TOP 5 » TRANSPORTATION
E-Commerce Growth Impacts Infrastructure Needs
by Sean Slone Separated by a river, Indiana and Kentucky are two states at the forefront of logistics and distribution, a growing sector of the economy that is reliant on infrastructure and that in the years ahead will challenge policymakers. “UPS and Amazon and DHL have all located (logistics facilities) in Kentucky because we’re within (a day’s drive of) 60 percent of the population of the U.S.,” said Kentucky state Sen. Ernie Harris. “Plus, we’ve got the great airports (in Louisville and Northern Kentucky) and the rail and the highways to support logistics.” Harris, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee and
JAN/FEB 2018 | CAPITOL IDEAS
Emerging Transportation Technologies
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In 2017, 12 states approved self-driving vehicle-related legislation including measures to allow truck platooning and identify an agency to oversee testing and pre-empt local regulation. As the year wound down, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a streamlined version of policy guidance on automated driving systems and Congress was debating federal legislation that could pre-empt state authority in some areas. The growing use of drones in a variety of capacities also attracted the interest of states with 23 pieces of legislation enacted in 17 states.