BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 210
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 23, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Frazier, Chair
AB
210 (Gatto) - As Introduced February 2, 2015
SUBJECT: High-occupancy vehicle lanes: County of Los Angeles
SUMMARY: Requires the conversion of high-occupancy vehicle
(HOV) lanes on State Route (SR) 134 and SR 210 from full-time to
part-time operation. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits, notwithstanding any other law [except if the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) makes a
specific determination, described below], an HOV lane from
being established on SR 134 between SR 170 and SR 210, or on
SR 210 between SR 134 and SR 57 unless the HOV lane is
established on a part-time basis.
2)Requires any existing HOV lanes on these routes also to be
converted to part-time operation.
3)Requires Caltrans to report to the Legislature by January 1,
2018, on the impact to traffic by converting these HOV lane
segments to part-time operation.
4)Provides that, on or after May 1, 2017, if Caltrans determines
that part-time operation of these lanes has resulted in an
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adverse impact on safety, traffic conditions, or the
environment, it may notify the Assembly Committee on
Transportation and the Senate Committee on Transportation and
Housing of its intent to reinstate the lanes to 24-hour
operation; thereafter, specifically authorizes Caltrans to
reinstate full-time operation of the HOV lanes.
5)Encourages Caltrans to introduce part-time operations on other
HOV lanes in Los Angeles County.
6)Makes provisions requiring the conversion of specific routes
to part-time HOV operation operative on July 1, 2016, and
repeals these same provisions 60 days after Caltrans notifies
the Legislature of its intent to reinstate the lanes to
24-hour operation; requires Caltrans to post the date that the
Legislature receives the notice on the department's web site.
EXISTING
LAW:
1)Authorizes Caltrans and local authorities, with respect to
highways under their respective jurisdictions, to permit
preferential use of highway lanes for HOVs, under specific
conditions.
2)Requires Caltrans, or the appropriate local entity, to produce
engineering reports that estimate the effect of an HOV lane
prior to establishing the lane. The reports must evaluate the
proposals for safety, congestion, and highway capacity.
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3)Vests, under federal law, state departments of transportation
with responsibility for establishing occupancy requirements
for vehicles using HOV lanes, except that the requirement can
be no less than two occupants.
FISCAL
EFFECT: Last session, the author introduced AB 405, a bill
nearly identical to AB 210. According to the Assembly
Appropriation Committee's analysis of AB 405, that bill would
have resulted in one-time special fund costs to Caltrans of
around $360,000 for sign replacement. Similar costs would have
been incurred if the HOV lanes were reverted back to full-time
operation.
Costs related to AB 210 are likely to be similar to those
identified for last session's AB 405.
COMMENTS: The primary purpose of an HOV lane is to increase the
total number of people moved through a congested corridor by
offering two kinds of incentives: a savings in travel time and a
reliable and predictable travel time. Because HOV lanes carry
vehicles with a higher number of occupants, they may move
significantly more people during congested periods, even when
the number of vehicles that use the HOV lane is lower than on
the adjoining general-purpose lanes.
State and regional transportation agencies are required to
ensure that federally supported highway and transit projects do
not cause new air quality violations, worsen existing
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violations, or delay timely attainment of air quality standards.
Consequently, when transportation agencies identify a need to
add highway capacity, their options are limited. They often
rely on the addition of HOV lanes, which are generally
considered a viable solution to adding highway capacity in
nonattainment areas-i.e., where air quality is worse than the
national ambient air quality standards.
In northern California, HOV lanes are only operational Monday
through Friday during posted peak congestion hours, for example
between 6 a.m. - 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. All other vehicles
may use the lanes during off-peak hours. This is referred to as
"part-time" operation.
In southern California, HOV lanes are generally separated from
other lanes by a buffer zone. HOV lanes are in effect 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week--referred to as "full-time" operation. (SR
14 is an exception. Previous legislation (AB 1871, Runner,
Chapter 337, Statutes of 2000) created a demonstration project
to evaluate part-time use of the HOV lanes on SR 14. Caltrans
continues to operate part-time HOV lanes on a portion of SR 14.)
The operational practices vary differently between northern
California versus southern California because of traffic volumes
and commuter patterns in the two regions. Northern California
highways usually experience two weekday congestion periods
during peak morning and afternoon commute hours, followed by a
long period of non-congestion. Full-time operation would leave
the HOV lane relatively unoccupied during off-peak hours and
would not constitute an efficient use of the roadway. Southern
California normally experiences very long hours of congestion,
typically between six to eleven hours per day, with short
off-peak traffic hours. Part-time operation under these
conditions is generally considered infeasible.
HOV lanes work best where significant roadway congestion during
peak periods occurs. (Optimum HOV lane usage is generally
considered to be about 1,650 vehicles per hour. In contrast,
mixed-flow lanes are generally expected optimally to carry
between 1,800 and 2,000 vehicles per hour.) Experience with HOV
lanes from around the country has shown a positive relationship
between ridership and travel time savings, suggesting that, as
congestion grows, the travelers' willingness to carpool or ride
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on a bus that uses an HOV lane also grows.
Caltrans reports annually on the use of its HOV system. In its
2014 HOV report, Caltrans reported that the average peak-hour
volume in the SR 134 HOV lane was 1,157 vehicles, notably below
the optimum volume of 1,650 vehicles per hour. In the SR 210
HOV lane, Caltrans reported the average peak-hour usage at 1,281
vehicles. Data for both highways indicate that the HOV lane
usage drops substantially after the 6:00 p.m. hour.
The author introduced this bill because "motorists who do not
qualify for the carpool lane are frequently caught in
bumper-to-bumper traffic at odd hours of the night while carpool
lanes may be underutilized. This bill would offer an
opportunity for flexibility, especially in areas where people
drive the freeways at all hours of the day."
Previous Legislation: Last session, the Legislature passed AB
405 (Gatto), a bill identical to AB 210 except for the specified
dates. AB 405 received only two "NO" votes on both the Assembly
and Senate Floors. Governor Brown vetoed the bill stating,
"Carpool lanes are especially important in Los Angeles County to
reduce pollution and maximize use of freeways. We should retain
the current 24/7 carpool lane control."
AB 2200 (Ma) of 2012, would have suspended the HOV lane on
eastbound Interstate 80 in the San Francisco Bay Area during the
morning commute. That bill was passed by the Legislature but
ultimately vetoed by Governor Brown. In his veto message, the
Governor stated, "Encouraging carpooling is important to reduce
pollution and make more efficient use of our highways. This
bill goes in a wrong direction."
AB 1871 (Runner), Chapter 337, Statutes of 2000, prohibited,
until June 1, 2002, HOV lanes from being constructed on SR 14
between the City of Santa Clarita and the City of Palmdale
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unless the lane was established as an HOV lane only during the
hours of heavy commuter traffic. That bill also required the
Legislative Analyst Office to report on the traffic impact of
the part-time HOV lanes. That report found that limiting the
HOV lane to part-time operation had "essentially no effect on
traffic congestion, either positive or negative."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared
by: Janet Dawson/TRANS./(916) 319-2093