations are burdensome to the drivers

[Empower Texas]

TPPF suggests we look to technology for the answer for better and safer roads. By prioritizing transportation technology over concrete and roads we end up with better and safer transportation system. Ideas to achieve these goals are:

•  “Texas should ‘cooperate in the development and use of consistent road striping, sign, signal, and similar standards that can be read by autonomous vehicles.”
• “Additionally, the Texas Department of Transportation should turn road design and building over to the private sector and focus on directing state transportation funds toward this future.”

[TPPF]

TPPF doesn’t like Houston’s new regulations on ride sharing. Why? Here’s the list of reasons why:

• expensive for the average consumer
• create additional costs for local taxpayers
•  additional background checks and vehicle inspections over and above those already demanded by The Transportation Network Companies [Read: Uber, Lyft et.al.]
• $600,000 cost to taxpayers fro the City to administer the regulations.

[TPPF]

80% of Texas Voters Approved Prop 1 to improve transportation funding. Prop. 1 faired far better than all statewide elected officials did. What candidate wouldn’t love the support of 80% of voters? [Governing]

The City of Austin also voted on its own Prop. 1 for transportation. It failed to pass. [KXAN] 

Eagle Ford Shale area hopes some of the $1 Billion in transportation funding will help their roads. Roads and bridges in shale areas experience higher use rates from heavy truck traffic which transports the oil and gas out of the area.    [San Antonio Express News]

Paying for roads is getting more costly according to the Comptroller. Relying on the Texas 2030 report,  Texas 2030 Committee estimated  in the next 25 years,Texas  needs $170 billion more to maintain road quality and traffic congestion at 2010 levels.

 The cost of pavement is broken down like this:

41% State Highway Fund

39% Federal Funds

15% Bonds

3% Texas Mobility Fund

2% General Revenue [Comptroller Office: The Roads More Traveled]

DC passed new legislation for ride sharing services. It will require:

(1) registering with the DC Taxicab Commission

(2) covering drivers with $1 million in primary  insurance

(3) criminal background checks for drivers , and

(4) their cars annual inspections.  

Washington Post points out that local regulations on ride share continuously forego obtianing access to ride share data to strengthen their own transportation systems and provide an understadning of how many jobs ride share is creating. [Washington Post]

Matt Rinaldi opposes Prop 1. He believes transportation funding should be dedicated revenue from a vehicle sales taxes. 

Rinaldi, who defeated Bennett Ratliff in the primary, also believes that economic development funding is corporate welfare. In his opinion, economic devleopment is gained through low taxes & limited regulation.

 [Dallas Morning News]