BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1781|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1781
Author: Villines (R)
Amended: 8/11/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-1, 6/15/10
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Harman,
Pavley, Simitian
NOES: Kehoe
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 4/22/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Neighborhood electric vehicles
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes, until 2016, the City of
Fresno to establish a neighborhood electric vehicle
transportation plan.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/11/10 ensure that the Director
of the Department of Transportation considers for approval
the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle plan that the bill
authorizes only after a review of the plan by the
California Traffic Control Devices Committee.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : Existing law defines a low-speed vehicle as a
motor vehicle that is four-wheeled; can attain a speed in
one mile of more than 20 miles per hour (MPH) and not more
than 25 MPH on a paved, level surface; and has a gross
vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds. Low-speed
vehicles are also known as neighborhood electric vehicles
(NEVs). NEVs meet federal motor vehicle safety standards,
and one must possess a valid California driver's license to
operate an NEV on public streets.
Existing law generally prohibits NEVs from being operated
on any roadway with a speed limit in excess of 35 MPH, but
a number of bills have provided exceptions for three
communities, as follows:
1. AB 2353 (Leslie), Chapter 422, Statutes of 2004,
authorized the NEV transportation plan pilot projects
until January 1, 2009, for the cities of Lincoln and
Rocklin, as follows:
A. Each city may establish a "neighborhood electric
vehicle transportation plan" for the city or some
part of it. Existing law puts numerous requirements
on the adoption of the plan, including consultation
with local law enforcement and transportation
planning officials. The plan must accommodate the
travel of NEVs by identifying routes and providing
for NEV facilities (separate lanes, trails, street
crossings, parking, charging stations, etc.), and it
may allow NEVs on streets with speed limits over 35
MPH where dedicated lanes are provided for NEVs.
B. The cities must work with the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to establish uniform
specifications and symbols for signs, traffic control
devices, and right-of-way designation in the plan
areas.
C. If Lincoln or Rocklin adopts an NEV transportation
plan, then the city must report to the Legislature on
the plan, its effectiveness, and its impact on
traffic flows and safety, and it must make a
recommendation to the Legislature on extending the
sunset date or expanding the authorization for NEV
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transportation plans statewide.
2. AB 2963 (Gaines), Chapter 199, Statutes of 2008,
extended the sunset date on the Lincoln and Rocklin
pilot projects from 2009 until January 1, 2012. In
doing so, the bill required the cities jointly or
individually if only one proceeds, to report to the
Legislature by January 1, 2011, on implementation of
their NEV transportation plans. This report shall be
prepared in consultation with Caltrans, the California
Highway Patrol (CHP), and local law enforcement and
provide specified information on the NEV transportation
plans and their implementation.
3. SB 956 (Correa), Chapter 442, Statutes of 2007, allowed
Orange County to establish an NEV transportation plan
for Ranch Plan Planned Community under essentially the
same criteria as the Lincoln and Rocklin pilot projects,
except with a sunset date of January 1, 2013.
This bill authorizes the City of Fresno, until January 1,
2016, to establish a neighborhood electric vehicle
transportation plan under the same terms as the pilot
projects in Lincoln and Rocklin. Specifically, this bill:
1. Permits the city to establish an NEV plan for all city
streets within the city, plus Fresno County islands,
which are areas of land, streets, and roads under county
jurisdiction, but entirely surrounded by the city,
provided that the county concurs in inclusion of any
island in the city's NEV plan.
2. Requires that the city adopt the plan by ordinance or
resolution and, prior to adoption, receive comment and
review on the plan from the Council of Fresno County
Governments and any agency with traffic law enforcement
responsibilities in the plan area. The plan must
accommodate the travel of NEVs by identifying routes and
providing for NEV facilities (separate lanes, trails,
street crossings, parking, charging stations, etc.).
3. Requires the City, if it develops an NEV plan, to submit
the plan to the Director of Caltrans for approval
following a review and recommendation by the California
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Traffic Control Devices Committee at Caltrans.
4. Requires the city, if it adopts an NEV plan, to report
to the Legislature by November 1, 2014, in consultation
with Caltrans, CHP, and local law enforcement. The
report shall describe the NEV transportation plan and
its elements, and it shall evaluate the plan's
effectiveness, including its impacts on traffic flows
and safety.
5. Sunsets on January 1, 2016.
6. Contains double-jointing language with AB 584 (Huber).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/15/10)
Hon. Ashley Swearengin, Mayor, City of Fresno
City of Fresno
Fresno County Council of Governments
Larry Powell, Superintendent, Fresno County Office of
Education
San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/15/10)
California Bicycle Coalition
California Council of the Blind
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author introduced this bill so
that the City of Fresno may create an NEV plan to provide
for and encourage the use of zero emission vehicles. The
author notes that the bill provides for an NEV plan
designed and developed to best serve the functional travel
needs of the planned area and to have the physical safety
of the NEV driver's person and property as a major planning
component. This bill contains many of the same
requirements as in the statutes authorizing NEV plan pilots
in Orange County, Lincoln, and Rocklin, including a review
of this pilot project, which is due in November 2014.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Council of the
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Blind opposes this bill because it does not address the
safety issues that NEVs pose for pedestrians and especially
for visually impaired pedestrians. NEVs and other electric
vehicles emit little sound, and it is vehicle sound on
which blind pedestrians rely to detect the presence of
vehicles and know when it is safe to cross a street. The
council indicates that it will support the bill if it is
amended to require NEVs to emit sufficient sound for blind
pedestrians to audibly detect the presence of NEVs.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman,
Norby, Vacancy
JJA:mw 8/11/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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