BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: AB 2090
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  fong
                                                         VERSION: 6/5/14
          Analysis by:  Eric Thronson                    FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  June 17, 2014



          SUBJECT:

          High-occupancy toll lanes

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill allows local agencies to restrict high-occupancy  
          vehicle access to its high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes contingent  
          on the vehicle having an electronic transponder, and replaces  
          level-of-service (LOS) requirements for those lanes with new  
          performance measures.

          ANALYSIS:

          In 1970, the Legislature passed and the governor signed AB 1  
          (Biddle), Chapter 1295, which, among other things, authorized  
          the state to construct preferential freeway lanes for  
          high-occupancy vehicles (HOV lanes).  AB 1 specified that it was  
          the intent of the Legislature to encourage individual citizens  
          to pool their vehicular resources and thereby lessen emission of  
          air pollutants.  

          The theory behind carpool-only lanes is that, in heavily  
          congested areas, these lanes should be less congested than  
          all-purpose lanes and therefore faster, inducing people who  
          might otherwise not carpool to do so in order to avoid the  
          heaviest congestion.  Increasing the number of carpools, in  
          turn, should reduce the overall number of cars travelling in the  
          corridor (as drivers leave their cars at home in favor of  
          sharing a ride with someone).  In order to be effective, HOV  
          lanes must be less congested than other lanes, otherwise the  
          incentive is lost.  Highway lanes with lower congestion  
          typically are able to accommodate more vehicles and still  
          maintain their allure.  This additional capacity has value.

          AB 2032 (Dutra), Chapter 418, Statutes of 2004, authorized the  
          San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the Sunol Smart  
          Carpool Lane Joint Powers Authority, the Santa Clara Valley  




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          Transportation Authority (VTA), and the Alameda County  
          Congestion Management Agency (now known as the Alameda County  
          Transportation Commission or ACTC) to construct HOV lanes and  
          convert them to HOT lanes.  HOT lanes are HOV lanes in which the  
          administering agency sells any extra capacity to toll-paying  
          single-occupant vehicles.  AB 2032 declared the Legislature's  
          intent that these HOT lanes increase efficiency of the  
          transportation system by taking advantage of existing capacity  
          without forfeiting the congestion mitigation and air quality  
          benefits provided by HOV lanes.

          HOT lanes typically employ a pricing method known as value  
          pricing or congestion pricing.  Under this scheme, the amount of  
          the toll varies in accordance with the level of congestion in  
          that particular lane, such that as congestion increases, so too  
          will the toll amount.  As the price to use the lane goes up,  
          fewer people presumably will choose to use it, thereby reducing  
          demand for the facility and maintaining free-flow travel  
          conditions.  With this mechanism, an agency can attempt to  
          ensure that operation of the toll facility does not undermine  
          the intended benefits of promoting carpooling with access to the  
          faster HOV lane.

          Existing law requires that high-occupancy vehicles have  
          unrestricted access to the HOT lanes authorized by AB 2032 at  
          all times.  Existing law also requires that SANDAG, VTA, and  
          ACTC operate their HOT lanes such that they maintain a  
          particular LOS as determined by the California Department of  
          Transportation (Caltrans).

           This bill  :

           Allows SANDAG and VTA to restrict high-occupancy vehicle  
            access to its HOT lanes contingent on the vehicle having an  
            electronic transponder for law enforcement purposes.

           Deletes LOS requirements on HOT lanes operated by SANDAG and  
            VTA and requires these agencies instead to develop appropriate  
            alternative performance measures with Caltrans' consent.
          
          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  According to the author, this bill is important  
            because it allows SANDAG and VTA to automate enforcement of  
            toll evaders in their HOT lanes to a much larger degree.  This  
            bill also enables these agencies to take a  




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            corridor-by-corridor approach in determining appropriate LOS  
            standards to maximize the effectiveness of their HOT lanes and  
            better manage traffic flow.

