BILL NUMBER: SB 1636 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 505
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2002
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 12, 2002
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 19, 2002
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 12, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 8, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 20, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 13, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2002
INTRODUCED BY Senator Figueroa
(Coauthor: Senator Perata)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aroner, Bill Campbell, Harman,
Koretz, and Longville)
FEBRUARY 21, 2002
An act to amend Sections 65088, 65088.1, and 65089 of, and to add
Section 65088.4 to, the Government Code, relating to congestion
management.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1636, Figueroa. Congestion management: transportation:
congestion management programs.
Existing law requires the development, adoption, and updating of a
congestion management program for each county that includes an
urbanized area, as defined. The plan is required to contain
specified elements and to be submitted to regional agencies, as
defined, for determination of whether the program is consistent with
regional transportation plans. The regional agency is then directed
to monitor the implementation of all elements of each congestion
management program. The required elements include traffic level of
service standards for a system of designated highways and roadways.
This bill would define an infill opportunity zone for purposes of
the above-described provisions to mean a specific area designated by
a city or county zoned for new compact residential or mixed use
development, except as specified, within 1/3 mile of specified
transportation sites in counties with a population of over 400,000.
It would exempt streets and highways in an infill opportunity zone
from the level of service standards specified in the above-described
provisions and instead require alternate level of service standards
to be applied. It would provide that a city or county may not
designate an infill opportunity zone after December 31, 2009.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 65088 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
65088. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Although California's economy is critically dependent upon
transportation, its current transportation system relies primarily
upon a street and highway system designed to accommodate far fewer
vehicles than are currently using the system.
(b) California's transportation system is characterized by
fragmented planning, both among jurisdictions involved and among the
means of available transport.
(c) The lack of an integrated system and the increase in the
number of vehicles are causing traffic congestion that each day
results in 400,000 hours lost in traffic, 200 tons of pollutants
released into the air we breathe, and three million one hundred
thousand dollars ($3,100,000) added costs to the motoring public.
(d) To keep California moving, all methods and means of transport
between major destinations must be coordinated to connect our vital
economic and population centers.
(e) In order to develop the California economy to its full
potential, it is intended that federal, state, and local agencies
join with transit districts, business, private and environmental
interests to develop and implement comprehensive strategies needed to
develop appropriate responses to transportation needs.
(f) In addition to solving California's traffic congestion crisis,
rebuilding California's cities and suburbs, particularly with
affordable housing and more walkable neighborhoods, is an important
part of accommodating future increases in the state's population
because homeownership is only now available to most Californians who
are on the fringes of metropolitan areas and far from employment
centers.
(g) The Legislature intends to do everything within its power to
remove regulatory barriers around the development of infill housing,
transit-oriented development, and mixed use commercial development in
order to reduce regional traffic congestion and provide more housing
choices for all Californians.
(h) The removal of regulatory barriers to promote infill housing,
transit-oriented development, or mixed use commercial development
does not preclude a city or county from holding a public hearing nor
finding that an individual infill project would be adversely impacted
by the surrounding environment or transportation patterns.
SEC. 2. Section 65088.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:
65088.1. As used in this chapter the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) Unless the context requires otherwise, "regional agency" means
the agency responsible for preparation of the regional
transportation improvement program.
(b) Unless the context requires otherwise, "agency" means the
agency responsible for the preparation and adoption of the congestion
management program.
(c) "Commission" means the California Transportation Commission.
(d) "Department" means the Department of Transportation.
(e) "Local jurisdiction" means a city, a county, or a city and
county.
(f) "Parking cash-out program" means an employer-funded program
under which an employer offers to provide a cash allowance to an
employee equivalent to the parking subsidy that the employer would
otherwise pay to provide the employee with a parking space. "Parking
subsidy" means the difference between the out-of-pocket amount paid
by an employer on a regular basis in order to secure the availability
of an employee parking space not owned by the employer and the
price, if any, charged to an employee for use of that space.
A parking cash-out program may include a requirement that employee
participants certify that they will comply with guidelines
established by the employer designed to avoid neighborhood parking
problems, with a provision that employees not complying with the
guidelines will no longer be eligible for the parking cash-out
program.
(g) "Infill opportunity zone" means a specific area designated by
a city or county, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 65088.4,
zoned for new compact residential or mixed use development within
one-third mile of a site with an existing or future rail transit
station, a ferry terminal served by either a bus or rail transit
service, an intersection of at least two major bus routes, or within
300 feet of a bus rapid transit corridor, in counties with a
population over 400,000. The mixed use development zoning shall
consist of three or more land uses that facilitate significant human
interaction in close proximity, with residential use as the primary
land use supported by other land uses such as office, hotel, health
care, hospital, entertainment, restaurant, retail, and service uses.
