AB 405, as amended, Gatto. Highways: high-occupancy vehicle lanes: County of Los Angeles.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to designate certain lanes for the exclusive or preferential use of high-occupancy vehicles. When those exclusive or preferential use lanes are established and double parallel solid lines are in place to the right thereof, existing law prohibits any person driving a vehicle from crossing over those double lines to enter into or exit from the lanes, and entrance or exit from those lanes is authorized only in areas designated for these purposes or where a single broken line is in place to the right of the lanes, except as specified.
This bill would prohibit the department from converting an existing mixed-flow lane in the County of Los Angeles into a high-occupancy vehicle lane.
This bill would prohibit, commencing July 1, 2014, any high-occupancy vehicle lane from being established on specified portions of state highway routes in the County of Los Angeles, unless that lane is established as a high-occupancy vehicle lane only during the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as determined by the department. This bill would require any existing high-occupancy vehicle lane established on the specified portions of these routes to be modified to conform with those requirements. This bill would authorize the department, on or after May 1, 2015, to reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes on the specified portions of these routes if the department makes a specified determination. This bill would require the department to report to the Legislature on the impact on traffic by limiting the use of high-occupancy lanes as provided in the bill.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 149 of the Streets and Highways Code
2 is amended to read:
(a) The department may construct exclusive or preferential
4lanes for buses only or for buses and other high-occupancy
5vehicles, and may authorize or permit exclusive or preferential use
6of designated lanes on existing highways that are part of the State
7Highway System. Prior to constructing those lanes, the department
8shall conduct competent engineering estimates of the effect of the
9lanes on safety, congestion, and highway capacity.
10(b) To the extent they are available, the department may apply
11for and use federal funds appropriated for the design, construction,
12and use of those exclusive or preferential lanes, but may also use
13other State Highway Account
funds, including other federal funds,
14for those purposes where proper and desirable.
15(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall not
16convert an existing mixed-flow lane in the County of Los Angeles
17into a high-occupancy vehicle lane, unless required by federal law.
18(d) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Carrell
19Act.
Section 149.2 is added to the Streets and Highways
21Code, to read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law,begin insert except as otherwise
23provided in subdivision (d),end insert a high-occupancy vehicle lane shall
24not be established on State Highway Route 134 between State
P3 1Highway Route 170 and State Highway Route 5, or on State
2Highway Route 210 between State Highway Route 134 and State
3Highway Route 57, unless the lane is established as a
4high-occupancy vehicle lane only during the hours of heavy
5commuter traffic, as determined by the department.
6(b) Any existing high-occupancy vehicle lane located as
7described in subdivision (a) shall be modified as necessary to
8
conform with subdivision (a).
9(c) (1) The department shall report to the Legislature on or
10before January 1, 2016, on the impact on trafficbegin delete byend deletebegin insert of end insert limiting the
11use of high-occupancy vehicle lanesbegin insert onlyend insert during the hours of heavy
12commuter traffic as provided in subdivision (a).
13(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
14paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2020, pursuant to Section
1510231.5 of the Government Code.
16(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
17submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
18Code.
19(d) On or after May 1, 2015, if the department determines that
20there is an adverse impact on safety, traffic conditions, or the
21environment by limiting the use of high-occupancy vehicle lanes
22begin insert onlyend insert during the hours of heavy commuter traffic as provided in
23subdivision (a), the department may submit to thebegin delete Legislatureend delete
24begin insert Assembly Committee on Transportation and the Senate Committee
25on Transportation and Housingend insert a notice of that determination and
26intent
to reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes.begin insert The
27department thereafter may reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy
28vehicle lanes.end insert
29(e) In addition to the routes identified in subdivision (a), the
30department is encouraged to introduce offpeak hours on other
31high-occupancy vehicle lanes in the County of Los Angeles in
32order to provide greater mobility benefits to the community.
33(f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.
34(g) This section shall remain in effect until 60 days after the
35date the Legislature receives the notice described in subdivision
36(d) and is repealed thereafter.begin insert
The department shall post the date
37that the Legislature receives this notice on the department’s
38Internet Web site.end insert
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