BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2013
Author: Muratsuchi (D)
Amended: 6/12/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/10/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso, Lara, Liu, Pavley,
Roth, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Beall
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 63-4, 5/1/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : High-occupancy vehicle lanes: low-emission vehicles
SOURCE : Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
DIGEST : This bill raises the cap on the green sticker Clean
Air Vehicle program, which allows certain low-emission vehicles
to access high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes with a single
occupant.
ANALYSIS : An HOV lane, also known as a carpool lane, aims to
promote and encourage ridesharing, thereby alleviating traffic
congestion and improving air quality. Depending on the
particular HOV lane, a vehicle must have a minimum of either two
or three occupants in order to access the lane.
Existing federal law authorizes states, until September 30,
CONTINUED
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2017, to allow certain low-emission and energy-efficient
vehicles with a single occupant to use HOV lanes. A state that
enacts such a policy must monitor its HOV system and report to
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on the impact these
vehicles have on highway operations. If these vehicles cause a
degradation of HOV lane operations, the state must limit or
discontinue clean air vehicle use of the lanes. Federal law
deems that an HOV lane is degraded if vehicles operating in the
lane fail to maintain a minimum average operating speed
(generally 45 miles per hour) during 90% of the time over a
consecutive 180-day period during morning or evening weekday
peak-hour periods. Federal law requires states to take action
on degraded facilities within 180 days of identifying them as
degraded. If a state fails to comply, FHWA may impose
sanctions, including withholding payment of federal funds and
withholding approval of projects.
Existing state law exempts certain clean, alternative-fuel
vehicles from HOV lane occupancy requirements, so that a vehicle
with just one occupant may use an HOV lane if it displays a
Clean Air Vehicle sticker. The state has implemented three
clean air vehicle HOV sticker programs in recent years:
White HOV stickers . AB 71 (Cunneen, Chapter 330, Statutes of
1999) established the "white sticker program," which allows
vehicles that meet certain strict emission standards to drive
in carpool lanes with a single occupant. These vehicles are
typically pure battery electric vehicles, dedicated compressed
natural gas or liquid petroleum gas vehicles, and hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles, such as the BMW i3EV, Chevy Spark EV, Fiat
500e, Ford Focus EV, Honda Civic CNG, Honda Fit EV, Hyundai
Tucson Fuel Cell, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model
S, and Toyota RAV4 EV, among others. State law places no
limit on the number of stickers that can be issued; as of May
5, 2014, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) had issued
47,516 white stickers. This program expires on January 1,
2019.
Yellow HOV stickers (expired) . AB 2628 (Pavley, Chapter 725,
Statutes of 2004) established the "yellow sticker program,"
which granted HOV lane access to certain single-occupant,
hybrid or alternatively fueled vehicles. DMV began issuing
yellow stickers for the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid in
April 2006, when the FHWA granted conditional approval of the
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program. The number of vehicles that might be issued these
stickers was ultimately capped at 85,000, a limit that was
reached in 2007; all yellow stickers expired on July 1, 2011.
Green HOV stickers . SB 535 (Yee, Chapter 215, Statutes of
2010) established the "green sticker program," which allows
certain single-occupant vehicles - generally, plug-in hybrid
vehicles that meet the Air Resources Board's strictest
emissions standard - to drive in carpool lanes. The vehicles
eligible to date for green stickers are the BMW i3 Rex,
Cadillac ELR, Chevrolet Volt, Ford C-Max Energi, Ford Fusion
Energi, Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid, and Toyota Prius Plug-in.
State law limits the number of green stickers that DMV may
issue to 40,000. The green sticker program began on January
1, 2012; on May 9, 2014, DMV issued the 40,000th sticker.
This program expires on January 1, 2019.
Pursuant to federal law, state law authorizes the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), if it is able to attribute
unacceptable congestion levels to clean vehicles, to ban them
from HOV lanes.
This bill raises the cap on the green sticker program from
40,000 to 70,000.