The transit service shall have maximum scheduled headways of 15
minutes for at least 5 hours per day. A qualifying future rail
station shall have broken ground on construction of the station and
programmed operational funds to provide maximum scheduled headways of
15 minutes for at least 5 hours per day.
(h) "Interregional travel" means any trips that originate outside
the boundary of the agency. A "trip" means a one-direction vehicle
movement. The origin of any trip is the starting point of that trip.
A roundtrip consists of two individual trips.
(i) "Level of service standard" is a threshold that defines a
deficiency on the congestion management program highway and roadway
system which requires the preparation of a deficiency plan. It is
the intent of the Legislature that the agency shall use all elements
of the program to implement strategies and actions that avoid the
creation of deficiencies and to improve multimodal mobility.
(j) "Multimodal" means the utilization of all available modes of
travel that enhance the movement of people and goods, including, but
not limited to, highway, transit, nonmotorized, and demand management
strategies including, but not limited to, telecommuting. The
availability and practicality of specific multimodal systems,
projects, and strategies may vary by county and region in accordance
with the size and complexity of different urbanized areas.
(k) "Performance measure" is an analytical planning tool that is
used to quantitatively evaluate transportation improvements and to
assist in determining effective implementation actions, considering
all modes and strategies. Use of a performance measure as part of
the program does not trigger the requirement for the preparation of
deficiency plans.
(l) "Urbanized area" has the same meaning as is defined in the
1990 federal census for urbanized areas of more than 50,000
population.
(m) "Bus rapid transit corridor" means a bus service that includes
at least four of the following attributes:
(1) Coordination with land use planning.
(2) Exclusive right-of-way.
(3) Improved passenger boarding facilities.
(4) Limited stops.
(5) Passenger boarding at the same height as the bus.
(6) Prepaid fares.
(7) Real-time passenger information.
(8) Traffic priority at intersections.
(9) Signal priority.
(10) Unique vehicles.
SEC. 3. Section 65088.4 is added to the Government Code, to read:
65088.4. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to balance the
need for level of service standards for traffic with the need to
build infill housing and mixed use commercial developments within
walking distance of mass transit facilities, downtowns, and town
centers and to provide greater flexibility to local governments to
balance these sometimes competing needs.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, level of service
standards described in Section 65089 shall not apply to the streets
and highways within an infill opportunity zone. The city or county
shall do either of the following:
(1) Include these streets and highways under an alternative
areawide level of service standard or multimodal composite or
personal level of service standard that takes into account both of
the following:
(A) The broader benefits of regional traffic congestion reduction
by siting new residential development within walking distance of, and
no more than one-third mile from, mass transit stations, shops, and
services, in a manner that reduces the need for long vehicle commutes
and improves the jobs-housing balance.
(B) Increased use of alternative transportation modes, such as
mass transit, bicycling, and walking.
(2) Approve a list of flexible level of service mitigation options
that includes roadway expansion and investments in alternate modes
of transportation that may include, but are not limited to, transit
infrastructure, pedestrian infrastructure, and ridesharing, vanpool,
or shuttle programs.
(c) The city or county may designate an infill opportunity zone by
adopting a resolution after determining that the infill opportunity
zone is consistent with the general plan and any applicable specific
plan. A city or county may not designate an infill opportunity zone
after December 31, 2009.
(d) The city or county in which the infill opportunity zone is
located shall ensure that a development project shall be completed
within the infill opportunity zone not more than four years after the
date on which the city or county adopted its resolution pursuant to
subdivision (c). If no development project is completed within an
infill opportunity zone by the time limit imposed by this
subdivision, the infill opportunity zone shall automatically
terminate.
SEC. 4. Section 65089 of the Government Code is amended to read:
65089. (a) A congestion management program shall be developed,
adopted, and updated biennially, consistent with the schedule for
adopting and updating the regional transportation improvement
program, for every county that includes an urbanized area, and shall
include every city and the county. The program shall be adopted at a
noticed public hearing of the agency. The program shall be
developed in consultation with, and with the cooperation of, the
transportation planning agency, regional transportation providers,
local governments, the department, and the air pollution control
district or the air quality management district, either by the county
transportation commission, or by another public agency, as
designated by resolutions adopted by the county board of supervisors
and the city councils of a majority of the cities representing a
majority of the population in the incorporated area of the county.
(b) The program shall contain all of the following elements:
(1) (A) Traffic level of service standards established for a
system of highways and roadways designated by the agency. The
highway and roadway system shall include at a minimum all state
highways and principal arterials. No highway or roadway designated
as a part of the system shall be removed from the system. All new
state highways and principal arterials shall be designated as part of
the system, except when it is within an infill opportunity zone.
