BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 1298 (Hernandez) - High occupancy toll lanes.
Amended: May 7, 2014 Policy Vote: T&H 11-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 19, 2014 Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1298 would remove specified limitations on the
state high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane program, thereby
authorizing any regional transportation agency to apply to the
California Transportation Commission (CTC) to develop and
operate HOT lanes. The bill would also delete the January 15,
2015 sunset on the authority for the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to operate HOT lanes
on State Highway Routes (SR) 10 and 110 in Los Angeles County,
and revise and recast those provisions.
Fiscal Impact:
CTC costs of approximately $200,000 per application for due
diligence reviews and approvals of HOT lane proposals.
(State Highway Account) It is unlikely that more than one
or two proposals would be submitted for approval in a single
year.
Caltrans costs for ongoing maintenance and California
Highway Patrol (CHP) costs for ongoing enforcement of new
HOT lane facilities would be fully recovered from toll
revenues, pursuant to required agreements with local
agencies.
Unknown costs and revenue gains for local transportation
agencies to develop and operate HOT lanes. For illustrative
purposes, HOT lanes administered by MTA generate
approximately $17 million annually.
Background: HOT lanes allow single-occupancy vehicles to use
designated HOV lanes at certain times of the day for a fee.
They are designed to accomplish four main goals: (1) increase
the use of HOV lanes; (2) relieve traffic congestion in other
lanes; (3) fund new transportation projects; and (4) test the
SB 1298 (Hernandez)
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concept of "value pricing programs," whereby the toll varies
depending on the time of day and level of congestion.
Existing law, as enacted by AB 1467 (Nunez), Chap. 32/2006,
established the HOT lane program, authorizing regional
transportation entities to submit applications to the CTC until
January 1, 2012 for the development and operation of HOT lanes.
AB 1467 required the Legislature to select HOT lane projects by
enacting legislation, and limited the authorization to four
projects, two each in southern and northern California. The
CTC's role is limited to establishing eligibility criteria,
determining whether a particular project is eligible, holding
public hearings in both northern and southern California on each
eligible application, and submitting eligible applications to
the Legislature for approval or rejection.
Subsequently, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed
AB 1954 (Jeffries), Chap. 421/2008, authorizing the Riverside
County Transportation Commission to operate HOT lanes on SR 15
in Riverside County, and AB 1422 (Ridley-Thomas), Chap.
547/2008, authorizing MTA, in cooperation with Caltrans, to
operate a value-pricing and transit development demonstration
program on SR 10 and 110 in Los Angeles County. The authority
to operate HOT lanes on SR 10 and 110 are subject to specified
parameters, limits, and conditions. Existing law requires MTA
and Caltrans to report specified information on the HOT lane
demonstration program to the Legislature by December 31, 2014,
and sunsets the authority for MTA to operate HOT lanes on SR 10
and 110 on January 15, 2015.
Proposed Law: Regarding the state HOT lane program, SB 1298
would:
Delete the 2012 deadline for regional transportation
agencies to submit HOT lane applications to the CTC, and
delete the limit on the number of facilities that may be
approved by the CTC.
Subject HOT lane proposals to CTC review and approval.
Require the Governor to include resources for the CTC to
fulfill the bill's requirements in the proposed annual
budget.
Regarding MTA's authority to operate HOT lanes on SR 10 and 110,
SB 1298 would delete the authorizing statute and recast it by
making the following changes:
SB 1298 (Hernandez)
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Deleting the sunset date, thereby authorizing MTA to
operate the HOT lanes indefinitely.
Deleting a prohibition against MTA issuing bonds for the
demonstration program.
Deleting a requirement that MTA get the consent of
Caltrans to establish performance measures ensuring optimal
use of the HOT lanes.
Authorizing MTA to change the vehicle occupancy
requirement for access to the HOT lanes.
Deleting specified conditions under which MTA may
implement a demonstration program.
Requiring agreements between MTA, Caltrans, and CHP to
identify obligations, liabilities, and responsibilities of
each party, and to explicitly provide reimbursement of
state agencies for costs related to implementation and
operation of the program and maintenance of the state
highway system in connection with the program.
Delaying the deadline for a report to the Legislature by
one month.
Staff Comments: The statute that enacted the state HOT lane
program required CTC to establish eligibility criteria, review
applications to determine eligibility, and holding public
hearings on the HOT lane proposals. SB 1298 would impose the
additional duty of approving applications for new HOT lanes,
which would require CTC to update program guidelines. As part
of the approval process, CTC would need to analyze revenue and
operational analyses submitted by applicants. CTC indicates
that staffing responsibilities to administer the program could
be absorbed, but the bill would likely require contracting with
financial and technical consultants to conduct a robust review
of proposals at a cost of approximately $200,000 per
application.