BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 405
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 8, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
                               Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
                    AB 405 (Gatto) - As Amended:  April 10, 2013 
           
          SUBJECT  :  High-occupancy Vehicle Lanes:  State Routes 134 and  
          210

           SUMMARY  :  Prohibits the conversion of mixed-flow lanes to  
          high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in Los Angeles County and  
          requires the conversion of HOV lanes on State Route (SR) 134 and  
          SR 210 from full-time to part-time operation.  Specifically,  
           this bill  :  

          1)Prohibits the Department of Transportation (Caltrans),  
            notwithstanding any other provision of law, from converting an  
            existing mixed-flow lane into an HOV lane in Los Angeles  
            County, unless otherwise required by federal law.  

          2)Prohibits, notwithstanding any other provision of law (except  
            if Caltrans makes a specific determination, described below),  
            an HOV lane from being established on SR 134 between SR 170  
            and SR 5 or on SR 210 between SR 134 and SR 57 unless the HOV  
            lane is established on a part-time basis; requires any  
            existing HOV lanes on these routes also to be converted to  
            part-time operation.  

          3)Requires Caltrans to report to the Legislature by January 1,  
            2016, on the impact to traffic by converting these HOV lane  
            segments to part-time operation.  

          4)Provides that, on or after May 1, 2015, if Caltrans determines  
            that part-time operation of these lanes has resulted in an  
            adverse impact on safety, traffic conditions, or the  
            environment, it may notify the Assembly Committee on  
            Transportation and the Senate Committee on Transportation and  
            Housing of its intent to reinstate the lanes to 24-hour  
            operation; thereafter specifically authorizes Caltrans to  
            reinstate full-time operation of the HOV lanes.  

          5)Encourages Caltrans to introduce off-peak hours on other HOV  
            lanes in Los Angeles County.  

          6)Makes provisions requiring the conversion of specific routes  








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            to part-time HOV operation operative on July 1, 2014, and  
            repeals these same provisions 60 days after Caltrans notifies  
            the Legislature of its intent to reinstate the lanes to  
            24-hour operation; requires Caltrans to post the date that the  
            Legislature receives the notice on the department's web site.   


           EXISTING LAW  :
           
           1)Authorizes Caltrans and local authorities, with respect to  
            highways under their respective jurisdictions, to permit  
            preferential use of highway lanes for HOVs, under specific  
            conditions.  

          2)Requires Caltrans, or the appropriate local entity, to produce  
            engineering reports that estimate the effect of an HOV lane  
            prior to establishing the lane.  The reports must evaluate the  
            proposals for safety, congestion, and highway capacity.  

          3)Vests, under federal law, state departments of transportation  
            with responsibility for establishing occupancy requirements  
            for vehicles using HOV lanes, except that the requirement can  
            be no less than two occupants.  

          4)Does not specifically prohibit Caltrans from converting a  
            mixed-flow lane to an HOV lane.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  The primary purpose of an HOV lane is to increase the  
          total number of people moved through a congested corridor by  
          offering two kinds of incentives: a savings in travel time and a  
          reliable and predictable travel time.  Because HOV lanes carry  
          vehicles with a higher number of occupants, they may move  
          significantly more people during congested periods, even when  
          the number of vehicles that use the HOV lane is lower than on  
          the adjoining general-purpose lanes.  

          State and regional transportation agencies are required to  
          ensure that federally supported highway and transit projects do  
          not cause new air quality violations, worsen existing  
          violations, or delay timely attainment of air quality standards.  
           Consequently, when transportation agencies identify a need to  
          add highway capacity, their options are limited.  They often  
          rely on the addition of HOV lanes, which are generally  








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          considered a viable solution to adding highway capacity in  
          nonattainment areas-i.e., where air quality is worse than the  
          national ambient air quality standards.  

          In northern California, HOV lanes are only operational Monday  
          through Friday during posted peak congestion hours, for example  
          between 6 a.m. - 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.  All other vehicles  
          may use the lanes during off-peak hours. This is referred to as  
          "part-time" operation.  
          In southern California, HOV lanes are generally separated from  
          other lanes by a buffer zone.  The HOV lanes are in effect 24  
          hours a day, 7 days a week--referred to as "full-time"  
          operation.  (SR 14 is an exception.  Previous legislation (AB  
          1871, Runner, Chapter 337, Statutes of 2000) created a  
          demonstration project to evaluate part-time use of the HOV lanes  
          on Route 14).  

