BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 405
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: gatto
VERSION: 4/18/13
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 25, 2013
SUBJECT:
High-occupancy vehicle lanes in Los Angeles County
DESCRIPTION:
This bill restricts the hours of operation of high-occupancy
vehicle lanes on State Route 134 and State Route 210 in Los
Angeles County.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law permits the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) or local transportation agencies to designate
particular segments of highway lanes as exclusive or
preferential lanes for high-occupancy vehicles (HOV lanes),
granting access only to vehicles with more than one occupant.
Prior to establishing an HOV lane, existing law requires
Caltrans or the local transportation agency to complete a
traffic engineering assessment of the proposed HOV lane on
safety, congestion, and highway capacity.
In some instances HOV lanes are only restricted to
high-occupancy vehicles at certain specified times of day when
congestion is generally heaviest, and available to any vehicle
during less-congested times. In other instances, HOV lanes are
restricted to high-occupancy vehicles all hours of the day
regardless of congestion levels.
This bill , as of July 1, 2014, restricts the hours of operation
of any HOV lanes on State Route (SR) 134 between SR 170 and SR 5
and HOV lanes on SR 210 between SR 134 and SR 57 in Los Angeles
County to the times of day with heavy commuter traffic, as
determined by Caltrans. In addition, this bill requires
Caltrans to report to the Legislature on the traffic impact of
limiting operations of these HOV lanes by January 1, 2016.
Finally, this bill allows Caltrans to reinstate 24-hour HOV
lanes on or after May 1, 2015, if Caltrans determines that
AB 405 (GATTO) Page 2
restricting the hours of operation has created an adverse impact
on safety, congestion, or the environment, and submits a notice
of such determination to the Legislature.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, the 24-hour HOV lane
restrictions in Southern California lead to motorists
frequently being caught in bumper-to-bumper congestion at odd
hours of the night while the HOV lane remains empty. The
author contends that this bill resolves this issue on SR 134
and SR 210 by mandating that Caltrans only restrict access to
the HOV lanes on these highways during the most congested
times of day, as determined by Caltrans.
2.Potentially-concerning precedent . Environmental advocates
claim that HOV lanes are a proven way to encourage carpooling,
reduce congestion, and manage traffic without adding new
general-purpose lanes. HOV lanes can be challenging to
implement, however, due to general assumptions made by the
affected public that they provide little benefit to average
drivers and do not relieve congestion. Advocates for HOV
lanes suggest that, due to their complicated and controversial
nature, changes to HOV lane restrictions such as operational
periods and occupancy requirements should be based upon
detailed technical analyses conducted by traffic operations
experts and not driven by general assumptions or anecdotal
experience. Some are concerned about the precedent this bill
would set for the Legislature to make decisions involving HOV
lanes without basing those decisions on sound traffic
engineering studies.
3.Previous legislation . AB 2200 (Ma) of 2012, suspended the HOV
lane on eastbound Interstate 80 in the San Francisco Bay Area
during the morning commute. That bill passed the Legislature
but ultimately was 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."
4.Clarifying amendment . This bill currently applies to SR 134
west of SR 5 and SR 210 east of Pasadena, creating a gap
between SR 5 and Pasadena in which the bill does not apply.
The author intended for this bill to apply contiguously from
SR 170 all the way to SR 57 at the Los Angeles County line,
and therefore requested a clarifying amendment to close the
AB 405 (GATTO) Page 3
gap.
On page 3, line 7, strike out "5" and insert "210"
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 72-0
Appr: 16-0
Trans: 15-1
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 19,
2013.)
SUPPORT: Automobile Club of Southern California
California Trucking Association
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority
United Chambers of Commerce of San Fernando
Valley & Region
OPPOSED: Sierra Club California