BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 1500
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Lieu
VERSION: 6/2/09
Analysis by: Jennifer Gress FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 30, 2009
SUBJECT:
High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes: low-emission vehicles
DESCRIPTION:
This bill extends the sunset date, from January 1, 2011 to
January 1, 2016, on the law that allows certain low-emission
vehicles to access HOV lanes.
ANALYSIS:
In 1999, the Legislature passed and the governor signed AB 71
(Cunneen), Chapter 330, to allow the following low-emission
vehicles to access HOV lanes, regardless of vehicle occupancy:
A vehicle that meets the state's super ultra-low emission
vehicle (SULEV) standard for exhaust emissions and the federal
inherently low-emission vehicle (ILEV) standard for
evaporative emissions (e.g., all-electric vehicles such as
Tesla or the RAV 4 EV).
A vehicle that was produced during the 2004 model year or
earlier that meets the state's ultra-low emission vehicle
(ULEV) standard for exhaust emissions and the federal ILEV
standard (e.g., Honda Civic CNG).
To differentiate these vehicles, the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) issues white stickers to be affixed on the
vehicle. There is no limit on the number of these vehicles that
may be issued white stickers. To date, DMV has issued 9,099
sets of white stickers. White-stickered vehicles are eligible
for free or reduce-passage toll rates on Bay Area toll bridges,
AB 1500 (LIEU) Page 2
regardless of their occupancy, if those rates are offered to
high-occupancy vehicles.
In 2004, AB 2628 (Pavley), Chapter 725, allowed the following
hybrid vehicles to access HOV lanes, pending approval by the
federal government:
A hybrid vehicle or an alternative fuel vehicle that meets the
state's advanced technology partial zero-emission standard (AT
PZEV) standard for criteria pollutant emissions and has a 45
miles per gallon (mpg) or greater fuel economy highway rating.
A hybrid vehicle that was produced during the 2004 model year
or earlier that has a 45 mpg or greater fuel economy highway
rating and meets the state's ULEV, SULEV, or partial
zero-emission vehicle (PZEV) standards.
The DMV issues these vehicles yellow stickers. The number of
vehicles that may be issued yellow stickers was ultimately
capped at 85,000, a limit which was reached in 2007.
Yellow-stickered vehicles are not eligible for free or
reduced-passage toll rates on Bay Area toll bridges.
The authority to access HOV lanes expires for all four types of
vehicles on January 1, 2011.
Existing law requires the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to assess, according to a specified
timeframe, whether HOV lanes have experienced significant
degradation due to access by hybrid vehicles with yellow
stickers. Caltrans is authorized to restrict single-occupant
vehicles with either white or yellow stickers from accessing
segments of HOV lanes during periods of peak congestion if it
finds that the lane has a specified level of service, the
operation of these vehicles will significantly increase
congestion, and it is not feasible to alleviate congestion by
other means.
This bill extends the sunset date, from January 1, 2011 to
January 1, 2016, on the law that requires DMV to issue white
stickers to eligible vehicles so that those vehicles may access
HOV lanes.
COMMENTS:
AB 1500 (LIEU) Page 3
1.Purpose . According to the author, access to HOV lanes by
single-occupancy vehicles that meet the federal ILEV standard
is an effective way to encourage the purchase and lease of
low-polluting alternative fuel vehicles, particularly in
heavily urbanized areas where air pollution tends to be the
worst and traffic congestion is greatest. The state thus
achieves two important and complementary goals: to reduce
vehicular air pollution and reduce petroleum consumption.
Approximately 25,000 CNG vehicles operate in California, owned
by individuals, local governments, and private fleets such as
taxi cabs and shuttle vans. Single-occupancy access to HOV
lanes is a strong non-monetary incentive for the purchase of
low emission, alternative fuel vehicles.
2.The purpose of HOV lanes . In allowing for the development of
HOV lanes, the Legislature declared its intent to "stimulate
and encourage the development of ways and means of relieving
traffic congestion on California highways and, at the same
time, to encourage individual citizens to pool their vehicular
resources and thereby conserve fuel and lessen emission of air
pollutants." The committee may wish to consider the extent to
which allowing single-occupant vehicles into the HOV lanes may
undermine the policy objectives of encouraging carpooling and
reducing traffic congestion.
3.SB 535 (Yee) . SB 535, sponsored by General Motors, seeks to
incentivize the Chevy Volt, a plug-in, gasoline-electric
hybrid vehicle not yet in production, as well as similar
vehicles by granting those vehicles access to HOV lanes. This
committee passed that bill as a "work-in-progress" on April
28th. As passed, SB 535 extended the sunset date on
white-stickered vehicles to January 1, 2015 in order to allow
the author and sponsor to determine appropriate emission and
fuel economy standards for the vehicles the sponsor seeks to
support. The author plans to amend SB 535 to allow vehicles
that meet or exceed ARB's standard for Enhanced Advanced
Technology Partial Zero-Emission Vehicles and that have a
minimum fuel economy rating of 65 mpg. SB 535 will maintain
the extension of the sunset date for white-stickered vehicles.
