BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2628
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2628 (Pavley)
As Amended August 23, 2004
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |60-13|(May 6, 2004) |SENATE: |29-7 |(August 24, |
| | | | | |2004e) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Allows advanced technology partial zero-emission
vehicles (AT PZEVs) to use High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes.
The Senate amendments:
1)Allow single-occupant vehicles meeting the state's ultra-low
emission vehicle (ULEV) standard and the federal inherently
low emission vehicle (ILEV) standard to use HOV lanes if they
were produced during the 2004 model year or earlier.
2)Allow single-occupant alternative fuel vehicles meeting the
state's California's AT PZEV standard and achieving 45 miles
per gallon (mpg) or greater fuel economy to use HOV lanes.
3)Require, rather than allow, Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to suspend HOV lane privileges for low-emission
vehicles on any particular HOV lane if it finds that the lane,
or any portion of it, attains a specified level of traffic
congestion and it is not feasible to alleviate the congestion
by other means.
4)Require the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to consult with
Caltrans and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in the
design and placement of decals, labels, or other identifiers
used for low-emission vehicles that are allowed to use HOV
lanes.
5)Require DMV to notify Caltrans immediately after 50,000
decals, labels, and other identifiers have been issued to
hybrid vehicles.
6)Require Caltrans to determine at that point whether
significant HOV lane breakdown has occurred throughout the
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state.
7)Require Caltrans, in order to make a determination that
significant HOV lane breakdown has occurred, to consider any
reduction in level of service, sustained stop-and-go
conditions, slower than average speed than the adjacent mixed
flow lanes, and a consistent increase in travel time.
8)Require Caltrans, after making this determination, to
immediateley notify DMV, at which time DMV would discontinue
issuing decals, labels, or other identifiers for hybrid
vehicles.
9)Require the Air Resources Board (ARB) to publish and maintain
a listing of all vehicles eligible for participation in the
programs authorized under this bill and to provide that
information to DMV.
10)Provide that if the provisions authorizing DMV to issue
decals, labels, or other identifiers to hybrid and alternative
fuel vehicles are repealed, vehicles displaying those decals,
labels, or other identifiers shall not access HOV lanes
without meeting the occupancy requirements otherwise
applicable to those lanes.
11)Require owners of hybrids vehicles that are registered in the
nine-county Bay Area to obtain Fast Trak bridge toll
transponders and establish automatic vehicle identification
(AVI) accounts if they wish to obtain identifiers from DMV to
allow them to travel in HOV lanes. If, within 90 days of the
federal government having approved HOV lane access for
hybrids, not all toll bridges in the Bay Area are equipped
with AVI systems, this requirement for hybrid vehicles in the
Bay Area would not apply.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows Caltrans and local authorities to designate lanes upon
highways within their respective jurisdictions for the
exclusive use of HOVs.
2)Prohibits vehicles from being operated on those lanes except
in conformity with the instructions contained in signs erected
by Caltrans or the appropriate local authority.
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3)Excludes, generally, motorcycles, paratransit vehicles, and
mass transit vehicles from occupancy restrictions governing
HOV lanes.
4)Allows, until January 1, 2008, vehicles that meet California's
ULEV or super ultra-low emission vehicle (SULEV) standard for
exhaust emissions and the federal ILEV evaporative emission
standard to be operated in HOV lanes if they display
distinctive decals, labels, and other identifiers issued by
DMV.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Repealed a lapsed statute that required DMV to issue
distinctive decals, labels, or other identifiers for vehicles
that meet California's ULEV standard for exhaust emissions and
the federal inherently low-emission vehicle ILEV evaporative
emission standard.
2)Removed the December 31, 2007, sunset date on a statute
requiring DMV to issue distinctive decals, labels, and other
identifiers for vehicles meeting California's SULEV standard
for exhaust emissions and the federal ILEV evaporative
emission standard.
3)Required DMV to issue that same decal to vehicles that either:
a) Meet California's AT PZEV standard for criteria
pollutant emissions (i.e., meet SULEV standards and have
zero evaporative emissions) and have a 45 mpg or higher
fuel economy highway rating; or,
b) Are hybrid vehicles that were produced during the 2004
model year or earlier, have a 45 mpg or greater fuel
economy highway rating, and meet California's ULEV, SULEV,
or PZEV standard for exhaust emissions.
4)Prohibited the owner of a vehicle described in #3) above from
receiving a decal unless the federal government acts to
approve the use of HOV lanes by hybrid vehicles regardless of
the number of occupants.
5)Allowed the Caltrans to suspend HOV lane privileges for these
vehicles on any particular HOV lane if it finds that the lane,
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or any portion of it, attains a specified level of traffic
congestion and it is not feasible to alleviate the congestion
by other means.
6)Allowed DMV to issue no more than 75,000 of the decals
referenced above. If Caltrans determines, after at least
50,000 of the decals have been issued, that significant HOV
lane breakdown has occurred throughout the state, DMV would be
required to stop issuing the decals.
7)Defined "significant high-occupancy vehicle lane breakdown" in
an unspecified manner.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
analysis, Caltrans will incur one-time costs of less than
$100,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-05; DMV will have ongoing
costs of $180,000 per year beginning in FY 2004-05 offset by
ongoing revenues of $170,000 per year beginning in FY 2005-06;
and ARB will have costs of less than $50,000 per year beginning
in FY 2005-06.
COMMENTS : The author has introduced this bill as a means of
creating an incentive for the purchase of hybrid vehicles.
