BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1706 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 23, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair AB 1706 (Eng) - As Amended: April 30, 2012 SUBJECT : Transit bus axle weight increase SUMMARY : Suspends axle weight limits of public transit buses until January 1, 2016. Specifically, this bill : 1)Makes findings and declarations related to public transit systems' benefits, sustainability issues of the transportation system's pavement, and federal study requirements. 2)Declares that the state act immediately to clarify that the public transit vehicles currently operating in California are permitted to continue in transit service without disruption due to the state's outdated transit bus weight limitation, while a study is prepared analyzing the following: a) The appropriate transit bus axle weight limitations to reflect current federal and state laws affecting vehicle manufacture. b) The availability of, and the ability of manufacturers to utilize, lighter-weight materials in the manufacture and integration of transit buses. c) Other alternative strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of the transportation network, including the Interstate System, state highways, local streets and roads, and public transit systems. d) A comparison of the costs of maintaining the status quo versus the potential cost to state and local governments of adopting new vehicle axle weight standards for transit buses. e) The requirement for the use of lighter-weight materials in the manufacture and integration of buses. f) Alternative strategies for ensuring the sustainability of the transportation network. AB 1706 Page 2 1)Repeals, until December 31, 2015, the existing transit bus gross axle weight limit of 20,500 pounds. 2)Establishes, until December 31, 2015, that transit buses are not subject to weight and tire load limits as specified. 3)Allows, until December 31, 2015, public transit agency contracts for the procurement of public transit buses issued after January 1, 2013, to purchase buses that do not exceed 22,400 pounds. 4)Allows, until December 31, 2015, a public agency to incorporate a new fleet class into its inventory under specified conditions. 5)Reestablishes, on January 1, 2016, the transit bus gross axle weight limit of 20,500 pounds. 6)Requires the Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (Secretary) to convene a task force to oversee the preparation of a report concerning the maximum axel weight limitations in federal and state statutes and to recommend strategies relative to measuring and enforcing transit vehicle weight limits, designing and manufacturing transit vehicles, and updating and utilizing the most effective and efficient pavement design standards when designing and constructing highways and streets and roads, to ensure the sustainability of California's transportation network of highways, streets, roads and public transit systems. 7)Establishes the membership of the task force. 8)Establishes parameters of the report as specified. 9)Requires the Secretary to submit the report to the appropriate Senate and Assembly Committees of the Legislature that oversee transportation issues by January 1, 2015. 10)Appropriates unspecified funds from the Public Transportation Account and the State Highway Account for the development of the report. 11)Repeals the report provisions on January 1, 2019. EXISTING LAW : AB 1706 Page 3 1)Establishes the size and weight limits for vehicles operating on the state's highways. For buses, sets the gross weight on any one axle to not exceed 20,500 pounds. 2)Under federal law, temporarily suspends the axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds for buses operating over the federal Interstate Highway System. Prohibits specified states, including California, or any political subdivision of such states, from enforcing a transit vehicle weight limit of less than 24,000 pounds on the Interstate System. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown costs to the Public Transportation Account and the State Highway Account for purposes of the task force study. COMMENTS : According to a December 2003 federal Department of Transportation/Federal Transit Administration study on bus axle weight limitations, the report indicated that the buses have been operating in excess of the 20,000 pound federal axle weight limits on the Interstate Highway System for over 20 years. The report also indicated that "Since 1992, there has been a permissive arrangement whereby states are not required to enforce axle weight limits for intrastate transit buses." The report further recommended the following approaches used for dealing with overweight transit buses: 1)Some states, particularly in the northeast, have higher axle-weight limits that preempt the federal limits due to grandfather rights. In these states, transit buses with a seated load often remain legal. 2)A number of years ago, bus operators for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) received traffic citations for driving overweight transit buses on Interstate highways. As a result, MTA bought over 90 tandem-axle Neoplan transit buses for freeway operation. 