Buoyed by consumer demand and legislative support, respondents to Dykema’s 2023 Automotive Trends survey enter the year in a period of cautious innovation. After analyzing survey responses, the firm's 2023 Automotive Trends Report compiles insights from key decision-makers to understand what trends will have the greatest impact on the automotive industry in the following year and beyond ...
The Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released a draft technical advisory earlier this month that outlines new and existing provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that can streamline the environmental review of sustainable transportation projects. The new streamlining options arose from S.B ...
Autonomous vessels are generating increasing interest in the shipping industry, both due to novelty and promising commercial benefits. However, despite all the buzz actual investments in projects involving autonomous vessels remain few and far between. This article will take a closer look at the commercial and legal realities explaining why there is no imminent sea change in sight ...
While originally opened to great fanfare between 2017 and 2019, over the course of 2022 Shell has discreetly closed down all of its UK hydrogen filling stations, citing that "the prototype technology had reached the end of its life". This decision is perhaps not surprising, given the low volume of domestic fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on UK roads ...
Birmingham - the nation’s second city and one that has changed greatly over the last twenty years. One thing that has not changed, however, is that Birmingham is a big polluter. Continuing growth, both in terms of the population and economy, has left the air quality in such a poor state that Birmingham City Council estimates up to 900 people per year die from diseases associated with air quality ...
In the first article of this three-part series we looked at the future of personal transport. In this second piece, we turn to consider mass public transport and how it could play a significant part in the future of commuting. Birmingham is beginning to make substantial changes to its transport infrastructure, but are the changes big enough? The Metro Opened on 30 May 1999, the West Midlands Metro provided a link between Wolverhampton and Birmingham ...
It is highly documented that the transport sector is heavily male dominated. Indeed, reports suggest that while women account for 47% of the general UK workforce, within the transport sector women only account for 20% of the workforce and only 3% of HGV drivers in the UK. Many employers are aware of the work that needs to be done in this sector in terms of addressing and challenging behaviours, changing mindsets and creating inclusive cultures ...
Not long after President Trump announced that the U.S. would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Department of Commerce launched an investigation that may lead to additional duties on imported vehicles and automotive parts. Effective, the Department will now examine whether imports of vehicles and auto parts threaten U.S. national security ...
The Advance Payments Code provides a protection mechanism for local highway authorities to ensure that they are not unexpectedly required to meet the costs of new roads that were not intended to be maintained by the public purse. A local highway authority can serve a notice seeking the payment of, or security for, the estimated cost of construction for the private streets in a development (an APC Notice) ...
Since it came into force on September 1, 2022, the Select Luxury Items Tax Act1 has caused quite a stir in the aviation industry. Many of those operating in the industry have voiced their discontent, claiming that the tax affects their competitiveness on the international stage. In general, the luxury tax applies to the sale, lease or import of certain aircraft costing more than $100,000 ...
The Indonesian aviation sector has grown rapidly over the past few years. Due to this, airlines and lessors have been capitalising on the general availability of diverse sources of funding. In particular, aircraft sale-leaseback or lease trans-actions are used more frequently due to competitive pricing and Indonesia has been trying to develop a legal framework to accommodate the financing and leasing of aircraft ...
The Major Transport Projects Facilitation Amendment (East West Link and Other Projects) Bill 2013 ('the Bill') was commended to Victoria's Legislative Assembly on 13 June 2013. The Bill principally amends the existing Major Transport Projects Facilitation Act (Vic), which governs the assessment, approval and delivery of major transport project infrastructure ...
Pursuant to the Act on Budget Rules for Public Administration, the Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic, by this Ruling, enlarged the scope of persons entitled to subsidies ensuring higher penetration of broadband internet access ...
Beginning next month, used car dealers in West Virginia may sell vehicles directly to consumers without a single warranty that the vehicles are operational or safe to drive. The so-called “As Is” bill – approved last March by the West Virginia Legislature – will allow merchants to make sales on an “as is” basis, effectively eliminating any implied warranties about a vehicle’s merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose ...
The Chicago City Council recently approved a significant amendment to the transit-oriented development provisions of the Zoning Ordinance. Prior to the change, the Chicago Zoning Ordinance, through increases and reductions of certain development standards, allowed for larger, more dense buildings on properties in close proximity to CTA or Metra train stations ...
Earlier this year, the National Agency of Waterway Transports (ANTAQ) published Normative Resolution No. 20, which approves new rules for the authorization for the construction and exploration of private-use terminal (TUP), cargo transhipment station (ETC), small-size public port facility (IP4) and tourism port facility (IPTur), revoking Resolution No. 3,290. The new rules aim at adjusting the requirements and proceedings applicable by ANTAQ to the changes introduced by Decree No ...
Under the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road ("CMR convention") and the Finnish Road Transport Act, a carrier is, as a general rule, liable for loss of and damage to the goods occurring during the transport as well as for any delay in delivery ...
The legal concept that one can arrest a vessel and prevent it moving is unusual to say the least. An arrest in the UK (and other jurisdictions) is practically undertaken by serving upon the vessel a “Warrant of Arrest”, a very similar concept to criminal proceedings albeit this form of arrest is a civil law admiralty procedure and for very different reasons ...
In the recent judgment of “The Owners of the mv “Silver Star” v Hilane Limited”*, several important principles were established, namely: Full effect must be given to the right to proceed against an associated ship of a charterer in respect of a maritime claim that arises in the course of the Charter ...
[!<CDATA[ In one of its recent opinions, Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. Sec’y of the Army, the Federal Circuit issued new guidance on what contractors must show to prove the reasonableness of costs incurred following an (alleged) government-caused delay. The U.S. Army (the “Army”) and Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. (“KBR”) contracted for KBR to deliver thousands of trailers to Iraq by an agreed-upon deadline ...
The Automated Vehicles Act (the Act) regulates the marketing of self-driving vehicles, prohibiting the use of misleading terminology or communications that could confuse consumers. In this article Ben Gardner explores how the use of terminology that could mislead consumers will be regulated. The Act has now received Royal Assent and creates a regulatory framework which applies to the deployment and use of automated vehicles on UK roads ...
The Automated Vehicles Act has received Royal Assent after a smooth and quick passage through parliament. In this article, Ben Gardner outlines what organisations in the sector can expect to happen next. What is the Automated Vehicles Act? The Act lays the foundations for the future deployment of automated vehicles on public roads ...
The Automated Vehicles Act (the Act) outlines how liability will be allocated when an automated vehicle commits a driving offence or is involved in an accident, together with certain information disclosure requirements to support regulatory investigations. In this article Ben Gardner outlines the key issues surrounding liability that will need to be considered ...
The Automated Vehicles Act (the Act) creates a licensing and permitting scheme for operators that intend to use automated vehicles to offer transportation services for passengers and goods. In this article Ben Gardner outlines what potential operators need to consider ...
The Automated Vehicles Act (the Act) outlines the safety requirements that manufacturers and operators of automated vehicles will need to meet in order to deploy their goods and services on UK roads. In this article Ben Gardner outlines the key safety areas that will need to be considered ...