BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 914 (Brown) - Toll facilities: County of San Bernardino
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|Version: June 30, 2015 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 10 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: July 13, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 914 would authorize the San Bernardino County
Transportation Commission (SBCTC) to conduct, administer, and
operate a value-pricing program on Interstate 10 (I-10) and
Interstate 15 (I-15) in San Bernardino County.
Fiscal
Impact:
Unknown costs and revenue gains for SBCTC to develop and
operate HOT lanes and express lanes (local funds). For
illustrative purposes, High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes
administered by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation
Agency generate approximately $17 million annually.
AB 914 (Brown) Page 1 of
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Department of Transportation (Caltrans) costs for ongoing
maintenance and California Highway Patrol (CHP) costs for
ongoing enforcement of new toll lane facilities would be fully
recovered from toll revenues, pursuant to required agreements
with SBCTC.
Background: HOT lanes allow single-occupancy vehicles to use designated
High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes at certain times of the day
for a fee. They are designed to accomplish four main goals: (1)
increase the use of HOV lanes; (2) relieve traffic congestion in
other lanes; (3) fund new transportation projects; and (4) test
the concept of "value pricing programs," whereby the toll varies
depending on the time of day and level of congestion. Another
value-pricing model is express lanes, which are toll roads that
may allow high-occupancy vehicles to access the lanes for free
or at a reduced toll.
Existing law authorizes the San Diego Association of Governments
(SANDAG), the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and
the Alameda County Transportation Commission to construct and
operate HOT lanes. AB 1467 (Nunez), Ch. 32/2006, established a
HOT lane demonstration program that authorized regional
transportation entities to submit applications to the California
Transportation Commission (CTC) until January 1, 2012 for the
development and operation of HOT lanes. AB 1467 required the
Legislature to select HOT lane projects by enacting legislation,
and limited the authorization to four projects, two each in
southern and northern California. The CTC's role is limited to
establishing eligibility criteria, determining whether a
particular project is eligible, holding public hearings in both
northern and southern California on each eligible application,
and submitting eligible applications to the Legislature for
approval or rejection. The CTC subsequently approved HOT lane
facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles County,
and Riverside County. Existing law requires toll revenues
generated from HOT lanes and express toll lanes to be expended
within the corridor of the managed lanes.
Proposed Law:
AB 914 would authorize the San Bernardino County
Transportation Commission to conduct, administer, and operate a
AB 914 (Brown) Page 2 of
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value-pricing program, including HOT lanes or other toll
facilities, on the I-10 and I-15 corridors in San Bernardino
County, upon a determination in a public meeting that the
program will improve the performance of the affected corridors,
as specified. The bill would also do the following:
Authorize SBCTC to set, levy, and collect tolls or other
charges to pay for capital outlay expenditures, operations and
maintenance, repair and rehabilitation, indebtedness and
financing costs, and administration (up to 3% of toll
revenues).
Require SBCTC to use any excess revenues exclusively for the
benefit of the respective corridors pursuant to a specified
expenditure plan adopted by the board.
Require SBCTC to enter into cooperative agreements with
neighboring counties, to the extent the facilities extend into
those counties and connect to, or are near, similar toll
facilities, and to develop the projects pursuant to a
cooperative agreement with Caltrans.
Require agreements between SBCTC and Caltrans and CHP,
respectively, to provide for reimbursements from toll revenues
for costs incurred in connection with the implementation or
operation of the program.
Authorize SBCTC to issue bonds to finance any costs related to
the projects, payable from toll revenues and other available
revenues, as specified. The bonds must contain a statement
that neither the full faith and credit nor the taxing power of
the State of California is pledged to the payment of the
bonds.
Require SBCTC to submit a report to the Legislative Analyst's
Office within three years after first collecting tolls on its
findings, conclusions, and recommendations concerning the
value-pricing program and facilities.
Specify that the bill does not authorize the conversion of any
non-tolled lanes into tolled lanes, except that existing HOV
lanes may be converted to HOT lanes.
Related
Legislation: AB 194 (Frazier), currently pending in the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee, would permanently extend
the authority for CTC to approve the development and operation
of HOT lanes, and expand the authority to include other toll
facilities. AB 194 is similar to SB 983 (Hernandez), which was
held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's Suspense File
AB 914 (Brown) Page 3 of
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last year.
Staff
Comments: This bill is intended to provide authority for SBCTC
to develop toll facilities along all or a portion of 35 miles of
I-10 between the Cities of Pomona and Redlands, and a 35-mile
stretch of I-15 from the Riverside County line to US Route 395
to improve the movement of people and goods along the
heavily-traveled corridors. The authority would allow SBCTC to
apply for financing under the under the federal 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.
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