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.







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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  








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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  








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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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