BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 620|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 620
Author: Roger Hernández (D)
Amended: 1/27/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 9-1, 6/28/16
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Gaines, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza,
Roth, Wieckowski
NOES: Bates
NO VOTE RECORDED: Galgiani
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/1/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-26, 1/28/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: High-occupancy toll lanes: exemptions from tolls
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill directs the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (METRO) to make additional outreach
efforts for the low-income assistance program related to its
high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane program known as the
ExpressLanes.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Authorizes METRO to conduct, administer, and operate the
ExpressLanes program on Interstate 10 (I-10) and Interstate
110 (I-110) in Los Angeles County.
2)Requires METRO, when implementing the program, to work with
affected communities in the two highway corridors and provide
mitigation measures for low-income commuters, including
reduced toll charges and toll credits for transit users.
3)Requires that participants in the low-income assistance
program meet eligibility requirements for any one of several
specific public assistance programs.
This bill:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding the
potential for greater participation in METRO's low-income
assistance program.
2)Directs METRO to take additional steps to increase enrollment
in its low-income assistance program, including consideration
of greater incentives to encourage participation in the
program.
3)Directs METRO and the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to report to the Legislature on efforts to improve
METRO's ExpressLanes program, including greater participation
in the low-income assistance program and the overall
performance of the HOT lanes.
Comments
1)Purpose. The author introduced this bill because he is
concerned about the impact that the ExpressLanes program is
having on constituents in his district, particularly
low-income constituents. He has voiced concerns that the
ExpressLanes program was supposed to improve commutes for all
users in the corridor, not just the toll-paying ones. He
asserts that these improvements have not, however,
materialized, and that lanes adjacent to the tolled lanes
experience longer periods of congestion now than they did
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prior to the start of the ExpressLanes program. Consequently,
commuters that can afford to pay the tolls enjoy shorter
commutes at the expense of non-paying commuters (including his
low-income constituents), for those whose travel times have
worsened.
2)METRO's ExpressLanes program. SB 1422 (Ridley-Thomas, Chapter
547, Statutes of 2008) authorized METRO, until January 15,
2013, to develop and operate a value-pricing and transit
development demonstration program involving HOT lanes,
referred to as ExpressLanes. The program was primarily funded
with a $210 million congestion reduction demonstration grant
from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Tolling began in
November 2012 on the I-110 and in February 2013 on the I-10.
AB 1224 (Eng, Chapter 441, Statutes of 2010) extended the
sunset and reporting dates for the ExpressLanes program from
January 2013 to January 2015, and SB 1298 (Hernández, Chapter
531, Statutes of 2013) recast the program and extended it
indefinitely.
3)METRO's low-income assistance program. METRO's low-income
assistance program is the first in the nation to address
equity concerns on toll-lane projects and has been, by many
accounts, generally successful. METRO reports that the
ExpressLanes program has invested over $150 million in
transit-related improvements along the I-110 and I-10
corridors, including a new transit center in El Monte, 59 new
buses for transit providers, and safety improvements to the
Harbor Transitway.
To participate in METRO's low-income assistance program, an
individual must be a Los Angeles County resident with an
annual household income at or below two times the federal
poverty level (e.g., $40,180 for a three-person household).
Applications for the program can be submitted by mail or at
one of two walk-in centers. Qualifying residents receive a
$25 credit when they set up an account, which can be applied
to either the transponder deposit or pre-paid toll deposit.
The monthly account maintenance fee is waived. As of May
2016, 10,344 households are enrolled in the low-income
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assistance program out of over 488,802 Express Lane accounts.
This bill simply provides METRO with clarification and
direction to continue its efforts in administering its
low-income assistance programs and further provides additional
legislative oversight by requiring METRO to issue a report on
its efforts to improve mobility options for low-income
travelers along these corridors.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:
YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one-time
Caltrans costs of up to $100,000 over two years for
administrative duties related to the study. These costs are
likely recoverable from toll revenues, subject to a
supplementary agreement with METRO.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/2/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/2/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-26, 1/28/16
AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, McCarty,
Medina, Mullin, O'Donnell, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber,
Williams, Wood, Atkins
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NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,
Chávez, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gatto, Grove, Hadley,
Harper, Jones, Kim, Maienschein, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte,
Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mathis, Nazarian
Prepared by:Manny Leon / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
8/3/16 18:43:12
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