BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 541|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 541
Author: Daly (D), et al.
Amended: 6/18/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-1, 6/11/13
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Roth, Wyland
NOES: Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 4/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Illuminated signs on public transit buses
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes, if certain conditions are met,
the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine) to equip the
sides of its buses with illuminated signs to display advertising
until January 1, 2019.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes a publicly-owned transit
system to equip buses with illuminated signs informing the
public of the buses' operations, consistent with the following
conditions:
1.Signs must emit diffused non-glaring light.
2.Signs may emit any light color, except forward-facing signs
cannot emit the color red.
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3.The area of the signs may be no greater than 720 square
inches, for example one foot high and five feet long.
4.Signs must be installed in a position that does not interfere
with the visibility or effectiveness of a required lamp,
reflector, or other device on the bus.
5.Signs must display information directly related to public
transit service, such as route number, destination
description, and run number.
Further, existing law authorizes dynamic messaging on
illuminated signs equipped to public transit buses if the
practice adheres to the following requirements:
1."Paging," meaning information presented for a period of time
and then disappearing all at once before new information is
presented, is permitted if the display time of each message is
between 2.7 and 10 seconds. Blanking time between each
message must be between 0.5 and 25 seconds.
2."Streaming," meaning information moving continuously and
smoothly across the display, is permitted if the character
movement time, from one end of the display to the other, is at
least 2.7 seconds, and the movement time of the entire message
is not more than 10 seconds.
The Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law AB 607
(Brownley, Chapter 529, Statutes of 2011) which allows the City
of Santa Monica's bus transit system to establish a pilot
program equipping the sides of its buses with illuminated signs
to display advertising. The pilot permits Santa Monica to equip
a maximum of 25 buses initially, and sunsets on January 1, 2017.
The following conditions govern Santa Monica's use of these
signs on its buses:
1.Signs must emit diffused non-glaring light.
2.Signs must not be greater than 4,464 square inches in area,
which could be roughly three feet high and ten feet long.
3.Signs must not be installed in a position that interferes with
the visibility of required lamps, reflectors, or other
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devices.
4.Signs must not be forward or backward facing (i.e., not on the
front or rear of the bus).
5.Light emitting diodes for illumination may include red
provided the color formed by the mixing of light from the
diodes in the advertising is not red.
6.Signs must be static when the buses are operating on state
freeways.
7.Existing standards for paging and streaming (described above)
shall apply to the display of advertising signs.
AB 607 requires the City of Santa Monica transit staff and
police department to develop collaboratively a report examining
the incidence of adverse impacts on roadway and pedestrian
safety due to the illuminated signs pilot program and submit the
report to the Legislature and the California Highway Patrol
(CHP) by July 1, 2016.
This bill:
1. Allows UC Irvine's bus transport system to institute a pilot
program which allows buses to be equipped with illuminated
signs to display advertising identical to the one authorized
for the City of Santa Monica.
2. Provides that UC Irvine may only proceed with the pilot
program if it determines, on or before March 1, 2014, that
the City of Santa Monica has fewer than 12 operational buses
with illuminated signs displaying advertising.
3. Requires, if UC Irvine implements the pilot program, UC
Irvine law enforcement officials and transit staff, along
with other law enforcement officials, collaboratively submit
a report to the Legislature and the CHP by July 1, 2018,
examining the incidence of adverse impacts on roadway and
pedestrian safety due to the illuminated signs displaying
advertising.
4. Sunsets the bill on January 1, 2019.
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Background
Public transit agencies have long subsidized transit operations
with revenues from static advertising displays placed on the
sides of buses. A recent federal research project suggests a
potential additional revenue stream for transit agencies could
come from the emerging media of digital bus advertising. These
digital signs are ultra-thin, lightweight, LED (light emitting
diode) screens that can easily be mounted on the sides of buses
and cost about $50,000 each. Digital advertising allows for
customized advertising, including a variable rate structure and
easily changeable messaging. Because the advertising being
displayed can be managed remotely, it is possible to render the
advertising static when the buses are operating on freeways.
Responding to this new potential revenue source, the Legislature
recently enacted AB 607 authorizing Santa Monica to conduct a
pilot project and study the safety impacts of illuminated signs
on buses. Before widely authorizing the use of these signs
across the state, the Legislature wanted to study the safety of
the signs and the potential for distraction of pedestrians and
other drivers.
Funding boom or bust ? The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) began
digital advertising on buses in 2008 and it expected a 400%
increase in revenues compared to its static poster display
advertising. For the entire Chicago bus system, CTA equipped
roughly 40 buses with these digital billboards. CTA has since
discontinued the program, however, because it could not sell
enough advertising to pay for the capital costs of the
maintenance and repair of the signs. CTA staff suggests the
biggest problem was that it was difficult to sell targeted
advertising because its buses run through a variety of
neighborhoods. Advertisers did not want to pay the increased
costs associated with the illuminated ads if the buses spent
much of their time in areas where viewers may be uninterested in
what was being advertised.
Distracted driving concerns . A variety of constituencies have
conducted distracted driving studies focused on a number of
potential distractions. There are studies that use data to
prove illuminated billboards do not lead to negative outcomes,
and other studies that refute these conclusions. Nearly all
studies admit that, in most instances, it is very difficult to
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identify one single factor that led to an adverse incident such
as an automobile accident. Research tends to show that
accidents arise from an accumulation of factors, including
distractions in the vehicle and outside, weather conditions, and
even distracting thoughts within the driver's mind.
It is clear, however, that billboards by their very nature
capture a driver's attention. Advertising is intended to
communicate a message to the recipient, which requires some
attention. One recent study of driver behavior conducted by the
Accident Research Center at Monash University concluded that,
"the presence of billboards changed drivers' pattern of visual
attention, increased the amount of time needed for drivers to
respond to road signs, and increased the number of errors in the
driving task." Other studies using naturalistic driving data
have found that, of all the various distractions contributing to
poor driving outcomes, visual distraction is the primary concern
in driver distraction.
Previous legislation
In 2012, Senate Transportation and Housing Committee (Committee)
heard two bills, AB 1984 (Wagner) and AB 2375 (Knight), which
would have allowed UC Irvine and Antelope Valley Transit,
respectively, to operate pilot programs similar to Santa
Monica's. This bill is nearly identical to last year's AB 1984.
Both bills failed passage in the Committee primarily due to the
fact that the Committee wanted to await the results of Santa
Monica's pilot before authorizing illuminated signs on the sides
of buses elsewhere.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/19/13)
Associated Students of the University of California at Irvine
Irvine Chamber of Commerce
Orange County Business Council
Orange County Taxpayers Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this
bill is necessary to help backfill budgetary cuts with the
student government department of UC Irvine. The author's office
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contends that this bill will fund much-needed student services
and highlight the school's entrepreneurial spirit. Further, the
author's office suggests this pilot represents a sound
public-private partnership. Finally, the safety report from the
pilot may assist local municipalities considering similar
programs in the future.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 4/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva,
Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Stone, Vacancy
JJA:d 6/19/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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