BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 194 (Frazier) - High-occupancy toll lanes
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|Version: July 2, 2015 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 10 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 194 would authorize the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) and regional transportation agencies
to apply to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to
develop and operate high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes or other
toll facilities, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
CTC costs of approximately $200,000 per application for due
diligence reviews and approvals of project proposals. Costs
to review proposals submitted by regional transportation
agencies will be reimbursed by the applicant, but CTC would
need additional resources for each proposal submitted by
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Caltrans. (State Highway Account)
Minor and absorbable CTC costs to revise guidelines and
administer the program. (State Highway Account)
Unknown costs to Caltrans and regional transportation agencies
to develop and operate HOT lanes. The bill authorizes
Caltrans and regional transportation agencies to retain up to
three percent of toll revenues for administrative expenses
related to the operation of the facilities.
Unknown toll revenue gains for Caltrans and regional
transportation agencies related to the operation of HOT lanes
and other toll facilities. For illustrative purposes, HOT
lanes administered by MTA generate approximately $17 million
annually. Excess revenues must be used within the corridor
from which it was generated.
Background: HOT lanes allow single-occupancy vehicles to use designated
High-Occupancy Vehicle (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 concept of "value pricing programs," whereby the toll varies
depending on the time of day and level of congestion. Another
value-pricing model is express lanes, which are toll roads that
may allow high-occupancy vehicles to access the lanes for free
or at a reduced toll.
Existing law authorizes the San Diego Association of
Governments, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority,
and the Alameda County Transportation Commission to construct
and operate HOT lanes. AB 1467 (Nunez), Ch. 32/2006,
established a HOT lane demonstration program that authorized
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 in the demonstration program was 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,
AB 194 (Frazier) Page 2 of
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and submitting eligible applications to the Legislature for
approval or rejection. The CTC subsequently approved HOT lane
facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles County,
and Riverside County.
Existing law requires toll revenues generated from HOT lanes and
express toll lanes to be expended within the corridor of the
managed lanes.
Proposed Law:
AB 194 provides general authority for Caltrans and regional
transportation agencies to develop and operate HOT lanes or
other toll facilities, including value pricing programs and
exclusive or preferential lane facilities for public transit or
freight, subject to review and approval by CTC. Specifically,
this bill would:
Require CTC to review and approve each application for toll
facilities, and conduct at least one public hearing at or near
the proposed facility.
Require CTC to establish eligibility criteria to include, at a
minimum, all of the following:
o Demonstration that the proposed facility will
improve the corridor's performance, as specified.
o A requirement that the facility is contained in a
regional transportation plan, regional transportation
improvement program, or interregional transportation
improvement program, as specified.
o Evidence of cooperation between Caltrans and the
relevant regional transportation agency.
o A discussion of how the proposed facility meets
statutory requirements.
o A requirement that the proposed facility has
received environmental clearance.
Require CTC to establish guidelines for the development and
operation of toll facilities with the following minimum
requirements:
o The development and operation of facilities must be
a cooperative effort between Caltrans and the appropriate
regional transportation agency, with the active
participation of the California Highway Patrol, pursuant
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to agreements.
o The applicant entity is responsible for
establishing, collecting, and administering tolls, and
for paying for the maintenance of facilities from net
toll revenue, as specified.
o Toll revenues will be available to the applicant for
direct expenses related to the maintenance,
administration, and operation of the facilities,
including toll collection and enforcement.
Administrative expenses to operate facilities are limited
to three percent of toll revenues, and excess revenues
are to be used in the corridor from which it was
generated, pursuant to an expenditure plan.
o Authority to operate toll facilities does not
preclude the construction of competing facilities, and
the applicant is not entitled to compensation for a
competing facility's adverse impact on toll revenue.
Require a regional transportation agency applicant, but not
Caltrans, to reimburse CTC for all costs and expenses incurred
in processing the application.
Authorize a regional transportation agency to issue bonds
payable from toll revenues.
Require a regional transportation agency to consult with
relevant local transportation authorities and congestion
management agencies and provide the opportunity to enter into
an agreement related to the toll facility, prior to submitting
an application.
Specify that the authority to develop and operate toll
facilities neither prohibits nor authorizes the conversion of
any existing non-tolled lanes into tolled lanes, except that a
high-occupancy vehicle lane may be converted to a HOT lane.
Related
Legislation: AB 914 (Brown) would authorize the San Bernardino
County Transportation Commission to conduct, administer, and
operate a value-pricing program on Interstate 10 and Interstate
15 in San Bernardino County. AB 914 was approved by this
Committee on July 13, 2015, and is currently pending on the
Senate Floor.
SB 983 (Hernandez), which was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's Suspense File in 2014, would also
have authorized Caltrans or any regional transportation agency
to apply to the CTC to develop and operate HOT lanes. Although
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that version of SB 983 was not heard by this Committee, the
language was previously included in SB 1298 (Hernandez), which
was approved by this Committee on May 23, 2014.
Staff
Comments: The existing statutes governing the state HOT lane
demonstration program require CTC to establish eligibility
criteria, review applications to determine eligibility, and hold
public hearings on the HOT lane proposals. AB 194 would specify
the minimum eligibility criteria and 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 update guidelines and to generally
administer the program could be absorbed, but the Commission
would need to contract with financial and technical consultants
to conduct a robust review of proposals prior to approval at a
cost of approximately $200,000 per application. The bill
requires regional transportation agencies to reimburse CTC for
all costs and expenses incurred in the processing of an
application, but these costs would be borne by the State Highway
Account for proposals submitted by Caltrans.
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