Amended in Assembly April 18, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 10, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 1, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 14, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 405

Introduced by Assembly Member Gatto

February 15, 2013

An act to begin delete amend Section 149 of, and to end delete add and repeal Section 149.2 of begin delete , end delete the Streets and Highways Code, relating to highways.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

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.

begin delete

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.

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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:

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 149 of the Streets and Highways Code
is amended to read:

149.  

(a) The department may construct exclusive or preferential
lanes for buses only or for buses and other high-occupancy
vehicles, and may authorize or permit exclusive or preferential use
of designated lanes on existing highways that are part of the State
Highway System. Prior to constructing those lanes, the department
shall conduct competent engineering estimates of the effect of the
lanes on safety, congestion, and highway capacity.

(b) To the extent they are available, the department may apply
for and use federal funds appropriated for the design, construction,
and use of those exclusive or preferential lanes, but may also use
other State Highway Account funds, including other federal funds,
for those purposes where proper and desirable.

(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall not
convert an existing mixed-flow lane in the County of Los Angeles
into a high-occupancy vehicle lane, unless required by federal law.

(d) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Carrell
Act.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

Section 149.2 is added to the Streets and
Highways Code, to read:

149.2.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, except as otherwise
provided in subdivision (d), a high-occupancy vehicle lane shall
not be established on State Highway Route 134 between State
Highway Route 170 and State Highway Route 5, or on State
Highway Route 210 between State Highway Route 134 and State
Highway Route 57, unless the lane is established as a
high-occupancy vehicle lane only during the hours of heavy
commuter traffic, as determined by the department.

(b) Any existing high-occupancy vehicle lane located as
described in subdivision (a) shall be modified as necessary to
conform with subdivision (a).

(c) (1) The department shall report to the Legislature on or
before January 1, 2016, on the impact on traffic of limiting the use
of high-occupancy vehicle lanes only during the hours of heavy
commuter traffic as provided in subdivision (a).

(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2020, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.

(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(d) On or after May 1, 2015, if the department determines that
there is an adverse impact on safety, traffic conditions, or the
environment by limiting the use of high-occupancy vehicle lanes
only during the hours of heavy commuter traffic as provided in
subdivision (a), the department may submit to the Assembly
Committee on Transportation and the Senate Committee on
Transportation and Housing a notice of that determination and
intent to reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes. The
department thereafter may reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy
vehicle lanes.

(e) In addition to the routes identified in subdivision (a), the
department is encouraged to introduce offpeak hours on other
high-occupancy vehicle lanes in the County of Los Angeles in
order to provide greater mobility benefits to the community.

(f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.

(g) This section shall remain in effect until 60 days after the
date the Legislature receives the notice described in subdivision
(d) and is repealed thereafter. The department shall post the date
that the Legislature receives this notice on the department’s Internet
Web site.