BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1134
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1134 (Knight)
As Amended June 15, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :28-7
TRANSPORTATION 15-0
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|Ayes:|Lowenthal, Linder, | | |
| |Achadjian, Bloom, Bonta, | | |
| |Buchanan, Daly, Frazier, | | |
| |Gatto, Holden, Logue, | | |
| |Nazarian, Patterson, | | |
| |Quirk-Silva, Waldron | | |
| | | | |
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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 AVTA
makes a specified determination on or before March 1, 2015.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a bus operated by AVTA 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 10 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,
e) Light-emitting diodes for illumination may include red,
provided the color formed by the mixing of light from the
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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
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
seconds and 10 seconds and requires blanking times between
each message to be between 0.5 seconds 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 the
authority may increase the number of buses with the signs to
30.
6)Requires AVTA, if it implements the pilot program, to submit
to the Legislature by January 1, 2019, a report on the
incidence of adverse impacts on roadway and pedestrian safety
due to the utilization of illuminated signs 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 on July 1, 2020.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Public transit agencies have long subsidized transit
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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.
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.
By 2013, Santa Monica had not started the pilot 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 before considering statewide authority, the
Legislature passed AB 541 (Daly), Chapter 133, Statutes of 2013,
granting UC Irvine the authority to operate a pilot program but
only if, by March 1, 2014, Santa Monica had not begun its own
program. Santa Monica has still not started the program so UC
Irvine has begun preparing to do its own pilot.
This bill allows AVTA to conduct an illuminated sign pilot
subject to the same requirements established for Santa Monica
and UC Irvine, but only if it determines that UC Irvine has
equipped fewer than 12 transit buses with signs by March 1,
2015. AVTA would be required to report to the Legislature on
its program, if implemented, by January 1, 2020, and its pilot
would sunset on July 1, 2020.
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093FN:
0003950
SB 1134
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