4.HOV lane degradation . The Federal Highways Administration
(FHWA) granted conditional approval to allow hybrid vehicles
in HOV lanes, as authorized by AB 2628 (Pavley), in April
2006. FHWA required Caltrans to monitor and report on the
AB 1500 (LIEU) Page 4
performance of HOV lanes and to take steps to address
degradation (i.e., congestion), if necessary.
In July 2006, after 50,000 yellow stickers were issued to
hybrid vehicles under the program, Caltrans assessed
congestion in the HOV lanes using both the state and federal
standards of performance. Under the state standard, Caltrans
found that the number of congested HOV lane segments increased
from 7 to 12 percent. Under the federal standard, Caltrans
found that approximately 46 percent of HOV lane segments
operated under degraded conditions. While the increased
congestion could not be attributed solely to single-occupant
hybrid vehicles accessing the lanes, FHWA nonetheless asserted
that these vehicles did not have to be the cause of
degradation for Caltrans to take action to reduce HOV lane
congestion and requested that Caltrans develop a plan for
improving the performance of HOV lanes.
Caltrans submitted the California High Occupancy Vehicle Lane
Degradation Reduction Plan to FHWA in August 2007. The plan
outlines short- and long-term measures to improve HOV lane
performance, including increased enforcement, improved system
management, infrastructure improvements, public education,
and, if necessary, a prohibition of single-occupant hybrid
vehicles from accessing the most congested segments of the
HOV-lane network.
Following the submittal of that plan, Caltrans updated its
analysis of HOV lane degradation and submitted a supplemental
report to FHWA in September 2008. This updated analysis found
that, based on the federal standard, congestion increased on
HOV lanes from 46 percent to 54 percent. Given the growth in
both population and number of registered vehicles, degradation
is only likely to worsen.
Further degradation of HOV lanes benefits no one, most
notably, the consumers this bill seeks to target. Given the
current threat of congestion on the state's HOV lanes and the
possibility that this bill would result in further
degradation, the committee may wish to consider the following
two questions:
What are the possible consequences of allowing HOV lanes
to degrade further vs. continuing to incentivize
low-emission vehicles?
AB 1500 (LIEU) Page 5
Are there incentives other than HOV lane access that
might be offered to encourage the development and
deployment of these vehicles?
1.Flurry of activity . There is much activity occurring with
regard to allowing low-emission vehicles to access HOV lanes.
Federal law governing HOV lane access is contained in the
transportation act known as SAFETEA-LU, which is set to expire
on September 30th of this year. A draft of the new federal
transportation bill has just been released and it extends the
current access provisions until September 30, 2015. Air
quality experts consider the federal ILEV standard outdated,
and it is conceivable that the emission standard applicable
for HOV lane access may change as the bill is marked up and
moves through Congress.
Regardless of whether there is a change to the federal
standard, California's current standard for allowing hybrids
to access HOV lanes is out of sync with the federal law and
the United States Environmental Protection Agency has urged
Caltrans and the California Air Resources Board to better
align its standards with those established in federal law.
Finally, in addition to General Motors, Ford and Toyota have
been pursuing their own proposals to incentivize specific
vehicles by providing HOV lane access. Vehicle technologies
are undergoing rapid change and increasingly cleaner vehicles
will become available in the coming years. Given the activity
occurring on this issue at the federal level, the interest by
various automobile manufacturers to incentivize their vehicles
in a recessionary economy, and the development of cleaner
vehicle technologies, the committee may wish to consider an
amendment to shorten the sunset date extension from 2016 to
2014, thereby extending the sunset date three years.
2.Other questions to consider .
a. HOT lanes. Many areas of the state, in particular the
Bay Area, are developing high-occupancy toll lanes to allow
single-occupant drivers into an HOV lane for a fee. This
committee has generally been supportive of HOT lanes as a
means to better utilize excess capacity and raise revenue
for transit improvements. The committee may wish to
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consider whether allowing low-emission vehicles into the
HOV lanes will undermine HOT lane initiatives, as well as
which policy objective it values most: rewarding the
purchase of low-emission vehicles or allowing for more
efficient management of the highway system and raising
revenue?
b. Disproportional benefits to higher-income drivers.
Low-emission vehicles, and in particular white-sticker
vehicles authorized under this bill, are inherently more
expensive than a conventional-fueled vehicle. The benefits
of allowing low-emission vehicles into HOV lanes therefore
accrue disproportionately to higher-income drivers.
RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 535 (Yee), in its current form, extends the sunset date, from
January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2015, to allow certain
low-emission vehicles to use HOV lanes, regardless of vehicle
occupancy, but maintains the January 1, 2011 sunset date for
hybrid vehicles. Assembly Transportation Committee.
AB 1502 (Eng) extends the sunset date, from January 1, 2011 to
January 1, 2017, to allow certain low-emission vehicles to use
HOV lanes, regardless of vehicle occupancy, but maintains the
January 1, 2011 sunset date for hybrid vehicles. Died in the
Assembly Transportation Committee.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 46-31
Appr: 10-5
Trans: 9-5
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 24, 2009)
SUPPORT: California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition
(sponsor)
OPPOSED: Alameda County Congestion Management Agency