BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2090
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   March 24, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
                               Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
                     AB 2090 (Fong) - As Amended:  March 19, 2014
           
          SUBJECT  :   Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority:   
          high-occupancy toll lanes

           SUMMARY  :  Repeals specific level of service (LOS) requirements  
          for high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes operated by the Santa Clara  
          Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and requires instead that  
          VTA, with assistance from the California Department of  
          Transportation (Caltrans), develop appropriate performance  
          measures for the HOT lanes; authorizes VTA to require high  
          occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) drivers to use electronic tolling  
          equipment for enforcement purposes.  

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Authorizes VTA to conduct, administer, and operate a  
            value-pricing HOT lane program on any two corridors included  
            in the HOV system in Santa Clara County.  (A HOT lane  
            established on U.S. 101 may extend into San Mateo County,  
            under certain conditions.)  

          2)Requires VTA to ensure that its HOT lane program maintains LOS  
            C or LOS D (described below) to ensure optimal use of the HOT  
            lanes by HOVs without adversely affecting other traffic on the  
            state highway system.  

          3)Requires that HOVs must have unrestricted access to the HOT  
            lanes operated by VTA.  

          4)Authorizes states, under the federal Moving Ahead for Progress  
            in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), until September 30, 2017, to  
            allow single-occupant vehicles to pay a toll for use of an HOV  
            facility.  States that provide HOV access to single-occupant  
            vehicles must do all the following:  

             a)   Monitor the HOV system and report on the impact  
               single-occupant vehicles have on operation of the system;  
               and, 

             b)   Limit or discontinue the use of the facility by  








                                                                  AB 2090
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               single-occupant vehicles if the presence of the vehicles  
               degrades the operation of the facility.  The standard used  
               for purposes of determining whether a facility is degraded  
               is if vehicles operating on the facility are failing to  
               maintain a minimum average operating speed (generally 45  
               miles per hour) 90% of the time over a consecutive 180 day  
               period during morning or evening weekday peak hour periods.  
                
           
          FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  Under existing law, VTA's HOT lane program is  
          required to maintain LOS C or, under certain conditions, LOS D.   
          LOS is a commonly used, nationally recognized measure of the  
          "density" of vehicles traveling on a given section of freeway.   
          LOS standards incorporate several measurement components,  
          including maneuverability, driver comfort, effect of minor  
          incidents, average travel speed, spacing between vehicles,  
          vehicle density per mile and a speed-flow-density relationship  
          for roadway sections with different design speeds.  LOS is rated  
          from Level A (free flow operation/very good conditions) to Level  
          F (breakdown/lines/very poor conditions).  LOS C essentially  
          means traffic is stable and is at or near free-flow conditions.   
          LOS D indicates traffic flow is becoming unstable.  

          While LOS has long been used to characterize the condition of  
          traffic flow, it is not the best tool for managing HOT lanes.   
          For example, under certain traffic conditions LOS C can be  
          interpreted as requiring very high speeds.  When a HOT lane is  
          operating adjacent to a highly congested mixed-flow lane, this  
          standard is not appropriate and actually serves to undermine the  
          HOT lane's effectiveness. 

          The author introduced this bill at VTA's request to eliminate  
          specific LOS requirements set forth in existing law for VTA's  
          HOT lanes.  VTA is seeking a more flexible, corridor-by-corridor  
          approach to managing its HOT lanes than strict adherence to LOS  
          standards can provide.  Under this bill, VTA, along with  
          Caltrans, will develop performance measures to optimize the  
          operational efficiency of the entire corridor.  (Federal  
          requirements related to HOV lane degradation will still apply.)   


          Regarding electronic tolling equipment for HOVs, VTA intends to  
          migrate to self-declaration switchable toll tags.  These tags  








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          allow a driver to self-declare their vehicle occupancy status  
          (such as HOV or solo driver) using a switching mechanism (e.g.,  
          slide, dial, push button, etc.) on the toll tag.  VTA is  
          concerned, however, that the existing statutory requirement that  
          HOV drivers must have unrestricted access to HOT lanes could  
          impede its ability to require HOV drivers to use a switchable  
          toll tag.  The bill remedies this concern by specifically  
          declaring that VTA may require HOV drivers to use the tolling  
          equipment for enforcement purposes.  

           Suggested amendment  :  AB 2090 requires VTA to establish  
          performance measures for its HOT lanes with the assistance of  
          Caltrans.  To clarify the role of Caltrans as the owner and  
          operator of the State Highway System, the bill should be amended  
          to require Caltrans' consent on the performance measures to be  
          established.  This is more reflective of the respective roles of  
          VTA and Caltrans in operating the HOT lanes.  

           Related legislation  :  AB 1811 (Buchanan) revises current law as  
          it relates to HOV access on HOT lanes operated by the Sunol  
          Smart Carpool Lane Joint Powers Authority (which oversees the  
          State Route 680 HOT lanes) and the future Alameda County  
          Transportation Commission HOT lanes on State Route 580.  Similar  
          to provisions in AB 2090, AB 1811 is intended to allow these  
          agencies to require HOVs to use electronic transponders for  
          enforcement purposes as well.  

           Previous legislation  :  AB 2032 (Dutra) Chapter 418, Statutes of  
          2004, originally authorized VTA to develop HOT lane facilities  
          in two corridors in Santa Clara County for demonstration  
          purposes, not to exceed four years.  Other HOT lane facilities  
          were also specifically authorized.  

          AB 574 (Torrico) Chapter 498, Statutes of 2007, authorized VTA  
          and other specific agencies to operate HOT lanes indefinitely.  

          AB 1105 (Gordon) Chapter 114, Statutes of 2011, authorized a HOT  
          lane established on U.S. 101 in Santa Clara County to extend  
          into San Mateo County, under certain conditions.  



           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 








                                                                 AB 2090
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           Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (sponsor)

          None on file

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :   Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093