BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1134
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Date of Hearing: June 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 1134 (Knight) - As Amended: May 6, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 28-7
SUBJECT : Vehicles: public transit buses: illuminated signs
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Antelope Valley Transit Authority
(AVTA) to institute a pilot program to equip the sides of its
buses with illuminated signs to display advertising if the
Authority makes a specified determination on or before March 1,
2015. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a bus operated by AVTA on regularly scheduled
service to be equipped with illuminated signs that display
advertising and that emit any light color, if all of the
following conditions are met:
a) The signs emit diffused, nonglaring light;
b) The signs are no larger than 4,464 square inches in size
(for example, roughly three feet high by ten feet long);
c) The signs do not resemble and are not installed in a
position that interferes with the visibility or
effectiveness of a required lamp, reflector, or other
device upon the vehicle;
d) The signs are placed only on the sides of buses, not on
the front or back, with no more than one sign placed on
either side of any single vehicle; and,
a) Light-emitting diodes for illumination may include red,
provided the color formed by the mixing of light from the
diodes in the signs is not red.
1)Allows an illuminated sign displaying advertising to be
operated as a dynamic message sign in a paging or streaming
mode, but requires the display to remain static when a bus is
operating on a state freeway.
2)Allows "paging," meaning character elements or other
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information presented for a period of time and then
disappearing all at once before the same or new elements are
presented, if the display time of each message is between 2.7
and 10 second and requires blanking times between each message
to be between 0.5 and 25 seconds.
3)Allows "streaming," meaning character elements or other
information moving smoothly and continuously across the
display, if the character movement time from one end of the
display to the other is at least 2.7 seconds and the movement
time of the entire message does not exceed 10 seconds.
4)Specifies that AVTA may implement the pilot program only if it
determines that the University of California, Irvine (UC
Irvine) has equipped fewer than 12 transit buses with
illuminated signs by March 1, 2015.
5)Authorizes AVTA to operate up to 25 buses with illuminated
signs displaying advertising for two years, after which time
the authority may increase the number of buses with the signs
to up to 30.
6)Requires AVTA, if it implements the pilot program, to submit
to the Legislature by July 1, 2019, a report on the incidence
of adverse impacts on roadway and pedestrian safety due to the
utilization of illuminated signs displaying advertising on
transit buses, and requires that the report be the product of
a collaborative effort by Antelope Valley law enforcement,
transit officials, and other local law enforcement officials
in whose jurisdictions AVTA vehicles operate.
7)Sunsets AVTA's authority to operate buses with illuminated
signs displaying advertising on January 1, 2020.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the City of Santa Monica's bus transit system to
establish a pilot program, until January 1, 2017, equipping
the sides of its buses with illuminated signs to display
advertising, under the same conditions as described above for
AVTA's pilot program, with a report due to the Legislature and
the California Highway Patrol by July 1, 2016.
1)Authorizes UC Irvine's bus transport system to institute a
pilot program identical to the one authorized for the City of
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Santa Monica, but only if Santa Monica had not started the
pilot by March 1, 2014. UC Irvine's pilot program sunsets on
January 1, 2019.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Public transit agencies have long subsidized transit
operations with revenues from paper advertising displays placed
on the sides of buses. A recent federal research project
suggests that the emerging media of digital bus advertising
could provide a potential additional revenue stream for transit
agencies. These digital signs are ultra-thin, lightweight,
light emitting diode (LED) screens that can easily be mounted on
the sides of buses and cost about $50,000 each. Digital
advertising allows for customized advertising, including a
variable rate structure and easily changeable messaging.
Because the advertising being displayed can be managed remotely,
it is possible to render the advertising static when the buses
are operating on freeways.
Responding to this new potential revenue source, the Legislature
enacted AB 607 (Brownley, Chapter 529, Statutes of 2011)
authorizing Santa Monica to conduct a pilot project to study the
safety impacts of illuminated signs on buses. Before widely
authorizing the use of these signs across the state, the
Legislature wanted to study the safety of the signs and the
potential for distraction of pedestrians and other drivers. In
passing AB 607, this committee voiced serious concerns about the
safety issues illuminated advertising signs on buses might
raise, but conceded that one pilot program to study the
magnitude of these issues seemed reasonable.
By the start of 2013, Santa Monica had not started the pilot
program and the city was not sure it would because of concerns
over costs and less optimistic revenue expectations. However,
transit agencies were continuing to express interest in using
illuminated signs for advertising on buses. Still wanting to
gather information through a pilot program before considering
statewide authority to use such signs, the Legislature passed AB
541 (Daly, Chapter 133, Statutes of 2013), granting UC Irvine
the authority to operate an illuminated sign pilot program only
if, by March 1, 2014, Santa Monica had not begun its own
program. According to Assemblymember Daly's staff, Santa Monica
has still not started the program so UC Irvine has begun
preparing to do its own pilot.
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This bill allows AVTA to conduct an illuminated sign pilot
subject to the same requirements established for both Santa
Monica and UC Irvine, but only if it determines that UC Irvine
has equipped fewer than 12 transit buses with illuminated signs
by March 1, 2015. AVTA would be required to report to the
Legislature on its program, if implemented, by July 1, 2019, and
its pilot would sunset on January 1, 2020.
According to the author, currently transportation systems employ
standard paper advertising on the sides of buses. New
advertisements incur the expense of frequent wasteful paper
replacements as well as labor costs. With emerging technologies
available to the public such as digital music, 3-D films and
television, social media, and the Internet, it stands to reason
that advertisers would look to technological advancements as
advantageous marketing tools. Through the installation of a
digital system, with thin, lightweight LED monitors affixed to
buses, advertisers are afforded a new way to reach customers
that can be updated quickly and easily. Advertising would be
capable of being transmitted wirelessly, eliminating wasteful
paper and labor costs and keeping up with advanced technology.
The adoption of these provisions would allow AVTA to have an
innovative way to generate revenue beyond the fare box and tax
subsidies.
Proposed amendments : Require AVTA to report to the Legislature
by January 1, 2020, and sunset the program on July 1, 2020.
Previous legislation : AB 1984 (Wagner, 2012) and AB 2375
(Knight, 2012) would have allowed UC Irvine and AVTA,
respectively, to operate illuminated sign pilot programs. Both
bills failed passage in the Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee, primarily due to the fact that the committee wanted
to await the results of Santa Monica's pilot before authorizing
illuminated signs on the sides of buses elsewhere.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Antelope Valley Transit Authority (sponsor)
Opposition
SB 1134
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093