BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1298
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1298 (Ed Hernandez)
As Amended June 17, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :31-0
TRANSPORTATION 12-1 APPROPRIATIONS 15-1
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|Ayes:|Lowenthal, Linder, |Ayes:|Bigelow, Bocanegra, |
| |Achadjian, Bloom, Bonta, | |Bradford, |
| |Buchanan, Daly, Frazier, | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| |Nazarian, Patterson, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Quirk-Silva, Waldron | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Gatto |Nays:|Gatto |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Repeals and recasts specific authority for the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) to operate a
value-pricing and transit development program (program) including
high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on State Route (SR) 10 and SR 110.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals LACMTA's authority to operate a value-pricing and transit
development demonstration program on SR 10 and SR 110 involving
HOT lanes; instead, recasts authority for LACMTA to conduct,
administer, and operate the program indefinitely and generally
under the same terms and conditions that governed the
demonstration program.
2)Requires agreements between LACMTA, California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), and California Highway Patrol to
provide for reimbursement to the state agencies from toll
revenues, or other funding sources that are not otherwise
available to state agencies for transportation-related projects,
for costs incurred in connection with implementation or operation
of the HOT lanes and for maintenance of state highway facilities
related to the HOT lanes.
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3)Explicitly authorizes, pursuant to an expenditure plan adopted by
LACMTA, all remaining revenue to be used in the corridor in which
it was generated for preconstruction, construction, and other
related costs of High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) facilities,
transportation corridor improvements, and improved transit service
in the corridor.
4)Directs LACMTA to continue to work with affected communities to
provide mitigation measures for commuters of low income, including
reduced toll charges and toll credits for transit users.
5)Grants LACMTA authority to issue revenue bonds related to the
program.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
Caltrans indicates that the two HOT lanes have generated nearly $17
million in toll revenue in the first 10 months of operation. Under
its agreement with LACMTA, Caltrans is reimbursed for its associated
operational and maintenance expenditures.
COMMENTS : This bill sets forth provisions to govern LACMTA's HOT
lanes going forward after its successful demonstration period.
These provisions generally mirror the original demonstration program
and reflect similar statutory authority granted to other
transportation agencies to develop and operate HOT lanes. There are
some notable differences, however, between the authorities granted
in this bill versus the demonstration program. For example,
provisions specifically related to the start-up of the demonstration
program are not included in the ongoing authority provided for in
this bill, such as requirements for public outreach, communication
plans, and public hearings. However, this bill still requires
LACMTA to work with affected communities to provide ongoing
mitigation measures for commuter of low income, including reduced
tolls and toll credits for transit users. Furthermore, this bill
explicitly provides that LACMTA has the authority to continue to
require HOVs to use an electronic toll tag for enforcement purposes
and would allow LACMTA to change the minimum occupancy standard for
free access to the HOT lane.
This bill deviates from other HOT lane statutes in that it
specifically authorizes the use of toll revenues to pay for
transportation corridor improvements, including improvements that
may or may not be directly linked to the HOT lane facility so long
as the improvements are in the same corridor as the HOT lane. This
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bill further deviates from established HOT lane parameters in that
it requires LACMTA to reimburse Caltrans for maintenance of HOT lane
facilities. The issue of using HOT lane revenue to pay for state
highway maintenance is generating increasingly hearty debates
between state and regional transportation agencies. Some have
suggested that the state is entitled to a share of HOT lane revenues
as a "return on its investment" in the state highway system.
Revenues received from HOT lanes could be applied to the state's
woefully underfunded maintenance program.
The Self-Help Counties Coalition (SHCC) takes a different, although
not necessarily mutually exclusive view. SHCC asserts that
decisions over revenue allocation should rest with the agency
assuming the project development, construction, and financing risk.
(In this bill, that agency is LACMTA.) Although SHCC suggests that
local and regional agencies should work with Caltrans to ensure
corridor system management tools such as tolls are used effectively,
any amount of revenue dedicated to maintenance of adjacent general
purpose lanes, for example, should be determined by the regional
agency, albeit in consultation with Caltrans.
There is no opposition to this bill concerning the continuation of
LACMTA's ExpressLanes. (The Department of Finance expressed
opposition to provisions in an earlier version of the bill that have
since been deleted.)
Related legislation: AB 2250 (Daly) of the current legislative
session, requires any revenue generated in managed lanes to be used
in the corridor in which it was generated. AB 2250 is on the Senate
Third Reading.
SB 983 (Ed Hernandez) of the current legislative session, provides
regional transportation agencies the opportunity to apply to the CTC
for approval to operate HOT lanes. SB 983 is in Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
Previous legislation: SB 1422 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 547,
Statutes of 2008, authorized LACMTA's value-pricing and transit
development demonstration project.
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN:
0004491
SB 1298
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