Nathaniel Parker — During roll call, Senator Nathaniel Parker was present and responded 'Here.'
Nathaniel Parker — Addressed as Chairman Parker.
Nathaniel Parker — Nathaniel Parker is addressed as Chair/Chairman Parker, congratulated on his appointment, and responds courteously to Amy and Peter before moving the meeting into panel questions and broader discussion, including an initial comment about advocacy for the Heartland Flyer.
Nathaniel Parker — Major Omar Villarreal is invited to come forward for the DPS panel.
Nathaniel Parker — Appears to be the speaker introducing himself as the primary autonomous vehicle liaison and referencing Major Villarreal's authority.
Nathaniel Parker — Chair Parker is addressed in the introduction to Renee Gibson's testimony.
Nathaniel Parker — Addressed as Chairman Parker.
Nathaniel Parker — The chair emphasized the need for timely reporting to the right agencies and said more communication and data are needed.
Nathaniel Parker — Chairman Nathaniel Parker presided over the hearing, opening the witness introductions and Q&A and being addressed as the committee chair as testimony began, including the start of the Austin Police Department testimony.
Nathaniel Parker — Senator Parker thanks the witnesses, says national security concerns are important, and raises job-loss and foreign-parts concerns.
Nathaniel Parker — Chairman Parker is addressed by the witness at the start of testimony.
Nathaniel Parker — Chairman Parker thanks the witnesses and asks how to strengthen CDL oversight without burdening good actors.
Nathaniel Parker — Chris Russo opens his testimony by greeting Chairman Parker and the committee, with additional brief references to Chairman Parker during the same opening remarks.
Nathaniel Parker — James Donovan opens his testimony by greeting Chairman Parker and members of the Senate Committee on Transportation.
Royce West — Called during the roll call.
Royce West — Vice Chairman West congratulated the chair and began discussing the interim charges, rail grade crossing safety, and infrastructure.
Royce West — Addressed as Vice Chair West.
Royce West — Royce West participated in the discussion by asking for a plain-language explanation of grade separation for the public and was then addressed as Vice Chair West.
Royce West — Addressed as Senator West during the discussion of rail funding strategy and matching grants.
Royce West — Was addressed in the discussion about whether railroad companies should help pay for grade separations.
Royce West — Was part of the ongoing committee discussion on rail funding and safety.
Royce West — Addressed as Chairman Parker in the committee exchange following the question to Amy or Melissa.
Royce West — Asked for a plain-language explanation of the difference between Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous vehicles.
Royce West — Asked whether the application and complaint processes are public records.
Royce West — Asked whether autonomous vehicles have committed traffic safety violations.
Royce West — Senator West asks which states Texas should compare itself to on autonomous vehicle deployment.
Royce West — A continuous exchange with Senator Royce West in which the speaker first responds to his question about crash data and investigations, then continues discussing trooper spacing and highway safety sampling, and finally thanks Senator West as the discussion transitions to Senator Perry.
Royce West — Royce West is briefly addressed during testimony and then credited for working closely on incorporating police-interaction topics into driver's education, tying both mentions to the same discussion about improving driver education content.
Royce West — Royce West is addressed twice during the meeting, first in a garbled direct address and later as Vice Chair West, with no substantive discussion beyond acknowledging him.
Royce West — The chair asks Senator West how he feels about the technology; West responds that he loves it.
Royce West — Vice Chair West was addressed at the start of the Austin Police Department testimony.
Royce West — Senator/ Vice Chairman West is referenced in the course of the witness’s remarks and then directly asks whether the witness has testimony on the matter, keeping the discussion focused on the witness’s input and the committee’s consideration of the issue.
Royce West — The speaker notes that Vice Chair West is not present.
Paul Bettencourt — Called during roll call; name appears as 'Betancourt' in the transcript.
Paul Bettencourt — Recognized by the chair for being present at the hearing.
Paul Bettencourt — Senator Bettencourt thanked the presenters and began questioning them about regulatory obstacles and the safety structure for autonomous vehicles, then followed up by asking for a recap of the Dallas fatality incident and what happened, noting it may not have been directly caused by the autonomous vehicle.
Paul Bettencourt — The speaker follows up on Senator Bettencourt's point about collecting comparison data.
Paul Bettencourt — Senator Bettencourt thanks the witnesses for their testimony and says he wants to focus on measurable outcomes, echoing the idea that what gets measured gets fixed.
Paul Bettencourt — The speaker cites Senator Bettencourt as having made the point that the technology is too new to have much data to study.
Paul Bettencourt — Senator Bettencourt is asked whether he has another question before the panel is dismissed.
Paul Bettencourt — Paul Bettencourt is referenced and then speaks to follow up on autonomous vehicle safety and reliability, asking about measurement and metrics, communication redundancy, onboard sensors, whether loss of communications would trigger teleoperation, and whether the association tracks reliability data such as mean time to failure and mean time to repair, including how Texas compares with other states.
Paul Bettencourt — Paul Bettencourt engages in an extended discussion praising the robustness of autonomous vehicle technology. He emphasizes that the systems have multiple layers of redundancy, including braking and computing components, and asks detailed questions about input-output boards, CPUs, and communications systems. He also inquires whether the two Pittsburgh firms are connected and notes the strength of Pittsburgh’s robotics ecosystem. Bettencourt argues the vehicles should be able to stop safely even if a system fails, points out that the companies operate at 65 mph rather than 85 mph, and says the technology has matured enough to handle hundreds of thousands or millions of road miles. Drawing on his background in process control and automation, he describes the technology as robust, credits Texas for leading the effort, and predicts autonomous mobility will become commonplace within a decade.
Paul Bettencourt — Asked about manufacturer relationships and feedback on component changes.
Paul Bettencourt — Referenced as having asked questions that prompted discussion of implementation and reporting.
Brent Hagenbuch — Responded 'Here' during roll call; name appears as 'Hagenbue' in the transcript.
Brent Hagenbuch — Senator Hagenbuch agreed with Senator Perry’s concerns about autonomous vehicle oversight and noted that a Waymo resource witness would be available later. He then added that the rules generally reflect the law but may be missing a requirement for a central place to report significant accidents, highlighting a potential gap in the current framework.
Brent Hagenbuch — Senator Hagenbuch follows up on the discussion with a brief question and then raises the idea that accident information should be collected in a repository and measured by miles rather than hours, continuing the same policy-focused exchange.
Brent Hagenbuch — Martin references Senator Hagenbuch discussing fatality crashes in Texas.
Brent Hagenbuch — Senator Hagenbuch raises concern about Texas’s high number of traffic fatalities and follows up by asking whether fatalities could be reduced to zero or cut in half without relying on technology.
Brent Hagenbuch — Brent Hagenbuch is mentioned as having repeatedly referenced the 'End the Streak' campaign earlier in the hearing, with both mentions reinforcing that he brought up the campaign multiple times during the discussion.