BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 819 Page 1 Date of Hearing: January 19, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 819 (Wieckowski) - As Amended: January 11, 2012 Policy Committee: TransportationVote:10-3 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill requires Caltrans to establish procedures for local agencies to request approval to use non-standard designs, signage, and traffic control devices on bikeways and roadways where bicycle travel is permitted, for purposes of research, experimentation, and verification. FISCAL EFFECT Depending on the amount of requests received to use non-standard designs, Caltrans could require up to two positions, at an annual special fund cost of around $240,000, to first develop and then implement the procedures, including reviewing and accepting, rejecting, or revising requests for non-standard applications, and then evaluating the efficacy of these non-standard features for statewide application. ÝState Highway Account] COMMENTS Purpose . The author is seeking "to expedite the development of bikeways that have proved to safely accommodate and attract many more people to bicycling for transportation?More bicycling is a very effective way to achieve many of our state's goals: healthier people, fewer traffic injuries, stronger economy, and reduced greenhouse gases." The prior version of this bill would have allowed local agencies, in addition to using design criteria, signage, and traffic control devices specified by Caltrans, to also use bicycle safety guidelines develop by specified national AB 819 Page 2 transportation associations. Due in part to concerns that some of these guidelines were developed without adequate peer review, the bill was amended, as described above, in the Assembly Transportation Committee with agreement from the author and sponsor (California Bicycle Coalition). Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081