Comments
Federal law requires a state that allows clean vehicles to use
an HOV lane to submit an annual report to FHWA on HOV lane
performance. Federal law also requires a state, if it finds
that clean vehicles cause degradation of HOV lane operations, to
limit or discontinue clean air vehicle use of these lanes.
Caltrans submitted its most recent HOV lane degradation report
to FHWA in November 2011. This report showed that approximately
43% of HOV lanes in California were degraded during the first
half of the year and approximately 49% were degraded during the
second half of the year. This increase occurred despite the
fact that the state law allowing 85,000 hybrid vehicles with
yellow stickers to access HOV lanes expired on July 1, 2011.
According to Caltrans, this increase has been observed in prior
years and is associated with seasonal increases in traffic
volume, not with clean vehicles. Caltrans identified factors
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such as vehicles from HOV lanes merging into general-purpose
lanes at the end of the HOV lane, "rubbernecking" due to traffic
incidents on the freeway, and inclement weather resulting in
lower speeds, as key causes of HOV lane congestion.
Caltrans submitted an action plan to FHWA in July 2013. The
plan did not propose to ban clean vehicles from HOV lanes
because, according to the plan, "These vehicles constitute a
very low percentage of users of HOV lanes. Furthermore,
prohibiting these vehicles runs counter to an existing
Governor's Executive Order that directs State agencies to take
action to support and incentivize the purchase of these
vehicles."
In January 2014, FHWA rejected Caltrans' 2011 action plan.
Caltrans is currently developing a new action plan to improve
HOV lane performance, which reportedly would not include removal
of clean air vehicles, but would include raising vehicle
occupancy levels. For example, the plan could propose requiring
three occupants in a vehicle, rather than two, in order to
access an HOV lane. Excluding double-occupant vehicles from HOV
lanes, while preserving the right of single-occupant clean
vehicles to access them, would appear to violate the basic
purpose of HOV lanes - namely, to promote carpooling.
The Center for Sustainable Energy released a set of survey
results at the Governor's zero emission vehicle summit in March
2014 showing that HOV lane access was the primary reason a
consumer bought a vehicle for 16% of Nissan Leafs, 27% of Chevy
Volts, and 57% of Toyota Priuses, purchased or leased prior to
the third quarter of 2012. However, HOV lane access accounted
for only 15% of Nissan Leaf, 20% of Chevy Volt, and 34% of
Toyota Prius purchases or leases in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The fourth quarter 2013 results also included Tesla purchases,
none of which were attributable to a desire for HOV lane access.
For the fourth quarter 2013 purchases, nearly half of Nissan
Leaf (48%) and Chevy Volt (48%) purchases or leases, as well as
34% of Toyota Prius purchases or leases, were attributable to a
desire to save money on fuel (this factor was not in evidence in
Tesla purchases).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/14)
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (source)
California Electric Transportation Coalition
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
Ford Motor Company
Orange County Transportation Authority
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
South Coast Air Quality Management District
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/1/14)
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Transportation Authority of Marin
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "This bill
will increase the cap on the number of Green HOV Stickers to
70,000 in order to accommodate growing participation in this
successful program at a time when the market for these vehicles
is at a critical juncture. Expanding this program will continue
to promote the growth and sale of these alternative fuel
vehicles, helping to reach clean air and greenhouse gas
reduction goals."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Metropolitan Transportation
Commission notes that "over 40 percent of the state's HOV lanes
that were monitored by Caltrans failed to meet the performance
standard set in federal law ? the system is not working
optimally today and unfortunately, AB 2013 will simply make
matters worse."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 63-4, 5/1/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Weber,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, John A. Pérez
NOES: Donnelly, Grove, Jones, Logue
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Brown, Chávez, Conway, Beth Gaines,
Gorell, Hall, Mansoor, Melendez, Salas, Waldron, Yamada,
Vacancy
JA:k 7/1/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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