Credit Paul Sancya/Associated Press
Sometime in the future – although no one quite knows when – your morning commute may look something like this: Open an app, summon a car and wait for the arrival of a driverless vehicle that will whisk you to work like a ghost chauffeur. (Full story New York Times)
Although there are plenty of moving parts, it appears the simmering dispute between City Council and the transportation network companies is about to come to a boil. Council is scheduled to consider the still-developing “incentives” governing TNC driver background checks next week (Jan. 28); the companies (TNCs Uber and Lyft, TechNet, and their supporters in the Ridesharing Works for Austin campaign) have submitted their petitions (with ample signatures); and Mayor Steve Adler is attempting to wrangle a (Full story Austin Chronicle)
A shot of one of Google’s driverless car prototypes at the Google Fiber Space in Austin on August 29, 2015. MIGUEL GUTIERREZ JR./KUT
The president of General Motors now says plans with Lyft to bring a fleet of self-driving cars to Austin were only hypothetical. But, what kind of regulations do self-driving cars face in Texas?
Google already has its own self-driving cars on Austin’s streets, but, after multiple attempts at the state level, regulations for autonomous vehicles in Texas is likely to first materialize on the city level. (Full Story KUT.org)
Next Century Cities is a national city-to-city coalition of more than 120 member communities committed to delivering the benefits of fast, affordable, reliable broadband to all residents and businesses. Mayor Adler, one of the 44 undersigned local government leaders from Next Century Cities member communities wrote in support of the Commission’s work to modernize Lifeline to support broadband connectivity. Lifeline modernization will benefit our community members and help us tackle the pressing but rewarding challenges of local governance. See NCC Lifeline Letter
We now have worse traffic problems than Houston does. Houston! The Austin downtown IH-35 is the most congested road in Texas and one of the worst in the country. Let that sink in for a second.
Now, let’s do something about mobility in Austin.
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