BILL NUMBER: AB 2488 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add Section 35400.9 to the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2488, as amended, Williams. Vehicle length limitation.
Vehicles: buses: length limitations.
Existing law imposes a 40-foot limitation on the length of
vehicles that may be operated on the highways, with specified
exemptions. Existing law exempts from this limitation an articulated
bus or trolley and a bus, except a schoolbus, that is operated by a
public agency or passenger stage corporation that is used in a
transit system if it is equipped with a folding device attached to
the front of the vehicle that is designed and used exclusively for
transporting bicycles, does not materially affect efficiency or
visibility of vehicle safety equipment, and does not extend more than
36 inches from the front of the body of the bus or trolley when
fully deployed. In addition, existing law prohibits a bicycle that is
transported on the above-described device from having the bicycle
handlebars extend more than 42 inches from the front of the vehicle.
This bill would authorize the Gold Coast
Transit District (GCT) to install
folding devices attached to the front of its buses that are designed
and used exclusively for transporting bicycles if the use of the
device meets certain requirements, including, but not limited to,
that the device does not extend more than 40 inches from the front of
the bus when fully deployed, and that the handlebars of the bicycles
being transported do not extend more than 46 inches from the front
of the bus. If the Gold Coast Transit District
The bill would require GCT, if it installs the bicycle racks,
the bill would require the district to report to
the Assembly Committee on Transportation and the Senate Committee on
Transportation and Housing on or before December 31, 2017, regarding
safety issues and mobility improvements.
This
The bill would also require the district
GCT , prior to installing a folding device on a
bus that is 45 feet in length, to establish a route review committee,
as specified, in order to determine, by unanimous vote of the voting
members of the committee, which routes proposed by the
district GCT are suitable for the safe operation
of a 45-foot bus that is equipped with a front-mounted bicycle rack.
The bill would require the committee's initial review to include a
field review of the proposed routes.
The bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 35400.9 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
35400.9. (a) Notwithstanding Section 35400, the
Gold Coast Transit District (GCT),
created pursuant to Part 15 (commencing with Section
103000) of Division 10 of the Public Utilities Code
Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7
of Title 1 of the Government Code as a joint powers agency, may
install a folding device attached to the front of a bus that is
designed and used exclusively for transporting bicycles if all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The device does not extend more than 40 inches from the front
body of the bus when fully deployed.
(2) The device, including all bicycles transported on the device,
is mounted in a manner that does not materially affect efficiency or
visibility of vehicle safety equipment.
(3) The handlebars of a bicycle that is transported on a device
described in this subdivision do not extend more than 46 inches from
the front of the bus.
(b) (1) The Gold Coast Transit District
GCT shall establish a route review committee prior to the
installation of the initial folding device, pursuant to subdivision
(a), on a bus that is 45 feet in length. The purpose of the committee
is to ensure the safe operation of a 45-foot bus that is equipped
with a front-mounted bicycle rack.
(2) The committee established pursuant to this subdivision shall
perform an initial review of the routes on which the
district GCT proposes to operate a 45-foot bus
equipped with a front-mounted bicycle rack. The review shall include
a field review of the proposed routes. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the field review required under this paragraph
include consultation with traffic engineers from affected public
agencies that have jurisdiction over segments of the route or routes
under review, to ensure coordination with all affected state and
local public road agencies that may potentially be impacted due to
the operation of a 45-foot bus with a front-mounted bicycle rack.
(3) By unanimous vote of all voting members, the committee shall
make a determination of the routes that are suitable for the safe
operation of a 45-foot bus that is equipped with a front-mounted
bicycle rack.
(4) Upon any proposal to make substantive changes or additions to
approved routes, those changes shall be subject to review and
certification pursuant to paragraph (2) prior to being approved by
the committee.
(5) The members of the committee shall be selected not more than
30 days after receipt of the district GCT
proposal to equip a 45-foot bus with a front-mounted bicycle
rack and shall be comprised of the following members:
(A) One member from the district GCT
who shall be appointed by the district's GCT'
s general manager and who shall be a voting member of the
committee.
(B) One member who is a traffic engineer selected by the governing
board of the district GCT and who
shall be a voting member of the committee.
(C) One member appointed by the labor organization that is the
exclusive representative of the busdrivers of the district
GCT . If there is no exclusive representative of
the busdrivers, a busdriver member shall be chosen by a majority
vote of the busdrivers employed by the district
GCT . This member shall be a voting member of the
committee.
(D) One member appointed by the governing board of the
district GCT who shall be a
representative of the bicycling community and who shall reside
in the district within the area of GCT's
jurisdiction . This member shall be a nonvoting member of the
committee.
(c) If a folding device is installed pursuant to subdivision (a),
the Gold Coast Transit District GCT
shall submit a report in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code to the Assembly Committee on Transportation and the
Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing on or before December
31, 2017. The report shall include a summary of any vehicular or
traffic incidents where the size of the folding devices was a
factor, and a summary of the mobility improvements that
these folding devices provide.
SEC. 2. Due to the unique circumstances of a large number of
bicycle riders using buses operated by the Gold
Coast Transit District , and the need to determine
whether there are safety considerations in having 40-inch bicycle
racks on the front of its buses, it is necessary that, and the
Legislature finds and declares that, a general statute cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution.