BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 405
Author: Gatto (D)
Amended: 6/27/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/25/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Roth, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/30/13
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : High-occupancy vehicle lanes in Los Angeles County
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill restricts the hours of operation of
high-occupancy vehicle lanes on State Highway Route (SR) 134 and
SR 210 in Los Angeles County.
ANALYSIS : Existing law permits the 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
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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 SR 134 between SR 170 and SR 210 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 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.
Background
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.
Previous Legislation
AB 2200 (Ma, 2012) suspended the HOV lane on eastbound
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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."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time Caltrans costs of $482,000 in 2013-14 to replace HOV
lane signage to indicate limited hours of operation (State
Highway Account). These costs reflect replacement of 35
overhead signs, at a cost of $10,000 each, and 132 ground- or
barrier-mounted signs, at a cost of $1,000 each.
Potential future one-time costs of $482,000 for signage
replacement to the extent that the lanes are converted back to
full-time operation following a Caltrans determination that
part-time operation had specified adverse impacts (State
Highway Account).
Minor and absorbable one-time costs in 2015-16 for Caltrans to
report on the impact of limiting HOV lane use to periods of
heavy commuter traffic (State Highway Fund).
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/13)
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Trucking Association
City of Azusa
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
San Fernando Valley & Region United Chambers of Commerce
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/30/13)
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, the 24-hour
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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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 5/30/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gorell, Gray, Grove,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Chesbro, Dickinson, Gordon, Holden,
Nazarian, Ting, Vacancy
JA:ej 8/31/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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