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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                                               (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