BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1720
Author: Bloom (D)
Amended: 6/10/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 6/17/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 5/8/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Transit bus weights
SOURCE : California Transit Association
DIGEST : This bill extends the time during which transit
districts may procure heavier transit buses and these buses may
travel on California's public streets and highways (highways)
from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2016.
ANALYSIS : For vehicles that travel on highways, existing law
generally limits the gross weight that wheels on any one axle of
any vehicle can impose on the highway to 20,000 pounds. Buses,
however, may impose a gross vehicle weight on any one axle of up
to 20,500 pounds.
AB 1706 (Eng, Chapter 771, Statutes of 2012) exempts from the
20,500 pound per axle weight limit:
Buses for which a transit provider had initiated procurement
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by January 1, 2013.
Until January 1, 2015, any bus of lesser or equal weight that
a transit provider procures to replace another bus.
Until January 1, 2015, transit buses that a transit provider
procures in order to incorporate a new fleet class into its
inventory if its governing board adopts a finding that the
fleet class expansion or change is needed to serve a new or
existing market pursuant to its most recently adopted
short-range plan.
AB 1706 defined "fleet class" as a group of transit buses that
have a combination of two or more of the following similar
defining characteristics: length, seating capacity, number of
axles, fuel or powers system, width, structure, and equipment
package.
This bill extends the weight exemptions for newly purchased
transit buses for another year until January 1, 2016, and makes
other minor clarifying changes.
Background
State law since 1975 has mandated that the weight on any single
axle of a transit bus may not exceed 20,500 pounds. Due to
numerous state and federal mandates, including Americans with
Disability Act requirements and mandated emissions reduction
equipment, transit buses today may often exceed that weight,
especially when carrying a large number of passengers.
As a result, a few years ago some local police departments began
citing transit buses for violation of state weight limits.
Transit agencies addressed these overweight vehicles by paying
fines resulting from citations or paying fees and administering
thousands of annual overweight vehicle permits on a city-by-city
basis, but found these resolutions costly and time consuming.
In response, transit agencies sponsored AB 1706 (Eng, 2012), and
argued the state created the bus weight limit more than 35
years ago and that limit simply does not contemplate today's
operating environments or legal and regulatory requirements.
Cities and counties countered that they constructed local
streets and roads based on the vehicle weight limits in state
law and so simply changing state weight limits to allow
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overweight buses would lead to additional pavement degradation,
increasing costs to repair and reconstruct roads.
Despite the efforts of many parties, including transit agencies,
local governments, bus manufacturers, and state officials, the
author of AB 1706 found no long-term resolution to the bus
weight-limit dilemma. Ultimately, this bill simply provided a
period during which the parties could further pursue a permanent
resolution. That resolution has yet to arise, so this bill
extends those temporary exemptions to transit bus weight limits
for another year.
Overweight buses and the cost of pavement degradation . Allowing
the operation of overweight vehicles on the state's highways and
local streets and roads contributes to the problem of pavement
degradation at a time when the roadways are in an increasing
state of disrepair. A current needs assessment indicates that
in order to fully fund necessary maintenance and preservation of
local streets and roads, an additional $80 billion in funding is
needed over the next 10 years. In addition, the Department of
Transportation estimates an annual need of $7.4 billion for the
State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP), which
funds a large portion of pavement maintenance and replacement
work on the state highway system. There is currently an annual
shortfall of $5.4 million because the SHOPP only receives
approximately $2 billion annually for maintenance work. Because
many factors contribute to pavement degradation, it is
impossible to quantify the isolated impacts that overweight
transit buses may have on pavement lifespan and the costs
associated with those impacts, although it is undeniable that
they are a contributing factor.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/20/14)
California Transit Association (source)
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
California Association for Coordinated Transportation
California State Association of Counties
Cities of Culver City, Santa Monica, and Thousand Oaks
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Monterey-Salinas Transit
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Napa County Transportation Planning Agency
Orange County Transportation Authority
San Bernardino Associated Governments
San Mateo County Transit District
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
South Coast Air Quality Management District
Transportation Authority of Marin
Ventura County Transportation Commission
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 5/8/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall,
Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Gorell,
Mansoor, Olsen, Patterson, V. Manuel Pérez, Vacancy
JA:e 6/16/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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