March - 2017

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Bill to provide loans to Texas ports easily passes through Senate committee

A bill to provide a modest revolving loan fund for Texas ports had smooth sailing through the Senate Transportation Committee last week, setting it on a positive course as it heads to the full Senate for consideration. Senate Bill 28, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, puts action behind a port study completed by the Texas Department of Transportation task force since the 2015 legislative session ended. The bill, which passed through the Senate committee with an 8

85th Legislature Deadlines for Action

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Watch Amazon's First Successful Drone Delivery On U.S. Soil

Amazon is moving slowly but surely toward its goal of automated drone delivery. Following a successful delivery in the U.K. in December of last year, the company has now completed the first autonomous Prime Air delivery on public land in the US. The delivery took place at the invite-only MARS 2017 conference in Palm Springs, CA, where an Amazon drone delivered a few bottles of sunscreen to attendees who filmed the stunt on their phones. It's still not legal to deliver a packa

Texas start-up to start shipping low-cost, high-tech smart houses

Texas modular housing start-up Kasita has begun producing 33 square metre units costing $139,000 each. The units, described as the “iPhone for housing” are delivered with a “queen-size bed, kitchen, bathroom, fridge–freezer, cooker and microwave”. The houses also contain “smart home” technology, such as personalised light and temperature settings, built-in speakers, a video-enabled doorbell and glass windows with adjustable opacity – all of which can be activated by voice con

Legislature: Committee Meetings Week 5 March

Senate Transportation, WEDNESDAY - 3/22/17 8:00 A.M., E1.016 SB 28 Creighton, Brandon Relating to the financing of ports in the state. House Ways and Means, WEDNESDAY - 3/22/17 8:00 A.M., E2.012 HB 382 Murphy, Jim Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of real property leased to and used by certain schools. HB 390 Howard, Donna Relating to school district ad valorem tax rates. HB 486 VanDeaver, Gary Relating to school district ad valorem tax rates. HB 513 Davis, S

TRANSIT: Trump budget plan could derail many transit projects

The president's plan would cut off funding next year for 16 projects that are awaiting a funding agreement Financing for more than a dozen large-scale transit projects funded in part with federal transit grants is currently jeopardized by President Trump's plan to eliminate the $2.3 billion per year New Starts program. Trump's 64-page budget blueprint for fiscal 2018 would halt grants from the program except for those projects already covered by a completed and signed full fu

Thousandth Neopanamax Vessel Transits Panama Canal

The Panama Canal Authority has welcomed the 1,000th Neopanamax vessel through the waterway, less than nine months after the inauguration of the Expanded Canal. On Sunday, March 19, the container ship Mediterranean Shipping Company's MSC Anzu made the historic 1,000th transit through the Expanded Canal, heading northbound from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Built in 2015, the Panama-flagged containership measures 299.98 meters in length and 48.23 meters in beam with a carr

World’s first plastic bridge installed in UK

The world’s first modular glass-fibre reinforced plastic bridge, 70% lighter than steel, has been launched by design consultancy Arup and bridge specialist Mabey. Mabey is the first licensed distribution partner of the post-tensioned bridge, which is designed to be assembled in hard-to-reach places where large cranes or heavy machinery can’t go. Developed by Arup and part-funded by the UK Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), the modular bridge is expected to be of particul

AASHTO Urges Congress to Complete Repeal of Recent FHWA-FTA Regulation on MPOs

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has notified Congress that it fully supports legislation to repeal a controversial regulation on metropolitan planning organizations, saying that rule would add "significant additional legal and administrative requirements" to a system that already works well. The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration jointly unveiled the regulation last year, with no advance warning before they

GOP lawmaker wants Texas law to catch up to driverless cars

State Rep. Charlie Geren isn’t about to let Texas get left in the dust when driverless vehicles start easing their way into everyday life. Especially since car manufacturers need somewhere to test them and could one day need someplace to mass produce them. “I don’t want General Motors, or Ford, or Volkswagen, or Uber or anybody going anywhere else because Texas isn’t quite ready for this yet,” Geren told The Texas Tribune late Thursday. The Fort Worth Republican this week fil