BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1164
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 1164
(Gatto) - As Amended April 21, 2015
SUBJECT: State highways: performance measures
SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to conduct an annual evaluation and rating of the
quality of the state highway system, using specified
measurements, and to report on its findings. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires Caltrans to conduct an annual evaluation and rating
of the overall quality of the state highway system and the
resources needed to provide a system in good repair.
2)Requires the evaluation to demonstrate how resource, staffing,
and programming decisions impact the overall condition of the
state highway system.
3)Requires the evaluation to address the number of distressed
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lane miles, bridge conditions, and life cycle costs and to
also include the following:
a) The rating of the state's urban interstate lane miles,
measured according to the International Roughness Index
(IRI), and the schedule and resources needed to bring at
least 90% of the lane miles rated in poor condition into
good condition;
b) The rating of the state's rural interstate lane miles,
also measured according to the IRI, and the schedule and
resources needed to bring at least 95% of the lane miles
rated in poor condition into good condition.
c) The percentage of lane miles on the state freeways and
highways that are distressed lane miles and the schedule
and resources needed to bring the percentage of distressed
lane miles to 5% or less.
d) The schedule and resources needed to bring the pavement
level of service to the well-maintained pavement level for
95% or more of the lanes miles on the state highway system.
e) The percentage of the state's bridges with a bridge
health index (BHI) rating of at least 94, the percentage of
bridges with a BHI of 80 or lower, and the schedule and
resources needed to perform bridge maintenance and capital
repairs to ensure that all of the state's bridges achieve a
BHI rating of at least 94.
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f) The number of the state's bridges that are structurally
deficient or functionally obsolete under federal standards
and the schedule and resources needed to ensure that no
more than 10% of the state's bridges are structurally
deficient or functionally obsolete.
4)Requires Caltrans to consult with other specified entities in
conducting the evaluation.
5)Requires Caltrans, until March 31, 2020, to submit annual
reports to the Legislature regarding its evaluation and
rating.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Grants Caltrans broad authority related to control of state
highways.
2)Directs Caltrans to improve and maintain the state highways.
3)Requires Caltrans to prepare a 10-year state rehabilitation
plan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of all state
highways and bridges owned by the state. The plan is to
inform the State Highway Operation and Protection Program
(SHOPP) by identifying all rehabilitation needs as well as
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specific milestones and quantifiable accomplishments, such as
miles to be repaved and number of bridges to be retrofitted.
The plan is required to include strategies to control costs
and improve the efficiency of the program.
4)Directs Caltrans to develop the SHOPP, a program of major
capital projects necessary to preserve and protect the state
highway system. Projects in the SHOPP are limited to those
that do not add new capacity to the system.
5)Requires Caltrans, in consultation with the CTC, to prepare an
asset management plan to guide development of the SHOPP and
requires CTC to adopt related targets and performance measures
that reflect state policy goals and objectives.
6)Vests CTC with authority to review and approve the final asset
management plan, as described.
7)As set forth in the federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the
21st Century Act (MAP-21), requires each state to develop a
risk-based asset management plan for the national highway
system to improve or preserve the condition of the assets and
the performance of the system.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Caltrans is responsible for maintaining and operating
the approximately 50,000 lane-mile state highway system,
including nearly 13,000 bridges. The department monitors the
condition and operational performance of the state highway
through periodic inspections, traffic studies, and system
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analysis. From this, Caltrans prepares its ten-year SHOPP plan.
The plan is required by existing law to include the identified
needs for a ten-year period based on quantifiable
accomplishments and a cost estimate for at least the first five
years. According to Caltrans, the goal-constrained needs
developed as a part of this analysis represents the estimated
cost to meet reasonable performance goals. For example, for
pavements, the goal is to reduce the current level of distressed
lane miles of pavement on the state highway system down to 10%
in ten years. Other elements of the SHOPP have similar
performance goals, such as:
1)Roadway preservation: Reduce to 10% the number of distressed
lane miles.
2)Bridge preservation: Reduce to 3% of bridges distressed.
3)Major damage: Restore damage within 180 days.
Through the ten-year SHOPP plan, and other tools, Caltrans uses
a strategic approach to managing highway assets. This approach
has been already endorsed at the federal and state level. In
fact, recent legislation at both the federal and state levels
already require Caltrans to develop a system to evaluate its
assets much like the one required by this bill. For example,
MAP-21 requires each state to develop a risk-based asset
management plan for the national highway system to improve or
preserve the condition of the assets and the performance of the
system. The plans are to include strategies that lead to
progress toward achieving specific targets related to asset
condition and performance. At a minimum, states must address
pavements and bridges but are encouraged to include all
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infrastructure assets within the highway right-of-way in their
asset management plan. Additionally, the federally required
asset management plan is to include:
1)A summary listing of the pavement and bridge assets on the
national highway system in the state, including a description
of the condition of those assets;
2)Asset management objectives and measures;
3)Performance gap identification;
4)Lifecycle cost and risk management analysis;
5)A financial plan; and,
6)Investment strategies.
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Last session, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB
486 (DeSaulnier), Chapter 917, Statutes of 2014, that, among
other things, requires Caltrans to prepare an asset management
plan to guide development of the SHOPP. Asset management is a
strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, and
improving physical assets. Caltrans focuses on engineering and
economic analysis, based upon quality information, to identify a
structured sequence of maintenance, preservation, repair,
rehabilitation, and replacement actions that will achieve and
sustain a desired and sustainable state of good repair over the
lifecycle of the assets at minimum practicable cost.
Unlike MAP-21, SB 486 did not identify specific categories of
assets to include in the asset management plan. Instead it
requires CTC to adopt targets and performance measures that
reflect state policy goals and objectives.
AB 1164 requires Caltrans to conduct an evaluation using
specified measures, including:
1)International Roughness Index: This index is used to monitor
pavement smoothness. IRI data measures the relative up and
down movement of the vehicle. On a smooth road, such as a
newly paved rehabilitation project, the up and down movement
is low. On rough pavements, IRI values are high.
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2)Bride Health Index: A single-number assessment of a bridge's
condition based on the bridge's economic worth, determined
from an element level inspection. The index makes it possible
to ascertain the structural quality of a single bridge or a
network of bridges and to make objective comparisons with
other bridges or networks.
The author believes the state highway system is in dire need of
improvement. He notes that it is operating well beyond its
design life and beyond its capacity. Additionally, he is
concerned that continued population growth imposes even greater
wear and tear on the already-aging system. He introduced AB
1164 to provide a valuable tool for decision makers to help them
prioritize projects.
Committee concern: The author's desire for a performance
management approach to managing the state's highway system is
just the sort of approach that could lead to a better use of the
state's limited transportation resources. The problem with the
bill is, however, this approach is already being done at the
local, state, and federal levels.
Previous legislation: SB 486 (DeSaulnier), Chapter 917,
Statutes of 2014, among other things, requires Caltrans, in
consultation with the CTC, to prepare an asset management plan
to guide development of the SHOPP and requires CTC to adopt
related targets and performance measures that reflect state
policy goals and objectives.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093