BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 2488
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: williams
VERSION:
4/12/2012
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: No
Hearing date: June 12, 2012
SUBJECT:
Bus length
DESCRIPTION:
This bill authorizes Gold Coast Transit (GCT) in Ventura County
to extend the length of its buses by four inches for a bike rack
mounted on the front of its buses.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law imposes a 40-foot limitation on the length of
vehicles that may be operated on highways, including local
streets, with specified exemptions, including any transit bus
equipped with a folding bicycle rack attached to its front. A
bicycle rack of this type cannot extend more than 36 inches from
the front of the body of the bus and the bicycle handlebars
extend no more than an additional 6 inches. A bicycle rack of
this type carries only two bicycles.
This bill :
1.Authorizes GCT to operate buses on highways and local streets
with a folding device attached to the front of the vehicle
that is designed and used exclusively for transporting
bicycles, provided it does not extend more than 40 inches in
front of the body of the bus and the bicycle handlebars extend
no more than an additional 6 inches.
2.Establishes a three-member route review committee to review
the routes on which buses equipped with the bicycle racks will
operate to ensure that the buses can be safely operated on the
proposed routes. The review committee will have the following
voting members:
a. A member representing GCT appointed by the agency's
AB 2488 (WILLIAMS) Page 2
general manager.
b. A traffic engineer appointed by GCT's governing board.
c. A member appointed by a labor organization that is the
exclusive representative of the bus drivers. If there is
not such an exclusive representative, GCT's bus drivers
shall elect a representative to participate on the
committee.
3.Requires the GCT board to appoint to the review committee a
member from the bicycling community that is a resident of the
district. That person shall be a non-voting member.
4.Requires unanimous approval of the route review committee
before with longer bike racks buses can be operated on a
route.
5.Requires GCT to submit a report to the Senate Transportation
and Housing Committee and the Assembly Transportation
Committee regarding safety issues and mobility improvements
resulting from the bicycle racks allowed under this bill by
December 31, 2017.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The purpose of this bill is to increase the number
of bicyclists using public transit in Ventura County. The
author argues that many bus riders "mode share;" that is, they
drive automobiles to a park and ride lot or walk to a bus
stop. This bill, by increasing the number of bicycles on a
rack from two to three, offers an opportunity for more
bicyclists to take advantage of combing a bicycle trip with a
bus trip. Because of the increasing demand in GCT's service
area from bicyclists who want to use buses for part of their
trip, GCT needs the authority to attach bicycle racks that can
carry three bicycles instead of two.
2.Need for route review committee . The purpose of the route
review committee is to ensure that there is agreement between
management and the bus drivers that turning radiuses on the
routes proposed for buses with bike racks attached can be
safely negotiated by buses.
3.Previous legislation . AB 652 (Skinner),(Chapter 369),
Statutes of 2009, served as a model for this bill. AB 652
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authorized AC Transit, a transit operator in Alameda and
Contra Costa Counties, to attach to its buses bike racks that
hold three bicycles.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 73-0
Trans: 13-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 6, 2012)
SUPPORT: Board of Supervisors, County of Ventura
Channel Islands Bicycle Club
Gold Coast Transit
SEIU California
Ventura Bicycle Union
Ventura Climate Care Options Organized Locally
Ventura County Transportation Commission
OPPOSED: None received.