BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 914


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          (Without Reference to File)





          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS


          AB  
          914 (Brown)


          As Amended  September 4, 2015


          Majority vote


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          |ASSEMBLY:  | 69-7 | (May 28,      |SENATE: |      | (September 11,  |
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                                               (vote not available)




          Original Committee Reference:  TRANS.


          SUMMARY:  Grants the San Bernardino County Transportation  
          Commission (Commission) authority to develop high-occupancy toll  
          (HOT) lanes and other facilities, under certain conditions.  


          The Senate amendments:


          1)Limit the authority for the Commission to operate toll  








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            facilities only if the program will improve the performance of  
            the affected corridor.


          2)Provide technical clarifications regarding toll revenue  
            expenditures.


          3)Clarify the Commission's responsibility to enter into  
            agreements with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and to  
            reimburse the CHP as well as the California Department of  
            Transportation (Caltrans) for costs related to the toll  
            facility.


          4)Make enactment of the bill contingent upon enactment of AB 194  
            (Frazier) of the current legislative session, which  
            establishes a process whereby regional transportation agencies  
            or Caltrans may develop toll facilities.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee:


          1)Unknown costs and revenue gains for the 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.


          2)Caltrans costs for ongoing maintenance and CHP costs for  
            ongoing enforcement of new toll lane facilities would be fully  
            recovered from toll revenues, pursuant to required agreements  
            with the Commission.


          COMMENTS:  Value-priced toll facilities (e.g., HOT lanes) are  
          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  








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          vehicles to use a high-occupancy vehicle (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.   


          San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG), which is also  
          legally organized as the Commission, is sponsoring this bill.   
          The agency is responsible for cooperative regional planning and  
          furthering an efficient multi-modal transportation system  
          countywide.  As the county transportation commission, SANBAG  
          supports freeway construction projects, regional and local road  
          improvements, train and bus transportation, railroad crossings,  
          call boxes, ridesharing, congestion management efforts and  
          long-term planning studies.  SANBAG also administers Measure I,  
          the half-cent transportation sales tax approved by county voters  
          in 1989.


          SANBAG is proposing two projects for which it is seeking  
          authority to impose tolls:


          1)The proposed Interstate 10 (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.  
          2)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. 


          According to the author, the I-10 and I-15 corridors are  
          increasingly urbanized, making continued expansion a challenge.   
          The author notes that these particular corridors are amongst the  
          most congested in the state, and are likely to become even more  
          congested as San Bernardino County's population is expected to  
          grow from 2.1 million to 3.4 million by 2050.  The author is  
          pursuing this bill to provide an alternative way of managing  
          congestion to serve the growing needs of the area.  


          Supporters believe this bill will give the Commission the tools  
          its needs to better manage its existing congestion as well as  
          accommodate future growth in these commuter and trade corridors.  
           This bill is opposed by one individual who objects to the  
          imposition of debt that will be needed to finance the  
          value-pricing program.  


          There is no opposition on file.


          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093  FN:  
          0002310

















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