BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1250
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1250 (Bloom)
As Amended September 9, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |80-0 |(April 20, |SENATE: | |(September 11, |
| | |2015) | | |2015) |
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(vote not available)
Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY: Exempts transit buses procured through a solicitation
process that was issued before January 1, 2016, from the
statutory weight limit of 20,500 pounds on any one axle of a
transit bus. Further establishes a declining curb weight per
axle requirements for transit buses, as specified.
The Senate amendments:
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1)Establish a declining curb weight per axle, beginning at
23,000 pounds per axle, for buses procured through a
solicitation issued between January 1, 2016, and December 31,
2018, and ending at 22,000 pounds for buses procured through a
solicitation issued on or after January 1, 2019.
2)Exempt buses procured from solicitations issued prior to the
January 1, 2016, option period in a multiyear contract that is
entered into before January 1, 2016, as specified. Further
specifies that the option period shall not exceed five years
or extend beyond 2021, whichever is earlier.
3)Establish a declining curb weight per axle for an articulated
transit bus or zero-emission transit bus, beginning at 25,000
pounds per axle, for buses procured through a solicitation
issued between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017, and
ending at ending at 22,000 pounds for buses procured through a
solicitation issued on or after January 1, 2022.
4)Require a transit operator operating an articulated transit
bus to, by July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, provide
cities and counties a notice providing a description of the
approximate routes where the articulated transit bus is
scheduled to provide service, as specified.
5)Define "curb weight," for purposes of this bill, as the total
weight of a fully loaded transit bus, including maximum fuel,
oil, and coolant, and all equipment used in the normal
operation of the bus, not including passengers or a driver.
6)Prohibit a transit bus, in excess of federal weight
limitations, from operating on the Federal Interstate System
within the state, as specified.
7)Require a transit bus that is operating with an axle that
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exceeds 20,000 pounds on a highway to be supported by four
wheels, as specified.
8)Provide technical clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Generally limits the gross weight on any one axle for vehicles
that travel on public streets, roads, and highways (highways)
to 20,000 pounds, but provides that buses of any type may
impose a gross axle weight of up to 20,500 pounds.
2)Under federal law, prohibits California from enforcing a
weight limit of under 24,000 pounds per axle for buses
travelling on the federal Interstate highway system.
3)Exempts transit buses procured through a solicitation process
that was issued before January 1, 2013, from existing
statutory limits on bus weights.
4)Allows, until January 1, 2016, a publicly owned and operated
transit system or an operator of a transit system under
contract with a publicly owned and operated transit system to
do the following:
a) Replace existing buses that exceed the current weight
limits with a new model of the same or lower weight.
b) Procure and operate a new bus in excess of the current
weight limits in order to incorporate a new fleet class
into its inventory, if the governing board adopts a finding
at a public hearing that the change is necessary to address
a need to serve a new or existing market pursuant to its
most recently adopted short-range transit plan, or to meet
federal, state, or regional statutory or regulatory
requirements.
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5)Requires the governing board of a transit system, if it holds
a public hearing to consider procurement of buses in excess of
existing weight limits pursuant to the above provisions, to
provide written notice of the public hearing to those cities
and counties on whose roads the busses would travel, and place
in the public record any comment or concerns it receives
regarding the procurement.
6)Defines "fleet class" to mean a group of transit buses that
have a combination of two or more of the following similar
defining characteristics:
a) Length;
b) Seating capacity;
c) Number of axles;
d) Fuel or power system;
e) Width;
f) Structure; and
g) Equipment package.
7)Prohibits transit buses from operating on the Interstate
highway system in excess of federal weight limitations.
8)Requires state agencies to take into account vehicle weight
impacts and the ability of vehicle manufacturers and operators
to comply with laws limiting the weight of vehicles when
promulgating regulations.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, unquantifiable minor to significant impact on
pavement maintenance costs as a result of accelerated
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degradation by allowing the operation of overweight transit
buses (State Highway Account, local funds). Due to the numerous
factors that may result in pavement degradation, it is
impossible to calculate the isolated impacts and costs
associated with the operation of overweight transit buses on
state highways and local streets and roads.
