[Approved by Governor September 29, 2014. Filed with Secretary of State September 29, 2014.]
SB 1077, DeSaulnier. Vehicles: road usage charge pilot program.
Existing law establishes the Transportation Agency, which consists of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the California Transportation Commission, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed Rail Authority, and the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun.
This bill would require the Chair of the California Transportation Commission to create a Road Usage Charge (RUC) Technical Advisory Committee in consultation with the Secretary of the Transportation Agency. The bill would require the technical advisory committee to study RUC alternatives to the gas tax and to make recommendations to the Secretary of the Transportation Agency on the design of a pilot program, as specified. The bill would also authorize the technical advisory committee to make recommendations on the criteria to be used to evaluate the pilot program. The bill would require the technical advisory committee to consult with specified entities and to consider certain factors in carrying out its duties. The bill would require the Transportation Agency, based on the recommendations of the technical advisory committee, to implement a pilot program to identify and evaluate issues related to the potential implementation of an RUC program in California by January 1, 2017. The bill would require the agency to prepare and submit a report of its findings to the technical advisory committee, the commission, and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature by no later than June 30, 2018, as specified. The bill would also require the commission to include its recommendations regarding the pilot program in its annual report to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2019.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) An efficient transportation system is critical for California’s economy and quality of life.
(b) The revenues currently available for highways and local roads are inadequate to preserve and maintain existing infrastructure and to provide funds for improvements that would reduce congestion and improve service.
(c) The gas tax is an ineffective mechanism for meeting California’s long-term revenue needs because it will steadily generate less revenue as cars become more fuel efficient and alternative sources of fuel are identified. By 2030, as much as half of the revenue that could have been collected will be lost to fuel efficiency. Additionally, bundling fees for roads and highways into the gas tax makes it difficult for users to understand the amount they are paying for roads and highways.
(d) Other states have begun to explore the potential for a road usage charge to replace traditional gas taxes, including the State of Oregon, which established the first permanent road user charge program in the nation.
(e) Road usage charging is a policy whereby motorists pay for the use of the roadway network based on the distance they travel. Drivers pay the same rate per mile driven, regardless of what part of the roadway network they use.
(f) A road usage charge program has the potential to distribute the gas tax burden across all vehicles regardless of fuel source and to minimize the impact of the current regressive gas tax structure.
(g) Experience to date in other states across the nation demonstrates that mileage-based charges can be implemented in a way that ensures data security and maximum privacy protection for drivers.
(h) It is therefore important that the state begin to explore alternative revenue sources that may be implemented in lieu of the antiquated gas tax structure now in place.
(i) Any exploration of alternative revenue sources shall take privacy implications into account, especially with regard to location data. Travel locations or patterns shall not be reported, and legal and technical safeguards shall protect personal information.
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3090) is added to Division 2 of the Vehicle Code, to read:
(a) The Chair of the California Transportation Commission shall create, in consultation with the Secretary of the Transportation Agency, a Road Usage Charge (RUC) Technical Advisory Committee.
(b) The purpose of the technical advisory committee is to guide the development and evaluation of a pilot program to assess the potential for mileage-based revenue collection for California’s roads and highways as an alternative to the gas tax system.
(c) The technical advisory committee shall consist of 15 members. In selecting the members of the technical advisory committee, the chair shall consider individuals who are representative of the telecommunications industry, highway user groups, the data security and privacy industry, privacy rights advocacy organizations, regional transportation agencies, national research and policymaking bodies, including, but not limited to, the Transportation Research Board and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Members of the Legislature, and other relevant stakeholders as determined by the chair.
(d) Pursuant to Section 14512 of the Government Code, the technical advisory committee may request the Department of Transportation to perform such work as the technical advisory committee deems necessary to carry out its duties and responsibilities.
(e) The technical advisory committee shall study RUC alternatives to the gas tax. The technical advisory committee shall gather public comment on issues and concerns related to the pilot program and shall make recommendations to the Secretary of the Transportation Agency on the design of a pilot program to test alternative RUC approaches. The technical advisory committee may also make recommendations on the criteria to be used to evaluate the pilot program.
(f) In studying alternatives to the current gas tax system and developing recommendations on the design of a pilot program to test alternative RUC approaches pursuant to subdivision (e), the technical advisory committee shall take all of the following into consideration:
(1) The availability, adaptability, reliability, and security of methods that might be used in recording and reporting highway use.
(2) The necessity of protecting all personally identifiable information used in reporting highway use.
(3) The ease and cost of recording and reporting highway use.
(4) The ease and cost of administering the collection of taxes and fees as an alternative to the current system of taxing highway use through motor vehicle fuel taxes.
(5) Effective methods of maintaining compliance.
(6) The ease of reidentifying location data, even when personally identifiable information has been removed from the data.
(7) Increased privacy concerns when location data is used in conjunction with other technologies.
(8) Public and private agency access, including law enforcement, to data collected and stored for purposes of the RUC to ensure individual privacy rights are protected pursuant to Section 1 of Article I of the California Constitution.
(g) The technical advisory committee shall consult with highway users and transportation stakeholders, including representatives of vehicle users, vehicle manufacturers, and fuel distributors as part of its duties pursuant to subdivision (f).
(a) Based on the recommendations of the RUC Technical Advisory Committee, the Transportation Agency shall implement a pilot program to identify and evaluate issues related to the potential implementation of an RUC program in California by January 1, 2017.
(b) At a minimum, the pilot program shall accomplish all of the following:
(1) Analyze alternative means of collecting road usage data, including at least one alternative that does not rely on electronic vehicle location data.
(2) Collect a minimum amount of personal information including location tracking information, necessary to implement the RUC program.
(3) Ensure that processes for collecting, managing, storing, transmitting, and destroying data are in place to protect the integrity of the data and safeguard the privacy of drivers.
(c) The agency shall not disclose, distribute, make available, sell, access, or otherwise provide for another purpose, personal information or data collected through the RUC program to any private entity or individual unless authorized by a court order, as part of a civil case, by a subpoena issued on behalf of a defendant in a criminal case, by a search warrant, or in aggregate form with all personal information removed for the purposes of academic research.
(a) The Transportation Agency shall prepare and submit a report of its findings based on the results of the pilot program to the RUC Technical Advisory Committee, the California Transportation Commission, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by no later than June 30, 2018. The report shall include, but not be limited to, a discussion of all of the following issues:
(1) Cost.
(2) Privacy, including recommendations regarding public and private access, including law enforcement, to data collected and stored for purposes of the RUC to ensure individual privacy rights are protected pursuant to Section 1 of Article I of the California Constitution.
(3) Jurisdictional issues.
(4) Feasibility.
(5) Complexity.
(6) Acceptance.
(7) Use of revenues.
(8) Security and compliance, including a discussion of processes and security measures necessary to minimize fraud and tax evasion rates.
(9) Data collection technology, including a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of various types of data collection equipment and the privacy implications and considerations of the equipment.
(10) Potential for additional driver services.
(11) Implementation issues.
(b) The California Transportation Commission shall include its recommendations regarding the pilot program in its annual report to the Legislature as specified in Sections 14535 and 14536 of the Government Code.
This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
Chapter 7 (commencing with former Section 3100) of Division 2 of the Vehicle Code is repealed.
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