BILL NUMBER: AB 405	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 18, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 10, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 1, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 14, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2013

   An act to  amend Section 149 of, and to  add and
repeal Section 149.2 of  ,  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.

   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 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. 
   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.   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.