BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: AB 946
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  stone
                                                         VERSION: 4/22/13
          Analysis by:  Erin Riches                      FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  June 25, 2013



          SUBJECT:

          Counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz:  transit bus-only corridors

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill authorizes the Monterey-Salinas Transit District and  
          Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, in consultation with  
          the state Department of Transportation and the California  
          Highway Patrol, to designate certain highway shoulders as  
          transit bus-only corridors.

          ANALYSIS:

          Existing law:

           Authorizes the state Department of Transportation (Caltrans)  
            to construct exclusive or preferential lanes for buses only,  
            or for buses and other high-occupancy vehicles, or to permit  
            exclusive or preferential use of designated lanes on existing  
            highways that are part of the state highway system.  

           Creates the Monterey-Salinas Transit District (MSTD) and the  
            Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD) and  
            prescribes the duties and responsibilities of each.

           Requires motorists to drive on the right side of the roadway,  
            with specified exceptions such as when the motorist is legally  
            passing another vehicle.

           Prohibits motorists from passing on the right, except in  
            specified circumstances if conditions enable the motorist to  
            pass safely, such as when the vehicle overtaken is about to  
            make a left turn.  

           Prohibits a motorist from passing on the right if it requires  
            driving off the paved or main-traveled portion of the roadway.





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            Allows a bicycle to travel on a shoulder of a roadway.

           This bill  :

           Authorizes MSTD and SCMTD, subject to approval by Caltrans and  
            the California Highway Patrol (CHP), to designate shoulders of  
            certain highways and freeways within those transit districts  
            as transit bus-only corridors (commonly referred to as  
            bus-on-shoulder programs).

           Requires MSTD and SCMTD to each determine jointly with  
            Caltrans appropriate segments for bus-on-shoulder programs  
            based on peak congestion hours and the most heavily congested  
            areas.

           Requires MSTD and SCMTD to each work with Caltrans and CHP, in  
            a transparent manner that includes opportunity for public  
            comment, to develop guidelines to ensure driver and vehicle  
            safety, as well as integrity of the infrastructure.

           Requires Caltrans, MSTD, and SCMTD to monitor the state of  
            repair of highway shoulders used in the program, including  
            repairs attributable to the operation of transit buses on the  
            shoulders.

           Provides that MSTD and SCMTD shall be responsible for all  
            costs attributable to this program.

           Authorizes the program to commence operation as soon as MSTD,  
            SCMTD, Caltrans, and CHP have agreed upon guidelines.

           Authorizes operation of a transit bus on the shoulder of a  
            state highway in conjunction with a bus-on-shoulder program  
            within the areas served by MSTD and SCMTD.

           COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  The author states that Highway 1, the primary  
            traffic corridor through Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties,  
            suffers significant congestion during daily work commute  
            times.  By enabling transit buses to utilize highway  
            shoulders, this bill will help ease that congestion.  The  
            sponsors of this bill note that bus-on-shoulder programs are a  
            low-cost strategy to improve transit system reliability and  
            service, as well as an effective method to help relieve  
            traffic congestion and thus improve air quality.




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           2.Bus-on-shoulder programs  .  A comprehensive 2006 study by the  
            Transit Cooperative Research Program, sponsored by the Federal  
            Transit Administration, found that bus-on-shoulder programs  
            had been working successfully for more than a decade in  
            various parts of the US.  The study noted that these programs  
            work because they minimize congestion-related interruptions of  
            bus schedules, improve travel times for buses versus cars, are  
            low cost and easy to implement, do not require new  
            rights-of-way, and are not visually obtrusive.  The study also  
            found that these programs are popular with bus passengers and  
            have not drawn significant complaints from motorists.

            In 2005, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)  
            received a Caltrans grant to evaluate the feasibility of  
            converting freeway shoulder lanes to transit-only lanes.   
            SANDAG implemented a pilot project, in partnership with the  
            San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), Caltrans, and  
            CHP, beginning in December 2005.  The project, which is still  
            in effect, utilizes the freeway shoulder on MTS Express Route  
            960 on portions of State Route 52 and Interstate 805 as a  
            transit-only lane during morning and evening rush hours when  
            freeway speeds drop below 35 miles per hour.  SANDAG considers  
            the program so successful that it is identifying additional  
            routes for bus-on-shoulder programs.

           3.Is this an appropriate use of shoulder lanes  ?  Current law  
            generally designates highway shoulder lanes for emergency use  
            only.  Emergency vehicles commonly use shoulders to bypass  
            traffic congestion when responding to emergencies.  In  
            addition, when a motorist's car breaks down, he or she may  
            move the car to the shoulder to avoid blocking traffic in the  
            main highway lanes.  Converting shoulder lanes to bus-only  
            poses the risk of blocking emergency vehicles and creating a  
            safety hazard when a disabled car pulls off to the shoulder.   
            To help address such concerns, this bill requires MSTD and  
            SCMTD to obtain Caltrans and CHP approval before implementing  
            a bus-on-shoulder program, and to work with CHP and Caltrans  
            to develop safety guidelines for such programs.

           4.Undue wear and tear  ?  Because shoulder lanes are intended for  
            emergency use only, they are not built to withstand large  
            amounts of traffic.  Running buses on shoulders on a daily  
            basis could cause a great deal of wear and tear, which will  
            likely result in significant maintenance and rehabilitation  
            costs.  This bill provides that MSTD and SCMTD shall be  




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            responsible for all costs attributable to the bus-on-shoulder  
            program.  The committee may wish to consider amending the bill  
            to clarify that these costs include costs related to repairs  
            attributable to the operation of transit buses on shoulders.  

           5.Technical amendments  :
                 On page 2, delete line 9 after "Patrol."
                 On page 2, delete lines 10 through 12.
                 On page 2, line 13, before "participating," insert "The  
               departments and".  
                 On page 2, line 13, after "districts," insert, "shall  
               determine jointly the segments of each highway where it is  
               appropriate to designate shoulders as transit bus-only  
               traffic corridors, based upon, but not limited to, factors  
               including right-of-way availability and capacity,".  

          Assembly Votes:
               Floor:    74-0
               Appr: 17-0
               Trans:    15-0
               L. Gov.:    9-0

          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,                                             June 19,  
          2013.)

               SUPPORT:  Monterey-Salinas Transit District (co-sponsor)
                         Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District  
          (co-sponsor)
                         California Transit Association

               OPPOSED:  None received.