BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 493
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 493 (Daly) - As Introduced: February 20, 2013
SUBJECT : Toll facilities: interoperability
SUMMARY : Makes legislative findings regarding interoperability
requirements of the recently enacted federal Moving Ahead for
Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21); authorizes toll
facility operators on federal-aid highways, as of July 6, 2016,
to fully implement technologies or business practices that
provide for interoperability of electronic toll collection
programs, consistent with federal law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires, under federal MAP-21, that all federal-aid highway
toll facilities implement technologies or business practices
that provide for the interoperability of electronic toll
collection by October 1, 2016.
2)Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), in cooperation with others, to develop and adopt
functional specifications and standards for an automatic
vehicle identification system to facilitate toll collections;
requires any automatic vehicle identification system purchased
or installed after January 1, 1991, to comply with these
specifications.
4)Prohibits transportation agencies from selling or
disseminating personal information about persons who subscribe
to electronic toll collection systems but allows the sharing
of data among transportation agencies, as defined, in order to
comply with intrastate interoperability requirements.
5)For purposes of these provisions, defines "transportation
agency" as Caltrans, the Bay Area Toll Authority, any entity
operating a toll bridge, toll lane, or toll highway within
California, or any entity operating under contract with such
an agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 493
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COMMENTS: California originally sought interoperability amongst
toll operators throughout the state when, in the early 1990's,
the Legislature directed Caltrans to develop technical
specifications for electronic toll collection systems. The
statewide specifications (subsequently developed as "FasTrak")
were promulgated in regulations in July 1992 and resulted in
mandatory interoperability between toll operators within the
state.
Throughout the nation, there are about 10 different toll
collection system standards in use with varying degrees of
interoperability between states. Last summer, Congress passed
and the President signed MAP-21. Among MAP-21's many provisions
is the requirement that all federal-aid highway toll facilities
implement technologies or business practices that provide for
the interoperability of electronic toll collection by October 1,
2016.
The author has introduced AB 493 to ensure that California
transportation agencies have the authority to fully implement
technologies or business practices that will allow them to
successfully conform to MAP-21's interoperability requirements.
With regard to technological hurdles to interoperability,
California will most likely address these by updating its
regulations that prescribe the technical specifications to which
toll collection systems must adhere. These updated regulations
might, for example, reflect a single, nationally adopted
technical standard or, more likely, provide for two or more
standards in a single device that together work to bridge
multiple protocols, thereby providing the required
interoperability. Either way, it is not clear that a statutory
remedy is necessary to clear technological hurdles to
interoperability.
Developing business practices that allow for interoperability,
however, is a different matter. Transportation agencies'
efforts in this regard will be thwarted by legislation enacted
in 2010, SB 1268 (Simitian), Chapter 489. SB 1268 imposes
privacy standards on transportation agencies that allow them to
share information only with other intrastate transportation
agencies (with limited exceptions for example, for law
enforcement). SB 1268 also included a number of other
provisions aimed at ensuring that subscribers' privacy was
protected, including strict data retention limits, restricted
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use of traveler information data, and notification requirements
in the event law enforcement is given access to subscriber
information. Without the ability to share information with
out-of-state transportation agencies, however, California toll
operators cannot comply with national interoperability
requirements.
Suggested amendments : This bill seeks to provide the
opportunity for national interoperability but it could have the
inadvertent effect of rendering SB 1268's privacy standards
effectively moot. The committee suggests that this be avoided
by amendments to the bill that would provide only minimal
exceptions to SB 1268's privacy standards so that national
interoperability requirements can be met. The author intends to
take amendments in committee to address this concern.
Related legislation : AB 179 (Bocanegra) shortens the length of
time that transportation agencies can store personally
identifiable information. AB 179 is scheduled to be heard in
this committee on April 22, 2013.
SB 242 (Wyland) authorizes a market test of automated toll
collection technologies, which may or may not meet
interoperability requirements. That bill is scheduled to be
heard in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on
April 16, 2013.
Previous legislation: AB 539 (Williams) would have permitted a
transportation agency to share specified information with
transportation agencies in other states as part of a nationwide
interoperability toll collection program. That bill was amended
with these provisions late in the year but was never heard in a
policy committee.
SB 1268 (Simitian), Chapter 489, Statutes of 2010, prohibits
transportation agencies from selling or disseminating personal
information of their subscribers, with exceptions, and imposes
penalties for breaching this restriction.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Transportation Corridor Agencies of Orange County
AB 493
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093