BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 914


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          Date of Hearing:  May 13, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          914 (Brown) - As Amended April 29, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill authorizes the San Bernardino County Transportation  
          Commission to operate a value-pricing program on the Interstate  
          10 and Interstate 15 corridors within the county. Specifically,  
          this bill:








                                                                     AB 914


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          1)Authorizes the commission to levy and collect tolls for  
            construction, operation, and maintenance expenditures related  
            to the value-pricing program, and requires any excess revenues  
            generated by the program to benefit the two corridors pursuant  
            to an expenditure plan adopted by the commission.


          2)Requires the commission to carry out the program in  
            cooperation with the Caltrans pursuant to a cooperative  
            agreement as specified.


          3)Requires the commission, within three years after first  
            collecting tolls, to report to the Legislative Analyst on its  
            findings, conclusions, and recommendations concerning the  
            transportation facilities.


          4)Declares that the provisions of this bill do not authorize the  
            conversion of any existing non-tolled or nonuser-fee lanes,  
            except than a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane may be  
            converted to a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Any costs to the commission are nonreimbursable, as they would  
          be incurred only to the extent the commission elects to exercise  
          the authority provided in the bill. Any costs to the Caltrans  
          would be absorbable within existing resources.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Background. Value-priced toll facilities (e.g., HOT lanes) are  








                                                                     AB 914


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            increasingly being implemented in metropolitan areas around  
            the state and the nation, primarily to deal with increased  
            congestion.  HOT lanes allow single-occupant or  
            lower-occupancy vehicles to use an HOV lane for a fee while  
            maintaining free or reduced travel to qualifying HOVs.  
            Although value-pricing programs should be primarily a  
            congestion management tool, they may have the added benefit of  
            generating net revenue that can be put back into the corridor  
            from which it was generated for additional improvements or  
            other benefits.


          2)Purpose. The San Bernardino Association of Governments  
            (SANBAG), which is also legally organized as the county  
            transportation commission, is proposing two projects for which  
            it is seeking authority to impose tolls:



             a)   The proposed I-10 Corridor Project consists of improving  
               all or a portion of the existing 35-mile stretch of I-10  
               from the City of Pomona to the City of Redlands.  As a  
               major regional east-west freeway corridor, I-10 is heavily  
               used by travelers between Los Angeles and San Bernardino  
               counties and it is also a major truck route between  
               southern California and the rest of the nation.  



             b)   The proposed I-15 Corridor Project consists of  
               improvements on the 35-mile stretch of I-15 in San  
               Bernardino County.  As a major regional north-south freeway  
               corridor, I-15 is heavily used by commuters and  
               recreational travelers, and is also a major goods-movement  
               corridor.

            SANBAG hopes to have statutory authority in place to develop  
            toll facilities (including HOT lanes) before it begins the  
            process of applying for financing under the federal  








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            Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act  
            (TIFIA).  The TIFIA program provides federal credit assistance  
            in the form of direct loans, loan guarantees, and standby  
            lines of credit to finance surface transportation projects of  
            national and regional significance.  In the case of HOT lanes,  
            the federal government requires legal authority to be  
            established prior to beginning the process of applying for  
            TIFIA financing.

            This bill is similar to prior legislation providing similar  
            authority for HOT lane facilities in Alameda, San Diego, and  
            Santa Clara counties. 



          Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081