BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 210 Hearing Date: 6/23/2015
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|Author: |Gatto |
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|Version: |2/2/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Eric Thronson |
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SUBJECT: High-occupancy vehicle lanes: County of Los Angeles
DIGEST: This bill restricts the hours of operation of
high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on State Route (SR) 134 and
SR 210 in Los Angeles County.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law permits the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) or local transportation agencies to designate
particular segments of highway lanes as exclusive or
preferential lanes for HOVs (HOV lanes), granting access only to
vehicles with more than one occupant. Prior to establishing an
HOV lane, existing law requires Caltrans or the local
transportation agency to complete a traffic engineering
assessment of the proposed HOV lane on safety, congestion, and
highway capacity.
In some instances HOV lanes are only restricted to
high-occupancy vehicles at certain specified times of day when
congestion is generally heaviest, and available to any vehicle
during less-congested times. In other instances, HOV lanes are
restricted to high-occupancy vehicles all hours of the day
regardless of congestion levels.
This bill:
1)As of July 1, 2016, restricts the hours of operation of any
HOV lanes on SR 134 between SR 170 and SR 210 and HOV lanes on
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SR 210 between SR 134 and SR 57 in Los Angeles County to the
times of day with heavy commuter traffic, as determined by
Caltrans.
2)Requires Caltrans to report to the Legislature on the traffic
impact of limiting operations of these HOV lanes by January 1,
2018.
3)Allows Caltrans to reinstate 24-hour HOV lanes on or after May
1, 2017, if Caltrans determines that restricting the hours of
operation has created an adverse impact on safety, congestion,
or the environment and submits a notice of such determination
to the Legislature.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, the 24-hour HOV lane
restrictions in Southern California lead to motorists
frequently being caught in bumper-to-bumper congestion at odd
hours of the night while the HOV lane remains empty. The
author contends that this bill resolves this issue on SR 134
and SR 210 by mandating that Caltrans only restrict access to
the HOV lanes on these highways during the most congested
times of day, as determined by Caltrans.
2)Potentially concerning precedent. Environmental advocates
claim that HOV lanes are a proven way to encourage carpooling,
reduce congestion, and manage traffic without adding new
general-purpose lanes. HOV lanes can be challenging to
implement, however, due to general assumptions made by the
affected public that they provide little benefit to average
drivers and do not relieve congestion. Advocates for HOV
lanes suggest that, due to their complicated and controversial
nature, changes to HOV lane restrictions such as operational
periods and occupancy requirements should be based upon
detailed technical analyses conducted by traffic operations
experts and not driven by general assumptions or anecdotal
experience. Some are concerned about the precedent this bill
would set for the Legislature to make decisions involving HOV
lanes without basing those decisions on sound traffic
engineering studies.
3)Previously vetoed 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
AB 210 (Gatto) Page 3 of ?
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."
Further, in 2012 the Legislature passed and sent to Governor
Brown AB 2200 (Ma), which suspended the HOV lane on eastbound
Interstate 80 in the San Francisco Bay Area during the morning
commute. That bill was also 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."
In light of Governor Brown's apparent feeling about bills of
this nature, the committee may wish to consider why this bill
may enjoy a different fate from last year's effort.
Related Legislation:
AB 2200 (Ma, Statutes of 2012) - suspended the HOV lane on
eastbound Interstate 80 in the San Francisco Bay Area during the
morning commute. That bill was vetoed.
AB 405 (Gatto, Statutes of 2013) - a bill identical to AB 210
except for the specified dates. That bill was vetoed.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 77-1
Appr: 16-0
Trans: 15-0
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 17, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
None received
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OPPOSITION:
None received
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