COMMENTS: Since 1975, state law has prohibited the gross weight
on any single axle of a transit bus from exceeding 20,500
pounds. Due to numerous state and federal mandates, including
Americans with Disability Act requirements and emissions
reduction equipment, transit buses today often exceed that
weight, especially when carrying a large number of passengers.
According to the sponsor, the California Transit Association
(CTA), as many as half of the transit buses in California
operating at peak commute times may exceed the state weight
limit of 20,500 pounds per axle. However, during non-peak
times, this percentage drops significantly due to lower
ridership loads.
Several years ago, some local police departments began citing
transit buses for violating the weight limit. Merely relying on
the current procedures in state law for overweight vehicles
-paying fines resulting from citations or paying fees and
administering thousands of annual overweight vehicle permits on
a city-by-city basis - would be costly and time consuming for
transit agencies and other local governments statewide.
Moreover, such an approach would continue to ignore the
underlying problem: the Vehicle Code limit was created more
than 35 years ago and simply did not contemplate today's
operating environments or legal and regulatory requirements.
However, simply increasing the weight limit for transit buses is
not as easy as it might sound because for cities and counties,
more weight equals greater wear and tear on local streets and
roads.
AB 1706 (Eng), Chapter 771, Statutes of 2012, offered a
short-term solution to the bus axle weight issue by exempting
all existing transit buses from the state weight limit. AB 1706
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additionally allowed for procurement of new buses exceeding the
weight limit if they were replacing existing overweight buses or
if the transit operator was introducing a new fleet class. The
procurement provisions in AB 1706 were scheduled to sunset at
the end of 2014. AB 1720 (Bloom), Chapter 263, Statutes of
2014, extended the sunset on the procurement provisions to the
end of 2015.
The temporary fix to the bus axle weight issue came about after
stakeholders - including cities, counties, transit agencies, and
representatives from various state departments and agencies -
put considerable effort into finding a permanent solution to the
issue without coming to agreement. Because the bus axle weight
issue is a complicated one that has been a subject of concern
not just in California but nationwide, the federal Transit
Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), an arm of the
Transportation Research Board backed by the National Academy of
Sciences, commissioned a detailed national study on the bus axle
weight issue. The study, which was released in November of
2014, provides the most comprehensive look at the issue to date
but does not provide a clear long-term solution. Rather, it
puts forth 23 different options for addressing the axle weight
issue and concludes: "There is no single operational, design,
technological or regulatory solution that resolves these issues
without some undesirable consequences."
This bill was introduced with the intent to reach a resolve to
the bus axle weight issue. Since this bill was heard in the
Assembly, it has been amended and made more specific to reflect
the continuing negotiations amongst stakeholders. This bill now
represents the result of year-long negotiations between transit
operators, local and state governments, and bus manufacturers.
Thus, the current version of this bill represents the results of
final negotiations.
Specifically, this bill exempts transit buses that were
purchased under the terms of the temporary procurement
provisions from the 20,500-pound per axle weight limit. This
ensures that buses that were purchased under the terms of AB
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1706 can continue to legally operate. Furthermore, establishes
declining maximum curb weight per axle requirements for standard
transit buses and articulated and zero-emission transit buses to
allow the transit industry the opportunity to design and build
buses that meet both environmental and vehicle weight
requirements. Lastly, this bill requires a transit operator
operating articulated buses to provide notice to cities and
counties identifying the approximate routes an articulated
transit bus is expected to provide service, including the names
of streets and roads and any scheduled service changes.
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate. This bill,
amended in the Senate, is inconsistent with Assembly actions and
the provisions of this bill, as amended in the Senate, have not
been heard in an Assembly policy committee.
Analysis Prepared by:
Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN:
0002423