BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 650
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 650 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: March 31, 2011
SUBJECT : Blue Ribbon Task Force on Public Transportation for
the 21st Century
SUMMARY : Establishes the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Public
Transportation for the 21st Century (Task Force). Specifically,
this bill :
1)Makes various findings and declarations relative to the
benefits of public transportation.
2)Establishes the Task Force comprised of the following 12
members:
a) A business, public transit, environmental, organized
labor, public health, private transit provider, regional
transportation planning agency, and a transit advocacy
group representative (eight members).
b) An education or academic representative with experience
in public transportation.
c) A finance expert.
d) A Member of the California State Assembly.
e) A Member of the California State Senate.
1)Requires the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the
Assembly to jointly appoint the members, including a chair, by
March 31, 2012.
2)Requires the Task Force, within 45 days of the last joint
appointment, to develop a clear scope of work for
accomplishing this bill's purpose. The scope of work is
required to include a general statement of purpose, enumerate
research objectives, list specific tasks needed to accomplish
those objectives, generate a timeline for achieving those
tasks, identify the consultants needed, and develop a budget
for the funds appropriated.
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3)Delineates the operating terms, conditions, and listening
sessions, and schedules of the Task Force.
4)Requires, to the extent possible, the Task Force to
communicate with the public and stakeholders via the media,
including electronic and social media, about the public
listening sessions; and that the public listening sessions be
web cast.
5)Requires the consideration of the use of public transportation
systems and transportation systems specifically designed to
get workers to job sites such as vanpool services and
employer-supported shared transit by the Task Force in
carrying out its duties.
6)Requires the Task Force to issue a written report that
contains findings and recommendations addressing all of the
following:
a) The current state of California's transit system,
including major intermodal hubs, bus systems, bus rapid
transit, light rail and streetcar, intercity bus and rail,
jitney services, paratransit services, vanpools, variable
route or shuttle services, and connectivity between modes
in the system.
b) Best practices based on a review of transit systems
worldwide.
c) The level and types of transit needed to meet the
following goals: equity of accessibility and ease of use;
strong and sustainable local and statewide economies; and
environmental and public health, including reduced
greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions.
d) The estimated cost of creating the needed system in the
near term (within five years), midterm (within 15 years),
and long term (within 25 years).
e) Potential sources of funding to sustain the system's
needs and requirements and methods for attaining that
funding.
f) Suggested scenarios for phasing in transit development
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and recommendations for action.
1)Requires the Task Force to submit a report by March 31, 2013,
to the Governor, the Legislature, the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee, the Senate Committee on Rules, the Speaker of the
Assembly, and the transportation committees of the
Legislature.
2)Requires the Task Force, in preparing the report, to consult
with appropriate state agencies including the California
Department of Transportation (Caltrans); the California
Transportation Commission; the Department of Housing and
Community Development; the Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency; the State Air Resources Board; the State
Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission; and
the State Department of Health Care Services.
3)Requires the Task Force to contract with consultants, such as
the faculty and staff of the Institute of Transportation
Studies of the University of California (ITS) for expert
research, analysis, or advice, and to draft preliminary
written reports and the written report. Requires the Task
Force to contract with ITS for any additional purposes deemed
necessary, including, but not limited to conducting public
opinion surveys; preparing analyses of transit system
operations in California and elsewhere; conducting public
outreach; preparing Web-based, video, and print production of
Task Force findings; and drafting papers related to, among
other things, expert research and analysis.
4)Requires meetings of the Task force and its public listening
sessions to be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.
5)Appropriates $750,000 from the Public Transportation Account
to Caltrans, to accomplish this bill's purposes. Requires
Caltrans to provide all administrative staffing to the Task
Force and administer the funds.
6)Sunsets the provisions on March 31, 2017.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes Caltrans as the multimodal transportation
department within the state. Requires it to develop the
California Transportation Plan (CTP), whose requirements were
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modified last year by SB 391 (Liu, Chapter 585, Statutes of
2009) to incorporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction
strategies and to "identify the statewide integrated
multimodal transportation system needed to achieve the GHG
reductions." SB 391 also requires Caltrans to complete an
interim report by December 31, 2012, and to include an
overview of all sustainable communities strategies and assess
how implementation of the sustainable communities strategies
will influence the configuration of the statewide integrated
multimodal transportation system. That bill also requires
that CTP consider mobility and accessibility as well as
integration and connectivity, among other items, relative to
the study on the movement of people and freight. Requires CTP
first update to be completed by December 31, 2015, and
updated every five years;
2)Establishes the Strategic Growth Council (Council) and
requires it to take certain actions with regard to
coordinating specified programs of member state agencies, and
to manage and award grants and loans to support the planning
and development of sustainable communities. Provides for the
Council's staff, chair, and meetings, and allocates $500,000
of Proposition 84 (Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and
Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act
of 2006) funds for support of the Council.