3)Federal law currently allows states to exempt intrastate transit buses from the weight limit. The federal study also recognized that other areas currently have higher axle weight limits than California. The State of Pennsylvania and others have a 22,400 pound axle weight limit. AB 1706 Page 4 The bill's sponsor, the California Transit Association (CTA), contends that vehicles have increased in weight due to state and federal mandates, as well as to accommodate for higher passenger loads and passenger amenities. They cite clean vehicle fleet rules as promulgated by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) as contributing weight factors especially as compressed natural gas (CNG) equipment can add around 4,000 pounds to the weight of a bus. Further, they cite additional requirements, such as the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), that requires public transit buses to be equipped with ADA-compliant tools, such as wheelchair lifts, ramps, kneelers, tie-downs, and other equipment. Their contention is that this gear also adds hundreds of pounds of weight to buses, in addition to passengers with wheelchairs, which can add 1,000 pounds of weight for only two passengers in wheelchairs. They claim that these requirements have caused "transit systems to seek compliance with one law while breaking another as a result." Additionally, CTA indicates that buses today carry more passengers than they did in years past. Buses are designed to accommodate more standing passengers, and thus more passengers overall. Also, average passenger weights in the United States are also increasing. Responding to the need to increase the federal and state public transit bus axle weight limits, local road and state highway officials indicate that an increase in the axle weight allowances of the buses will result in pavement stress, resulting in higher reconstruction costs for local arterials than state highways. Although they are sensitive to the needs and dilemma of the public transit agencies in deploying vehicles that are not within current axle weight limitations, they are not responsive to the suggestion by the CTA to allow transit agencies to continue purchases at the weight limit of the heaviest bus in an agency's fleet. After several meetings, even as affected entities were unable to reach consensus, the author and sponsor have fashioned this bill that seeks to provide an interim solution and also furthers the discussions that: 1)Suspends the current state weight limits on existing on-road buses. 2)Convenes a task force to study the overweight bus issue and AB 1706 Page 5 make recommendations on measuring and enforcing transit vehicle weight limits; designing and manufacturing lighter weight transit vehicles; and updating pavement design standards for streets, roads, and highways. 3)Authorizes public transit agencies to purchase vehicles limited by the heaviest vehicle within their current fleet as of December 31, 2012. 4)Restores the gross axle weight limit back to 20,000 pounds on January 1, 2016. A critical look at the task force study and its funding sources : A key component of this bill is the formation of a task force to develop a report on the recommended maximum bus axle weight and other compliance and enforcement strategies as specified. This task force report could build upon the federal Department of Transportation study developed in December 2003. That study examined issues relevant to overweight buses at that time and those same issues are still relevant today. Accordingly, although this bill allows the task force two years for report development, it is questionable if that extended length of time is necessary. Further, the bill provides an unspecified amount of funding from the Public Transportation Account to partially fund the task force report. The allocation of funds would appear to divert necessary operating funds for local and regional public transit systems. Lastly, the bill would provide an unspecified amount of State Highway Account funds from truck weight fee revenues. Currently, those funds are transferred to the State's General Fund for purposes of transportation debt bond service. Notice of concerns : Writing to express concerns with this bill, the League of California Cities (League) and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) indicate that the new interim weight standards to the heaviest bus in the transit agency fleet is problematic making enforcement nearly impossible and "In some ways, this would reward those transit agencies that have disregarded current law the most by allowing them to continue to purchase buses that far exceed the legal weight." The two groups also suggest amendments to require all state rulemaking bodies to consider the following factors for any proposed rule: AB 1706 Page 6 1) The weight added to a vehicle; 2) The effect any added vehicle weight would have on pavement wear; and, 3) The resulting costs to state and local governments. The author's office is willing to discuss further these suggestions but defers a commitment to accept them at this time. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California Transit Association (sponsor) Antelope Valley Transit Authority City of Culver City City of Torrance El Dorado National - California Long Beach Transit Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (support work with author) Monterey-Salinas Transit Paratransit, Inc. Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District Opposition City of Lakewood Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093