BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 914 Page 1 (Without Reference to File) CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 914 (Brown) As Amended September 4, 2015 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: | 69-7 | (May 28, |SENATE: | | (September 11, | | | |2015) | | |2015) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- (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 AB 914 Page 2 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 AB 914 Page 3 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 AB 914 Page 4 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 AB 914 Page 5