3)Vests the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR)
with responsibility to serve the Governor and his or her
Cabinet as staff for long-range planning and research, and
constitute the comprehensive state planning agency for
California. Creates the Planning Advisory and Assistance
Council, within OPR, to engage in the formulation, evaluation
and updating of long-range goals and policies for land use,
population growth and distribution, urban expansion,
development, open space, resource preservation and
utilization, air and water quality, and other factors that
shape statewide development patterns and significantly
influence the quality of the state's environment.
4)Mandates, under federal law, the development of a 20-year
state and regional long-range transportation plan as a
pre-requisite for receipt of federal transportation funds.
The plan is required to be developed in cooperation with the
state's metropolitan planning organizations, local
transportation officials, Native American Tribal Governments,
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and other interested parties. It is also to be coordinated
with development of the transportation portion of the State
Implementation Plan, as required by the federal Clean Air Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill appropriates $750,000 from the Public
Transportation Account to Caltrans.
COMMENTS : According to the author, the "demand for transit
services has increased around the state, especially as fuel
prices have risen, traffic congestion has grown, and
Californians look for ways to cut commuting expenses and their
environmental impact. In recent years the situation has
worsened as sources of funding once dedicated to maintaining and
growing transit service have not been stable and reliable. Due
to this, service has been reduced, putting drivers out of work
and leaving bus and rail riders scrambling for other ways to get
to jobs and school. On average, traffic congestion around the
state has increased by 11% last year and should only get worse
as the economy improves and more people get behind the wheel to
get to work. Los Angeles is one of top three most congested
cities in the nation, each driver spending an equivalent of a
week and a half of a regular work week in traffic. A
comprehensive report produced by a task force of qualified
representatives is necessary to provide viable solutions to our
statewide public transportation problems. The task force will
draw upon expert research that lays out the current state of
mass transit in the state, what the state needs to do to ensure
the system meets demand, how much it would cost, and practical
recommendations on how to pay for that system."
Last year, SB 391 (see "Existing Law" section above) was enacted
to ensure that Caltrans include, in the development of the CTP,
GHG emission reduction strategies and to "identify the statewide
integrated multimodal transportation system needed to achieve
the GHG reductions." That bill also required Caltrans to
complete an interim report by December 31, 2012, and to include
an overview of all sustainable communities strategies and assess
how implementation of the sustainable communities strategies
will influence the configuration of the statewide integrated
multimodal transportation system.
Additionally, pursuant to SB 732 (Steinberg) Chapter 729,
Statutes of 2008, the Strategic Growth Council was established
to, among other items, "to recommend policies and investment
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strategies and priorities to the Governor, the Legislature, and
to appropriate state agencies to encourage the development of
sustainable communities, such as those communities that promote
equity, strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and
promote public health and safety."
Further, the Planning Advisory and Assistance Council, within
OPR, is established to also formulate, evaluate, and update
long-range goals and policies for land use, population growth
and other factors that influence the quality of the state's
environment.
Accordingly, it is not clear how the author intends this bill to
interrelate with the above three efforts as it relates to the
development of sustainable communities strategies, features
inherent in each of the other efforts. Additionally, it should
be noted that transit districts repeatedly decry the raids and
diversions of public transit funding for non-transit purposes
and declare that the lack of public transit funding for
operations have resulted in reduced services and increased
fares. If such claims are accurate, it would appear that the
local transit funds that will used for this bill's Task Force
purposes should instead be used to support local transit
operations.
Related bills : SB 406 (DeSaulnier) of 2009 would have updated
the duties and responsibilities of the Planning Advisory and
Assistance Council and require it to work with the Strategic
Growth Council in the state's land use planning processes, in
part by working with state agencies to facilitate coordination
between state planning and funding decisions and regional
blueprints. That bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger who
indicated that SB 406 would have authorized a local planning
entity, by resolution, to impose new fees on motor vehicles
registered in their jurisdiction and that he was opposed to such
increases unless they were subject to voter approval.
AB 945 (Carter, 2007), would have required the California
Transportation Commission to develop an assessment of
transportation funding and needs, including public
transportation needs, every five years. In his veto message,
Governor Schwarzenegger indicated that "Current law also
requires regional transportation agencies and metropolitan
planning organizations to complete a 20-year Regional
Transportation Plan and periodic regional transportation
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improvement plans. Californians do not need another report to
tell them that the state's transportation needs are great."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Lung Association in California
Breathe California
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California Transit Association
Coalition for Clean Air
Coalition on Regional Equity (CORE)
East Yard Communities
Environmental Defense Fund
Long Beach Transit
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Move LA
National Parks Conservation Association
RiderShip for the Masses
Sacramento Regional Transit District
Sierra Club California
TransForm
Ubuntu Green
United Transportation Union
VPSI
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093