Hybrids are primarily propelled by conventional gasoline
engines, but they also convert energy generated during coasting
and braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until
needed by the vehicle's electric motor. The electric motor
assists the engine when accelerating or hill climbing and in
low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines
are least efficient. The gasoline engine operates on its own
under cruising conditions. Hybrids offer significant fuel
savings over conventional gasoline engines and, consequently,
also typically emit far less toxic air contaminants and
so-called greenhouse gases. The theoretical basis for this bill
is that by affording hybrid owners access to HOV lanes, which
allow for far faster travel on congested freeways during peak
commute times, car buyers will be more inclined to purchase a
hybrid as opposed to a conventional (and presumably less fuel
efficient) vehicle.
According to the author, hybrids "use half the gasoline that
conventional cars do, produce far fewer harmful emissions, and
are increasing in popularity. However, (hybrid) sales are still
marginal enough for car manufacturers to claim that they can't
afford to make them. This proposal will give consumers a strong
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incentive to purchase the least polluting and most
fuel-efficient (hybrids), and as a result, increase the demand
for the cleanest hybrid technology." The ARB estimates that
there will be approximately 110,000 AT PZEV hybrid electric
vehicles available in the state through the 2007 model year. Of
these vehicles, only 55,000 are expected to meet this bill's
45-mpg standard.
An HOV lane, commonly referred to as a "carpool" or "diamond"
lane, is part of a traffic management strategy designed to
reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles during peak
periods of traffic congestion. These lanes are intended to
provide an incentive for commuters to form carpools by offering
reduced travel times. The declared legislative intent in
establishing these lanes is to relieve traffic congestion,
conserve fuel, and reduce vehicular emissions. Over the years,
advocates for many groups have suggested using HOV lane access
to reward certain behaviors or to ease the commute for one class
of motorists or another. Historically, HOV lane access has been
proposed for doctors, seniors, the disabled, and others. These
proposals were rejected as being inconsistent with the original
intent of establishing the lanes, to reduce congestion.
Subsequently, AB 71 (Cunneen), Chapter 330, Statutes of 1999,
extended to certain "Clean Fuel" vehicles the privilege of using
HOV lanes even when required occupancy levels are not met.
Vehicles meeting AB 71's standard are generally limited to
battery-powered vehicles and those operating on compressed
natural gas, neither of which is especially prevalent in
California's vehicle fleet. Proponents of AB 71 contended that
that the bill would induce the purchase and investment in clean
fuel vehicles, consistent with at least a part of the
legislative intent in authorizing HOV lanes. In light of the
relatively small number of these vehicles, it was felt that the
bill's exemption would have negligible impact on the timesavings
benefit of HOV lanes.
Hybrid vehicles, which have become a popular means by which
vehicle manufacturers may meet their zero emission vehicle
obligations, do not meet the clean fuel standard established by
AB 71; consequently their owners and advocates are dismayed that
they are not allowed into HOV lanes. Since allowing large
numbers of hybrids into HOV lanes would reduce the effectiveness
of the lanes by compromising their ability to offer a quicker
commute than adjacent mixed-flow lanes, the bill allows Caltrans
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to suspend HOV lane privileges for hybrids on any particular
lane that reaches a specified level of congestion.
Additionally, federal law (Title 23 U.S.C. 102 (a) (2))
specifies that vehicles with fewer than two occupants may
operate in HOV lanes only if "the vehicle is properly labeled
and certified as an Inherently Low Emission Vehicle (ILEV)."
According to a 2001 memorandum issued by the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), "none of the hybrid vehicles have
qualified as ILEVs because their engines have fuel vapor
emissions?Hybrid vehicles have not been certified by the EPA as
meeting the emissions requirements that have been established
for vehicles to be classified as an ILEV. As a result, hybrid
vehicles are not allowed to use HOV lanes." This bill
acknowledges that prohibition by conditioning its implementation
on the state receiving a federal waiver. Supporters also note
that the Bush Administration's federal transportation
reauthorization proposal includes permission for HOV lane use by
vehicles achieving 45 mpg or better.
Nevertheless, several operational and equity concerns remain.
For instance, while this bill is intended to create an incentive
for the purchase of hybrids, it also rewards current hybrid
owners. Additionally, using its 45-mpg standard, it rewards
fuel-efficient hybrids but ignores gasoline or diesel engines
that might achieve similar or better fuel economy. Furthermore,
although this bill allows Caltrans to suspend the HOV lane
privilege for hybrids on lanes that reach a certain level of
congestion, such a suspension might be politically difficult for
Caltrans to initiate and would create a patchwork of rules
around the state's network of HOV lanes. Finally, there are
several proposals to establish "high occupancy toll" or HOT
lanes in various locations. The toll revenues would be used to
fund construction and maintenance of the lane as well as highway
improvements or increased transit operations in the affected
corridor. To the extent that excess HOV lane capacity is used
by an increasing fleet population of hybrids, the HOT lane
approach becomes untenable.
One might also question whether there is a need for an incentive
to purchase hybrids. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are
waiting lists for the Toyota Prius, which is already popular and
selling well.
Related legislation: AB 114 (Nakano), introduced in 2003, would
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have allowed single-occupant hybrid vehicles to operate in HOV
lanes. The bill was never heard. AJR 74 (Pavley), Resolution
Chapter 113, Statutes of 2004, requests the President and
Congress to take action to allow low-emission single-occupant
hybrids achieving 45 mph to operate in HOV lanes under federal
law.
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0008735