           2.What would the carpool restriction mean  ?  Currently, any  
            vehicle with two or more occupants can enter into the HOT  
            lanes operated by SANDAG and VTA without paying a toll.  This  
            bill may result in that no longer being the case, as passage  
            of the bill would enable SANDAG and VTA to adopt a policy in  
            which only vehicles with switchable transponders would be able  
            to access for free their HOT lanes.  A switchable transponder  
            is like a Fastrak device with a switch on it that allows the  
            driver of the vehicle to signal the number of occupants in the  
            vehicle.  In this way a driver can switch from a toll-paying  
            single-occupant driver to a non-paying carpooler with a flip  
            of the switch on his or her transponder.  

            SANDAG and VTA will not be the first public agencies in  
            California to restrict carpool access by requiring a  
            transponder.  The express lane on SR 91, operated by Orange  
            County Transportation Authority, as well as the toll bridges  
            in the Bay Area require carpoolers to use transponders to take  
            advantage of the free or reduced fares on their facilities.   
            The HOT lanes operated by Los Angeles County Metropolitan  
            Transportation Authority (LACMTA) on Interstates 10 and 110  
            require switchable transponders for carpools.  Existing law  
            authorizing these entities to operate toll facilities does not  
            require them to provide carpoolers unrestricted access,  
            enabling them to require transponders.

            According to LACMTA, their market research found that more  
            than 70 percent of existing carpoolers would continue to  
            carpool even with a transponder requirement because they like  
            the idea of reducing the number of cheaters in the lanes.   
            LACMTA's finding also suggests that nearly 30 percent of  
            carpoolers responded that they would not continue to carpool  
            with the transponder requirement.  Research related to prior  
            bills involving the privacy aspects of transponders suggests  
            that there is a segment of society who prefer not to use  
            transponders for fear of the government or others tracking  
            their movement and location.  Others are distrustful of or  
            uncomfortable with technology in general and oppose using  
            electronic transponders for those reasons.  Finally, visitors  
            from out of town likely do not own transponders and therefore  
            would be restricted from using the HOT lanes.





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            Regardless of the reason, adding this restriction for  
            carpoolers to accessing the HOT lanes will likely lead to a  
            reduction in high-occupant vehicles in the lane.  The only  
            carpoolers accessing the lane will be those who are  
            intentional carpoolers, drivers of vehicles who preemptively  
            obtained a new switchable transponder for the purpose of  
            accessing the HOT lane.  Incidental carpoolers, drivers who  
            might not want transponders for some reason, and carpoolers  
            from out of town will be forced into the general-purpose  
            lanes.

           3.Why switchable transponders  ?  SANDAG and VTA contend that  
            switchable transponders are needed for HOT lanes in order to  
            improve enforcement of non-paying single-occupant vehicles  
            accessing the lane.  LACMTA reports that, by requiring  
            switchable transponders, their violation rate is 10 to 15  
            percent lower than what other HOT lanes experience (from 20-25  
            percent violation rate to 10-15 percent violation rate).   
            Administering agencies suggest that enforcement is important  
            because drivers who either pay the toll or appropriately  
            access the lane by carpooling get very frustrated and upset  
            when they see "cheaters" who access the lane illegally.  It is  
            hard to understand, however, how one driver may know that  
            another driver in a single-occupant vehicle did not pay the  
            toll for accessing the lane and is therefore cheating the  
            system.

            Another potential reason for requiring transponders and  
            improving enforcement is to reduce the number of vehicles  
            illegally accessing the lane and therefore creating increased  
            capacity and improved travel times for those appropriately  
            using the facility.  Reducing the number of violators also  
            increases the number of toll-paying vehicles that can access  
            the lane before the lane slows down so much that it no longer  
            provides an incentive for use.  Increasing the number of  
            toll-payers ultimately increases the amount of revenue the  
            administering agency can collect.  Finally, improved  
            enforcement can help reduce the amount of leakage in the HOT  
            lane's revenue stream.  Reducing the number of free riders by  
            10 percent could equate to essentially a 10 percent increase  
            in revenues.

