BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1721
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1721 (Linder)
As Amended April 24, 2014
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 15-0
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|Ayes:|Lowenthal, Linder, | | |
| |Achadjian, Ammiano, | | |
| |Bloom, Bonta, Buchanan, | | |
| |Daly, Frazier, Gatto, | | |
| |Holden, Nazarian, | | |
| |Patterson, Quirk-Silva, | | |
| |Waldron | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires clean air vehicles to be granted toll-free or
reduced-rate passage in high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue stickers for
clean air vehicles, until January 1, 2019, as follows:
a) White clean air vehicle stickers are available for an
unlimited number of vehicles that meet California's super
ultra-low emission vehicle standard for exhaust emissions
and the federal inherently low-emission vehicle evaporative
emission standard. Vehicles that meet these requirements
are typically certified pure zero-emission vehicles (100%
battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell) and compressed
natural gas vehicles; and,
b) Green clean air vehicle stickers are available for
40,000 vehicles that meet California's enhanced advanced
technology partial zero-emission vehicle standard or
transitional zero-emission vehicle standard.
1)Requires clean air vehicles that display the appropriate white
or green access sticker to be allowed to use high-occupancy
vehicle (HOV) lanes and freeway ramps, regardless of occupancy
level, until such time as the Department of Transportation
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(Caltrans) determines that federal law does not authorize the
state to allow these vehicles to use HOV lanes or ramps.
2)Authorizes HOT lane facilities, as follows:
a) The San Diego Association of Governments is authorized
to establish HOT lanes on Interstate 15, Interstate 5, and
up to two unspecified corridors in San Diego County.
b) The Sunol Smart Carpool Lane Joint Powers Authority is
authorized to establish HOT lanes on the Sunol Grade
segment of Interstate 680 in Alameda and Santa Clara
Counties.
c) The Alameda County Transportation Commission is
authorized to establish HOT lanes in one unspecified
corridor in Alameda County.
d) The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is
authorized to establish HOT lanes on any two corridors in
Santa Clara County.
e) Any regional transportation planning agency could have,
until January 1, 2012, applied to the California
Transportation Commission (CTC) to establish HOT lanes. Up
to four unspecified HOT lanes were authorized under this
provision, two in Northern California and two in Southern
California. The CTC found that the following three HOT
facilities were eligible under this provision:
i) The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC):
285 miles on Interstate 80 in Solano, Contra Costa, and
Alameda Counties; Interstate 680 in Solano and Contra
Costa Counties; Interstate 880 in Alameda County; and
State Route 92 and State Route 84 in Alameda County;
ii) Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC):
Interstate 15 in Riverside County; and,
iii) The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority: Interstate 110 and Interstate 210, Interstate
10, and State Route 60, all within Los Angeles County.
(Previously, under this provision the CTC was required to
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submit eligible HOT lane applications to the Legislature
for approval via statute. As a result, applications for
HOT lanes in both Riverside and Los Angeles Counties were
ratified via statute. The requirement that the Legislature
ratify HOT lane applications had been repealed by the time
MTC brought its HOT lane application to the CTC.)
3)Authorizes MTC, serving as the Bay Area Toll Authority, to
grant toll-free or reduced-rate passage on toll bridges to
HOVs; if it does, it must grant the same toll-free and/or
reduced-rate passage to a clean air vehicle displaying the
appropriate HOV access sticker.
4)Prohibits HOT lane operators from charging clean air vehicles
(displaying the appropriate sticker) single-occupant vehicle
tolls.
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENT: HOT lanes are increasingly being implemented in
metropolitan areas around the state and the nation. HOT lanes
allow single-occupant or lower-occupant vehicles to use an HOV
lane for a fee, while maintaining free or reduced travel to
qualifying HOVs. The purported benefits of HOT lanes include
enhanced mobility and travel options in congested corridors and
better usage of underutilized HOV lanes.
California is currently in the embryonic stage of what is sure
to be a substantial build out of HOT lanes around the state in
the very near future. MTC, for example, is in the midst of
developing a regional HOT lane network that will extend for
hundreds of miles from Sonoma County in the north to Gilroy in
the south.