Level of service (LOS) shall be measured by Circular 212, by the most
recent version of the Highway Capacity Manual, or by a uniform
methodology adopted by the agency that is consistent with the Highway
Capacity Manual. The determination as to whether an alternative
method is consistent with the Highway Capacity Manual shall be made
by the regional agency, except that the department instead shall make
this determination if either (i) the regional agency is also the
agency, as those terms are defined in Section 65088.1, or (ii) the
department is responsible for preparing the regional transportation
improvement plan for the county.
(B) In no case shall the LOS standards established be below the
level of service E or the current level, whichever is farthest from
level of service A except when the area is in an infill opportunity
zone. When the level of service on a segment or at an intersection
fails to attain the established level of service standard outside an
infill opportunity zone, a deficiency plan shall be adopted pursuant
to Section 65089.4.
(2) A performance element that includes performance measures to
evaluate current and future multimodal system performance for the
movement of people and goods. At a minimum, these performance
measures shall incorporate highway and roadway system performance,
and measures established for the frequency and routing of public
transit, and for the coordination of transit service provided by
separate operators. These performance measures shall support
mobility, air quality, land use, and economic objectives, and shall
be used in the development of the capital improvement program
required pursuant to paragraph (5), deficiency plans required
pursuant to Section 65089.4, and the land use analysis program
required pursuant to paragraph (4).
(3) A travel demand element that promotes alternative
transportation methods, including, but not limited to, carpools,
vanpools, transit, bicycles, and park-and-ride lots; improvements in
the balance between jobs and housing; and other strategies,
including, but not limited to, flexible work hours, telecommuting,
and parking management programs. The agency shall consider parking
cash-out programs during the development and update of the travel
demand element.
(4) A program to analyze the impacts of land use decisions made by
local jurisdictions on regional transportation systems, including an
estimate of the costs associated with mitigating those impacts.
This program shall measure, to the extent possible, the impact to the
transportation system using the performance measures described in
paragraph (2). In no case shall the program include an estimate of
the costs of mitigating the impacts of interregional travel. The
program shall provide credit for local public and private
contributions to improvements to regional transportation systems.
However, in the case of toll road facilities, credit shall only be
allowed for local public and private contributions which are
unreimbursed from toll revenues or other state or federal sources.
The agency shall calculate the amount of the credit to be provided.
The program defined under this section may require implementation
through the requirements and analysis of the California Environmental
Quality Act, in order to avoid duplication.
(5) A seven-year capital improvement program, developed using the
performance measures described in paragraph (2) to determine
effective projects that maintain or improve the performance of the
multimodal system for the movement of people and goods, to mitigate
regional transportation impacts identified pursuant to paragraph (4).
The program shall conform to transportation-related vehicle
emission air quality mitigation measures, and include any project
that will increase the capacity of the multimodal system. It is the
intent of the Legislature that, when roadway projects are identified
in the program, consideration be given for maintaining bicycle access
and safety at a level comparable to that which existed prior to the
improvement or alteration. The capital improvement program may also
include safety, maintenance, and rehabilitation projects that do not
enhance the capacity of the system but are necessary to preserve the
investment in existing facilities.
(c) The agency, in consultation with the regional agency, cities,
and the county, shall develop a uniform data base on traffic impacts
for use in a countywide transportation computer model and shall
approve transportation computer models of specific areas within the
county that will be used by local jurisdictions to determine the
quantitative impacts of development on the circulation system that
are based on the countywide model and standardized modeling
assumptions and conventions. The computer models shall be consistent
with the modeling methodology adopted by the regional planning
agency. The data bases used in the models shall be consistent with
the data bases used by the regional planning agency. Where the
regional agency has jurisdiction over two or more counties, the data
bases used by the agency shall be consistent with the data bases used
by the regional agency.
(d) (1) The city or county in which a commercial development will
implement a parking cash-out program that is included in a congestion
management program pursuant to subdivision (b), or in a deficiency
plan pursuant to Section 65089.4, shall grant to that development an
appropriate reduction in the parking requirements otherwise in effect
for new commercial development.
(2) At the request of an existing commercial development that has
implemented a parking cash-out program, the city or county shall
grant an appropriate reduction in the parking requirements otherwise
applicable based on the demonstrated reduced need for parking, and
the space no longer needed for parking purposes may be used for other
appropriate purposes.
(e) Pursuant to the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act of 1991 and regulations adopted pursuant to the act,
the department shall submit a request to the Federal Highway
Administration Division Administrator to accept the congestion
management program in lieu of development of a new congestion
management system otherwise required by the act.