BILL NUMBER: AB 210	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        FEBRUARY 2, 2015

   An act to add and repeal Section 149.2 of the Streets and Highways
Code, relating to highways.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 210, as introduced, Gatto. High-occupancy vehicle lanes: County
of Los Angeles.
   Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to
designate certain lanes for the exclusive or preferential use of
high-occupancy vehicles. When those exclusive or preferential use
lanes are established and double parallel solid lines are in place to
the right thereof, existing law prohibits any person driving a
vehicle from crossing over those double lines to enter into or exit
from the lanes, and entrance or exit from those lanes is authorized
only in areas designated for these purposes or where a single broken
line is in place to the right of the lanes, except as specified.
    This bill would prohibit, commencing July 1, 2016, any
high-occupancy vehicle lane from being established on specified
portions of state highway routes in the County of Los Angeles, unless
that lane is established as a high-occupancy vehicle lane only
during the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as determined by the
department. The bill would require any existing high-occupancy
vehicle lane established on the specified portions of these routes to
be modified to conform with those requirements. The bill would
authorize the department, on or after May 1, 2017, to reinstate
24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes on the specified portions of
these routes if the department makes a specified determination and
would require the department to report to the Legislature on the
impact on traffic of limiting the use of high-occupancy lanes only
during the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as provided in the bill.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 149.2 is added to the Streets and Highways
Code, to read:
   149.2.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, except as otherwise
provided in subdivision (d), a high-occupancy vehicle lane shall not
be established on State Highway Route 134 between State Highway Route
170 and State Highway Route 210, or on State Highway Route 210
between State Highway Route 134 and State Highway Route 57, unless
the lane is established as a high-occupancy vehicle lane only during
the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as determined by the department.

   (b) Any existing high-occupancy vehicle lane located as described
in subdivision (a) shall be modified as necessary to conform with
subdivision (a).
   (c) (1) The department shall report to the Legislature on or
before January 1, 2018, on the impact on traffic of limiting the use
of high-occupancy vehicle lanes only during the hours of heavy
commuter traffic as provided in subdivision (a).
   (2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2022, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
   (3) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
   (d) On or after May 1, 2017, if the department determines that
there is an adverse impact on safety, traffic conditions, or the
environment by limiting the use of high-occupancy vehicle lanes only
during the hours of heavy commuter traffic as provided in subdivision
(a), the department may submit to the Assembly Committee on
Transportation and the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing
a notice of that determination and intent to reinstate 24-hour
high-occupancy vehicle lanes. The department thereafter may reinstate
24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
   (e) In addition to the routes identified in subdivision (a), the
department is encouraged to introduce offpeak hours on other
high-occupancy vehicle lanes in the County of Los Angeles in order to
provide greater mobility benefits to the community.
   (f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2016.
   (g) This section shall become inoperative 60 days after the date
the Legislature receives the notice described in subdivision (d) and
is repealed on January 1 thereafter. The department shall post the
date that the Legislature receives this notice on the department's
Internet Web site.