BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1706
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1706 (Eng)
As Amended May 25, 2012
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 12-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Jeffries, Achadjian, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Blumenfield, Bonilla, | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| |Buchanan, Eng, Carter, | |Gatto, Ammiano, Hill, |
| |Galgiani, Miller, | |Lara, Mitchell, Solorio |
| |Portantino, Solorio | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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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)Repeals, until December 31, 2015, the existing transit bus
gross axle weight limit of 20,500 pounds.
3)Establishes, until December 31, 2015, that transit buses are
not subject to weight and tire load limits as specified.
4)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.
5)Allows, until December 31, 2015, a public agency to
incorporate a new fleet class into its inventory under
specified conditions.
6)Reestablishes, on January 1, 2016, the transit bus gross axle
weight limit of 20,500 pounds.
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7)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 axle 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.
8)Establishes the membership of the task force.
9)Establishes parameters of the report as specified.
10)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.
11)Appropriates $500,000 from the Public Transportation Account
for the development of the report.
12)Repeals the report provisions on January 1, 2019.
EXISTING LAW :
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)Suspends temporarily, under federal law, 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 Highway System.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time appropriation of $500,000 from the Public
Transportation Account to fund the report.
AB 1706
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2)Potential cost pressure of an unknown amount, potentially in
the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the extent the
$500,000 appropriation is insufficient to fund the work of the
task force.
3)Potential increase in state and local costs of an unknown, but
presumably significant amount, as heavier transit vehicles
operate on, and create a relatively greater amount of damage
to, state highways and local roadways.
COMMENTS : A December 2003 federal Department of
Transportation/Federal Transit Administration study on bus axle
weight limitations 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.
This 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
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rules as promulgated by the California Air Resources Board as
contributing weight factors especially as compressed natural gas
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, as average passenger weights in the United
States are also increasing, this is a contributing factor that
needs to be considered by the task force as proposed by this
bill for establishing new public transit bus weight limits.
Responding to the need to increase the federal and state public
transit bus axle weight limits, local road and state highway
maintenance 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0003872