BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 726
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
726 (Nazarian)
As Amended April 29, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+----------------------+---------------------|
|Local |9-0 |Maienschein, | |
|Government | |Gonzalez, Alejo, | |
| | |Chiu, Cooley, Gordon, | |
| | |Holden, Linder, | |
| | |Waldron | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+----------------------+---------------------|
|Transportation |16-0 |Frazier, Achadjian, | |
| | |Baker, Bloom, Chu, | |
| | |Daly, Dodd, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Gomez, Kim, | |
| | |Linder, Medina, | |
| | |Melendez, Nazarian, | |
| | |O'Donnell, Santiago | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Authorizes the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) to operate articulated buses that
do not exceed 82 feet on the Orange Line in Los Angeles County.
Specifically, this bill:
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1)Provides an exemption to the vehicle length limit in existing
law to allow MTA to operate articulated buses that do not exceed
82 feet on the route designated as the Orange Line in Los
Angeles County.
2)Specifies that the authority granted by this bill to MTA is
subject to specified collective bargaining requirements.
3)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary because of
the unique circumstances of a large number of riders using buses
operated by MTA on the Orange Line and the need to reduce
overcrowding on those buses.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes MTA as the successor agency to the Southern
California Rapid Transit District and the Los Angeles County
Transportation Commission and prescribes its membership and
duties.
2)Prohibits a vehicle from exceeding a length of 40 feet and
creates a number of exemptions to that limit.
3)Prohibits an articulated bus from exceeding a length of 60 feet.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS:
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1)Bill Summary. This bill provides an exemption to the maximum
articulated bus length limit in current law and authorizes MTA
to use articulated buses up to 82 feet on the Orange Line route
in Los Angeles County. Additionally, this bill specifies that
MTA's use of the longer articulated buses is subject to
collective bargaining requirements. This bill is sponsored by
MTA.
2)MTA and the Orange Line. MTA was created pursuant to AB 152
(Katz), Chapter 60, Statutes of 1992, through the consolidation
of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the
Southern California Rapid Transit District. MTA is now the
third-largest public transportation system in the United States
by ridership, serving a 1,433 square mile area. After
purchasing and converting an abandoned railroad line parallel to
the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101), MTA opened the Orange Line in
the San Fernando Valley in October of 2005. The Orange Line
opened as a 14-mile route consisting of two-lane dedicated
busways for 60 foot articulated buses. The Orange Line crosses
34 streets and five midblock pedestrian crosswalks, and at
signalized intersections, loop detectors give Orange Line buses
traffic signal priority. Adjacent to the dedicated busways
there are eight miles of bicycle and pedestrian paths, with
designated on-street bike lanes for the remaining six miles. In
2012 MTA did a four-mile northern extension of the Orange Line,
connecting four new stations.
The use of longer articulated buses on the Orange Line was
identified as one of the suggestions to expand Orange Line
capacity and improve travel time in the Orange Line bus Rapid
Transit Sustainable Corridor Implementation Plan (Orange Line
CRT Sustainable CIP), developed by MTA in partnership with the
City of Los Angeles in 2011. In addition to examining
improvements to the existing bus rapid transit system, MTA also
analyzed the possible conversion of the Orange Line to a rail
service.
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As of November 1, 2009, MTA had 391 articulated buses in its
fleet, and contains a plan to assume 500 articulated buses in
the near term and another 100 beyond fiscal year 2020.
3)Author's Statement. According to the author, "This is a
district bill that will give MTA the flexibility needed to
address the growing demands of public transportation in the
Greater San Fernando Valley.
"In 1991, MTA purchased the Southern Pacific Burbank Branch.
After 15 years of examining potential transportation
alternatives, MTA constructed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along the
entire Southern Pacific Burbank Branch route, which is currently
known as the LA Metro Orange Line. Today, much like light rail,
the 18 mile Orange Line runs on dedicated bus lanes and uses a
dedicated right-of-way with stations approximately at one mile
intervals.
"The San Fernando Valley has since outgrown the BRT system.
When BRT was determined to be the preferred alternative, MTA
estimated that Orange Line ridership would average 16,000 riders
on weekdays. However as of September 2012, average ridership
was 31,787 - almost double the initial estimate. Ridership on
the Orange Line continues to grow rapidly each year. To add,
current Metro Orange Line operation has headway restrictions
that limit how many standard articulated buses can operate
there.
"Consequently, bi-articulated buses would allow for expansion of
capacity on this line. Bi-articulated buses can have up to 80
passenger seats, which would translate into an operating
capacity of 112 passengers. Bi-articulated buses currently
operate in South America (primarily Brazil) and in Europe
(Germany, Holland, Switzerland). The most common bi-articulated
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bus designs are about 82 feet in length.
"In order to effectively address the growing public
transportation needs of the San Fernando Valley, alleviate
congestion and take advantage of available transportation
resources, this bill will offer MTA the flexibility they need to
operate buses up to 82 feet in length along the Orange Line.
This bill does not impose a mandate, but rather unties the hands
of MTA to build appropriate alternative means of transportation
to properly serve its customers."
4)Prior Legislation. There is extensive legislative history
surrounding the discussion of bus length limits. This bill is
not MTA's first attempt to gain the authority to use larger
articulated buses on the Orange Line. SB 650 (Padilla) of 2007
would have authorized transit agencies to operate articulated
buses up to 65 feet subject to a number of restrictions,
including limiting the buses to operating on a dedicated
right-of-way, and the establishment of a route review committee.
The provisions relating to bus length were eventually amended
out of SB 650.
5)Policy Consideration. This bill authorizes MTA to use
articulated buses up to 82 feet on the route designated as the
Orange Line in Los Angeles County. MTA has the authority to
change and expand any of their routes, and although the Orange
Line currently has bus designated lanes, the authority granted
by this bill may have very different safety implications
depending on how the Orange Line is expanded or changed in the
future. The Legislature may wish to ask the author to consider
limiting the authority granted to MTA to operate articulated
buses up to 82 feet only on currently designated busways on the
Orange Line to address safety concerns about the compatibility
of these larger buses with other vehicles on regular city
streets.
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6)Arguments in Support. Supporters argue that this bill will give
the necessary local flexibility to address the growing demands
of public transportation in the greater San Fernando Valley.
7)Arguments in Opposition. Opposition argues that this bill will
allow for an increase of over 20% in the current legal length of
articulated buses in California and that this creates an unsafe
and dangerous driving condition placing both bus passengers and
the general driving public in danger.
Analysis Prepared by:
Misa Lennox / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN:
0000234