BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1298|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1298
Author: Hernandez (D)
Amended: 8/19/14
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 11-0, 4/29/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14
AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 31-0, 5/27/14
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Block, Corbett, Correa, De León,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu,
Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg,
Vidak, Walters, Wolk, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, Jackson, Liu,
Mitchell, Torres, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-7, 8/21/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : High-occupancy toll lanes
SOURCE : Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority
DIGEST : This bill deletes the January 15, 2015 sunset on the
authority for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
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Authority (LACMTA) to operate high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on
State Highway Routes (SRs) 10 and 110 in Los Angeles County, and
revise and recast those provisions.
Assembly Amendments delete the section of the bill which
authorized any regional transportation agency to apply to the
California Transportation Commission (CTC) to develop and
operate HOT lanes; revise and recast, with similar intent as it
left the Senate, the portion of the bill related to LACMTA
authority to operate HOT lanes on SRs 10 and 110; and explicitly
authorize LACMTA to issue bonds related to the program.
ANALYSIS : Until 2012, existing law authorized regional
transportation agencies, in cooperation with the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), to apply to the CTC to develop and
operate HOT lanes. An agency operating a HOT lane essentially
sells excess capacity in under-subscribed high-occupancy vehicle
lanes to single-occupant vehicle drivers by charging a toll.
This authority limited CTC to deeming up to four HOT lane
projects eligible for construction, two in Northern California
and two in Southern California. The CTC was also required to
hold public hearings on any eligible project. The original
legislation required the Legislature to ultimately approve any
HOT lane projects deemed eligible by the CTC; subsequent
legislation eliminated the legislative approval requirement, but
failed to identify the replacement entity ultimately responsible
for approving the project.
HOT lanes typically employ a pricing method known as value
pricing or congestion pricing. Under this scheme, the amount of
the toll varies in accordance with the level of congestion in
that particular lane, such that as congestion increases, so too
will the toll amount. As the price to use the lane goes up,
fewer people presumably will choose to use it, thereby reducing
demand for the facility and maintaining free-flow travel
conditions. With this mechanism, an agency can ensure that
operation of the toll facility does not undermine the intended
benefits of promoting carpooling with access to the faster
high-occupancy vehicle lane.
In 2008, following an eligibility review by the CTC, the
Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1422
(Ridley-Thomas, Chapter 547), which allowed LACMTA, in
cooperation with Caltrans, to operate a value-pricing and
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transit development demonstration program. Under this program,
which LACMTA refers to as "ExpressLanes," LACMTA converted the
high-occupancy vehicle lanes on portions of SR-10 and SR-110 in
Los Angeles County to HOT lanes.
SB 1422 established the conditions under which LACMTA could
implement the program, including the following:
1.LACMTA could implement the program with Caltrans, and needed
Caltrans' consent to establish appropriate performance
measures for ensuring optimal use of the HOT lanes.
2.LACMTA could not change the minimum vehicle occupancy standard
for free access to the HOT lane during the demonstration
period.
3.Each proposed HOT lane must have non-tolled alternatives
available for public use in the same corridor.
4.LACMTA could use toll revenues generated from the program for
the direct expenses related to the maintenance,
administration, and operation, including collection and
enforcement, of the demonstration program. It could spend no
more than 3% of toll revenues on administration expenses.
5.LACMTA must adopt an expenditure plan in which all revenues in
excess of those necessary for the implementation of the
program are spent in the corridor from which the revenue was
generated exclusively for preconstruction, construction, and
related costs of HOT facilities and the improvement of transit
service in the corridor.
In addition, SB 1422 required LACMTA to conduct a public
outreach plan to solicit input in the development of the
demonstration program, and to identify the affected communities
and work with those communities to identify impacts and develop
measures to mitigate those impacts.
Under existing law, LACMTA and Caltrans shall, by December 31,
2014, provide a report to the Legislature on, among other
things, the impact of the program on carpoolers and affected
communities, as well as how the program impacted transit service
or alternative modes of transportation. The authority for
LACMTA to operate this HOT lane demonstration program expires
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January 15, 2015.
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, Caltrans, and the
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.
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 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 : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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.
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SUPPORT : (Verified 8/21/14)
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(source)
Avalon Church of Christ
Bethany Baptist Church of West Los Angeles
Bible Enrichment Fellowship International Church
Bryant Temple
Christ the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Christian's Community Center
City on the Hill
Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship
Divine Deliverance Ministries
Foothill Transit
Grace Temple Baptist Church
Greater True Light M.B.C., Inc.
Greater Zion Church Family
HNTB Corporation
LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles County Business Federation
Los Angeles World Airports
Macedonia Baptist Church
Mount Moriah Baptist Church of Los Angeles, Inc.
Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church
Music Center
New Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church
Paradise Baptist Church
Saint Paul Baptist Church
San Bernardino Associated Governments
Southern California Association of Governments
St. Andrews Missionary Baptist Church
True Friendship Missionary Baptist Church
True Vine Baptist Church
Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-7, 8/21/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
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Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, John A. Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Gatto, Gonzalez, Roger Hernández, Levine, Mansoor,
Skinner, Weber
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, V. Manuel Pérez, Vacancy
JA:e 8/21/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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