          The operational practices vary differently between northern  
          California versus southern California because of traffic volumes  
          and commuter patterns in the two regions.  Northern California  
          highways usually experience two weekday congestion periods  
          during peak morning and afternoon commute hours, followed by a  
          long period of non-congestion.  Using a full-time operation  
          would leave the HOV lane relatively unoccupied during off-peak  
          hours and would not constitute an efficient utilization of the  
          roadway.  Southern California normally experiences very long  
          hours of congestion, typically between six to eleven hours per  
          day, with short off-peak traffic hours.  Part-time operation  
          under these conditions is generally considered infeasible.  

          HOV lanes work best where significant roadway congestion during  
          peak periods occurs.   (Optimum HOV lane usage is generally  
          considered to be about 1650 vehicles per hour.  In contrast,  
          mixed-flow lanes are generally expected optimally to carry  
          between 1,800 and 2,000 vehicles per hour.)  Experience with HOV  
          lanes from around the country has shown a positive relationship  
          between ridership and travel time savings, suggesting that, as  
          congestion grows, the travelers' willingness to carpool or ride  
          on a bus that uses an HOV lane also grows.  

          Caltrans reports annually on the use of its HOV system.  In its  
          2011 HOV report, Caltrans reported that the peak-hour volume in  
          the SR 134 HOV lane was 860 vehicles, well below the optimum  
          volume of 1,650 vehicles per hour.  In the SR 210 HOV lane,  
          Caltrans reported the peak-hour usage at 1,511 vehicles, very  








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          near optimum capacity; data indicate, however, that the HOV lane  
          usage drops substantially after the 6:00 p.m. hour.  

          Regarding the conversion of mixed-flow lanes to HOV lanes, it is  
          Caltrans' practice to avoid such a conversion.  This practice  
          stems from a failed attempt at this type of conversion on the  
          Interstate 10 Santa Monica Freeway in 1976.  On that project, an  
          existing mixed-flow lane in each direction of the freeway was  
          converted to an HOV lane.  While the lane was successful in  
          terms of person movement, the impacts on the remaining  
          mixed-flow lanes were quite severe as the capacity of the  
          freeway was reduced.  The project was challenged in federal  
          court and, after 21 weeks of operation, a judge ordered the  
          lanes to be restored to mixed-flow operation on the basis that  
          Caltrans had not done the appropriate public outreach required  
          as part of the environmental review process.  

          Despite its general attempts to avoid these types of  
          conversions, Caltrans reports that there have, in fact, been a  
          few locations where conversion from a mixed-flow lane to an HOV  
          lane has indeed occurred--in spot locations where there was a  
          need for HOV system continuity and where the cost to add a lane  
          was prohibitive.  Such conversions would be prohibited under  
          this bill.  

          Previous legislation:  AB 2200 (Ma) of 2012, would have  
          suspended the HOV lane on eastbound Interstate 80 in the San  
          Francisco Bay Area during the morning commute.  That bill was  
          passed by the Legislature but ultimately vetoed by Governor  
          Brown.  In his veto message, the Governor stated, "Encouraging  
          carpooling is important to reduce pollution and make more  
          efficient use of our highways.  This bill goes in a wrong  
          direction."  

          AB 1871 (Runner) Chapter 337, Statutes of 2000, prohibited,  
          until June 1, 2002, HOV lanes from being constructed on SR 14  
          between the City of Santa Clarita and the City of Palmdale  
          unless the lane was established as an HOV lane only during the  
          hours of heavy commuter traffic.  That bill also required the  
          Legislative Analyst Office to report on the traffic impact of  
          the part-time HOV lanes.  That report found that limiting the  
          HOV lane to part-time operation had "essentially no effect on  
          traffic congestion, either positive or negative."  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   








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           Support 
           
          California Trucking Association 
          Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority

           Opposition 
           
          Sierra Club California
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :   Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093