BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 914|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 914
Author: Brown (D), et al.
Amended: 6/30/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/23/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 7/13/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 69-7, 5/28/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Toll facilities: County of San Bernardino
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the San Bernardino County
Transportation Commission to conduct, administer, and operate a
value-pricing program on Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 in San
Bernardino County.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Restricts, generally, the state and regional transportation
agencies from collecting tolls on public highways without
explicit statutory authority. For example, in 1989, the
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Legislature authorized the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to enter into contractual agreements
with private entities for the construction and operation of
toll roads. The toll facility on State Route 91 in Orange
County is a result of this authorization.
2)Authorizes, specifically, a particular type of toll facility,
called high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane facilities, in Alameda,
San Diego, and Santa Clara counties. An agency operating a
HOT lane essentially sells excess capacity in undersubscribed
high-occupancy vehicle lanes to single-occupant vehicle
drivers by charging a toll. HOT lanes typically employ a
pricing method known as value pricing or congestion pricing.
Under this scheme, the amount of the toll varies in accordance
with the level of congestion in that particular lane, such
that as congestion increases, so too will the toll amount. As
the price to use the lane goes up, fewer people presumably
will choose to use it, thereby reducing demand for the
facility and maintaining free-flow travel conditions. With
this mechanism, an agency can ensure that operation of the
toll facility does not undermine the intended benefits of
promoting carpooling with access to the faster high-occupancy
vehicle lane.
3)Authorizes, in addition to the three counties with specific
HOT lane authority, regional transportation agencies to apply
to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to develop
and operate HOT lanes until 2012. This authority limited CTC
to approving up to four HOT lane projects, two in Northern
California and two in Southern California. The CTC approved
HOT lane facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles
County, and Riverside County under this provision.
4)Creates the San Bernardino County Transportation Commission
(also known as San Bernardino Association of Governments or
SANBAG) to oversee transportation planning and coordination in
the county.
This bill:
1)Authorizes SANBAG to conduct, administer, and operate a
value-pricing program on Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 in
San Bernardino County, including HOT lanes or other toll
facilities.
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2)Authorizes SANBAG to set and levy tolls in amounts to cover at
least the following expenses:
a) Capital outlay, including design, right-of-way
acquisition, and construction.
b) Operations and maintenance of the facilities.
c) Repair and rehabilitation.
d) Indebtedness, including related financial costs.
e) Reserves.
f) Administration, not to exceed 3% of the revenues.
3)Requires SANBAG to use any excess revenues exclusively for the
benefit of the corridors and to adopt an expenditure plan
describing how it plans to spend excess revenue.
4)Requires SANBAG to enter into agreements with neighboring
counties providing for the coordination of the toll facilities
operated by each county, and to develop the projects pursuant
to a cooperative agreement with Caltrans.
5)Authorizes SANBAG to issue bonds to finance the projects
pursuant to a majority vote of its governing board.
6)Requires SANBAG to submit a report to the Legislative Analyst
not later than three years after beginning toll collection
that summarizes its findings, conclusions, and recommendations
relating to the value-pricing program.
Comments
Purpose. According to the author, the Inland Empire is the
fastest growing region in Southern California. As a result, the
Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 corridors are amongst the most
congested in the state, seeing up to 260,000 and 223,000
vehicles per day respectively. In 2045, these volumes are
expected to reach 668,500 vehicles per day combined, a 38%
increase.
These routes are also utilized as important goods movement
corridors, seeing up to 47,500 trucks per day combined. The
author argues that alternative ways of managing congestion must
be utilized to serve the growing needs in this area. This bill
- by authorizing SANBAG to establish an express lane program -
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will work to meet these growing needs and help alleviate
congestion.
HOT lanes vs. express lanes. While similar, HOT lanes and
express lanes are at the heart very different. HOT lanes are
high-occupancy vehicle lanes that, when not fully subscribed by
high-occupancy vehicles, can be accessed by single-occupant
vehicles for a toll. Express lanes, on the other hand, are toll
roads that may allow high-occupancy vehicles access for a
reduced rate or no toll. HOT lanes are designed to maximize
passenger throughput; if successful then a HOT lane collects few
tolls and moves the most people through a corridor. Express
lanes are more focused on raising revenues through tolls,
resulting in moving more vehicles through a corridor, and not
necessarily more people.
According to SANBAG, with this authority it intends to convert
roughly eight miles of an existing high-occupancy vehicle lane
to a HOT lane and then construct 62 miles of additional tolled
express lanes. While the planning process isn't complete,
SANBAG suggests that it may only allow reduced-rate access to
its express lanes for vehicles with three or more occupants.
Some would argue that this type of scheme does not really
encourage carpooling, but does ensure more capacity for
single-occupant toll payers and therefore more revenue
generation.
Studies show that building more lanes to increase the number of
vehicles through a corridor does not ultimately reduce
congestion but instead inevitably induces more demand for the
facility. This higher vehicle throughput can lead to expansive
land use characterized by sprawl. Alternatively, focusing on
better corridor management and the effective throughput of
people and goods can lead to less environmental impacts and
better land management, consistent with the Legislature's
priorities of the last 15 years.
Related Legislation
AB 194 (Frazier, 2015) extends indefinitely CTC's authority to
administratively authorize HOT lanes and expands the authority
to include other toll facilities. AB 194 provides an avenue for
SANBAG to seek authority to develop a value-pricing program.
However, AB 194 could not practically be implemented in time to
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give SANBAG the statutory authority it needs to apply for
federal financing programs in a timely manner; hence SANBAG is
seeking the standalone authority in this bill. AB 194 is
currently pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Unknown costs and revenue gains for San Bernardino County
Transportation Commission to develop and operate HOT lanes and
express lanes (local funds). For illustrative purposes, HOT
lanes administered by the Los Angeles Metropolitan
Transportation Agency generate approximately $17 million
annually.
Caltrans costs for ongoing maintenance and California Highway
Patrol costs for ongoing enforcement of new toll lane
facilities would be fully recovered from toll revenues,
pursuant to required agreements with San Bernardino County
Transportation Commission.
SUPPORT: (Verified7/14/15)
American Council of Engineering Companies of California
California Asphalt Pavement Association
CH2MHILL
City of Ontario
City of San Bernardino
Inland Action
Inland Empire Chapter of Women in Transportation
Mobility 21
Orange County Business Council
Riverside County Transportation Commission
San Bernardino Associated Governments
San Diego Association of Governments
Self Help Counties Coalition
Southern California Association of Governments
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/14/15)
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None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 69-7, 5/28/15
AYES: Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu,
Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gipson, Gomez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Linder, Lopez,
Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson,
Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Brough, Gatto, Gonzalez, Harper, Levine, Salas, Weber
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Bloom, Grove, Kim
Prepared by:Eric Thronson / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
7/15/15 16:57:59
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