While single-occupant clean air vehicles enjoy access to HOV
lanes in California, they do not necessarily enjoy free passage
on toll bridges or toll highways. In fact, clean air vehicles
must pay full fare to use the toll roads in Orange County but
enjoy discounted rates to cross the San Francisco Bay Area
bridges and to use the 91 Express Lanes in Orange and Riverside
Counties.
Last session, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB
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2405 (Blumenfield), Chapter 674, Statutes of 2012, to exempt
clean air vehicles from toll charges equivalent to those imposed
on single-occupant vehicles in HOT lanes. The purpose of that
bill was to give current and future clean air vehicle owners
certainty regarding HOT lane access and to continue to provide a
valuable incentive for purchasing clean air vehicles by
offsetting some of the additional costs associated with the
purchase of new and expensive technology.
Opponents of AB 2405 argued that a proliferation of clean air
vehicles in HOV lanes would add to the congestion that buses
will encounter in those lanes. They also voiced concerns that
allowing clean air vehicles free access to HOT lanes would
reduce the revenue that these lanes will generate, particularly
as the number of these cars grows.
The clean air vehicle program is, indeed, growing. At the time
AB 2405 was signed, the clean air vehicle program was set to
expire on January 1, 2015, the number of allowable white
stickers was limitless, and the number of allowable green
stickers was (and currently still is) 40,000. Legislation
enacted last year, AB 266 (Blumenfield), Chapter 405, Statutes
of 2013, and SB 286 (Yee), Chapter 414, Statutes of 2013,
extended the sunset dates for the white and the green sticker
clean air vehicle programs, respectively, from 2015 to 2019.
Furthermore, AB 2013 (Muratsuchi) of the current legislative
session, will increase the number of allowable green stickers to
85,000.
While the author acknowledges the importance of reducing
emissions from mobile sources, such as by increasing the use of
clean air vehicles, he believes this policy goal runs afoul of
another important policy goal-transportation infrastructure
financing. The author also has other concerns, including:
1)The state-imposed prohibition against charging single-occupant
tolls on clean air vehicles is an unfunded state mandate
because it interferes with local tolling policy and reduces
revenue available to meet bond repayment requirements.
2)Tolling policy should be left to the agency with direct
financial responsibility. In the case of the Interstate 15
HOT lanes in Riverside County, existing law unfairly requires
RCTC to pay a potentially hefty risk premium as it seeks to
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secure federal loans and sell toll revenue bonds to construct
the Interstate 15 express lanes. The author asserts that
tolling policy must be left to the agency with direct
financing responsibility.
3)Many clean air vehicles (e.g., all electric vehicles) do not
pay any state or federal excise taxes on motor vehicle fuels,
which are the primary source of funding for maintenance and
repair of California highways. As a result, the author
asserts that clean air vehicle drivers are not paying their
fair share of their impacts on California's deteriorating
roadways. The existing exemption for clean air vehicles in
HOT lanes only exacerbates this inequity.
The author has introduced this bill to require that clean air
vehicles displaying a green or white HOV access decal be granted
toll-free or reduced-rate passage in HOT lanes. In this way,
the original intent of AB 2405 will remain intact-an incentive
to purchase a clean air vehicle-but HOT lane operators will be
better able to manage the related financial implications.
Related legislation: AB 2013 (Muratsuchi) of the current
legislative session, raises the cap on the number of green clean
air vehicle stickers that can be issued from 40,000 to 85,000.
AB 2013 passed Assembly Transportation on a vote of 14-0 and is
currently pending in the Assembly.
Previous legislation: AB 1467 (Núñez), Chapter 32, Statutes of
2006, authorized up to four unspecified HOT lane facilities:
two in Northern California and two in Southern California.
AB 1954 (Jeffries), Chapter 421, Statutes of 2008, specifically
authorized HOT lanes on Interstate 15 in Riverside County.
AB 2405 (Blumenfield), Chapter 674, Statutes of 2012, exempted
clean air vehicles from toll charges imposed on single-occupant
vehicles in HOT lanes.
AB 266 (Blumenfield), Chapter 405, Statutes of 2013, and SB 286
(Yee), Chapter 414, Statutes of 2013, extended the sunset dates
for the white and the green sticker clean air vehicle programs,
respectively, from 2015 to 2019.
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Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0003219