           4.The potential danger of HOT lanes  .  Many transportation  
            experts suggest that HOT lanes represent good transportation  
            finance policy because they can accomplish two aims - namely,  
            encouraging carpooling and selling access capacity to generate  




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            much-needed transportation revenue.  By accomplishing these  
            two goals, however, HOT lanes also create a tension between  
            competing interests.  At some point, operators have to choose  
            between the two objectives, because successfully filling the  
            lane with carpoolers will adversely affect revenue, and vice  
            versa.  The Legislature has clearly indicated in past  
            legislation that encouraging carpoolers is its priority.   
            Administering agencies operate these toll facilities and keep  
            the revenue for their own use, potentially tempting them to  
            operate the lanes to maximize revenue instead of the number of  
            carpoolers.  SANDAG, VTA, and others adamantly object to the  
            idea that they would do so, but the temptation remains.

            Local agencies administer these toll facilities based on the  
            authority the Legislature grants them in enabling statute.  At  
            the time it passed AB 2032, giving SANDAG and VTA the  
            authority to operate HOT lanes, the Legislature required  
            unrestricted access for carpoolers to the lanes.  This bill  
            allows these agencies to institute a relatively minor  
            restriction for carpoolers.  While there may be good reasons  
            to enact this change, it is important that the committee take  
            note of the change in policy and be aware of the precedent it  
            sets.  Further changes to HOT lane policies have the potential  
            of eroding the facilities' ability to encourage carpooling for  
            the sake of increasing HOT lane revenue generation.

           5.Changing LOS requirements  .  As mentioned previously, this bill  
            also changes the LOS requirements for the HOT lanes operated  
            by SANDAG and VTA.  LOS is a commonly used, nationally  
            recognized measure of the "density" of vehicles traveling in a  
            given highway lane.  LOS standards incorporate several  
            measurement components, including maneuverability, driver  
            comfort, effect of minor incidents, average travel speed, and  
            spacing between vehicles.  Unfortunately, in the case of HOT  
            lanes, LOS may not be the best method to manage traffic flow.   
            The complicated LOS standard can lead to unintended  
            consequences, like closing the lane to toll-payers because of  
            a minor incident even though traffic in the lane is otherwise  
            free-flowing.

            Further, federal law more efficiently protects the flow of  
            traffic in HOT lanes by essentially creating a speed floor.   
            Federal law requires HOT lane operators to constantly monitor  
            their systems and discontinue toll-paying single-occupant  
            vehicle access when traffic flow has degraded to an average  
            operating speed of 45 miles an hour.  The federal government  




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            has determined that this requirement ensures that the HOT  
            lanes remain free-flowing enough to induce carpooling.  With  
            this in place, and as long as Caltrans is involved in and  
            agrees to any further LOS requirements, it seems reasonable to  
            allow local agencies to determine the best way to manage their  
            HOT lanes, as they ultimately deal with the consequences of  
            the lanes' performance.

           6.MTC supports but seeks amendments  .  The Metropolitan  
            Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area regional  
            transportation planning authority, supports the goal of this  
            bill to allow VTA to require switchable transponders on its  
            HOT lane facilities.  MTC's letter also recommends that the  
            committee take a comprehensive approach to HOT lane  
            legislation so that MTC can fulfill the goal of developing a  
            regional HOT lane network.  MTC suggests that the committee  
            integrate changes in this bill with changes in AB 1811  
            (Buchanan), also in this committee, in order to ensure that  
            HOT lane rules in the Bay Area can be consistent.  MTC's  
            concern is that, if the committee passes this bill and AB 1811  
            in their present versions, it will be more difficult to  
            implement MTC's regional HOT lane network because they contain  
            slightly different language.  At this point it is unclear  
            whether the differences in the bills will cause a serious  
            impediment for MTC.

          RELATED LEGISLATION:
          
          AB 1811 (Buchanan) allows ACTC to similarly restrict carpool  
          access to their HOT lanes contingent on the vehicle having an  
          electronic transponder.  Also on today's agenda in the Senate  
          Transportation and Housing Committee.
          
          Assembly Votes:

               Floor:    71-2
               Appr: 17-0
               Trans:    14-1
          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,                                             June 11,  
          2014.)

               SUPPORT:  Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority  
          (sponsor)
                         Metropolitan Transportation Commission 
                         San Diego Association of Governments




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                         San Mateo County Transportation Authority

               OPPOSED:  None received.