BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1574 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1574 (Chiu) As Amended April 12, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Utilities |13-0 |Gatto, Patterson, | | | | |Burke, Chávez, Dahle, | | | | |Cristina Garcia, | | | | |Eduardo Garcia, | | | | |Hadley, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Roger Hernández, | | | | |Obernolte, Quirk, | | | | |Santiago, Ting | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Transportation |15-0 |Frazier, Linder, | | | | |Baker, Bloom, Brown, | | | | |Chu, Daly, Dodd, | | | | |Gomez, Kim, Mathis, | | | | |Medina, Melendez, | | | | |Nazarian, O'Donnell | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| AB 1574 Page 2 |Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonilla, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, Roger | | | | |Hernández, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Obernolte, | | | | |Quirk, Santiago, | | | | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: Requires, beginning January 1, 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in collaboration with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), to verify that the buses, limousines, and modified limousines used by a passenger stage corporation (PSC) or a charter-party carrier (CPC) have been reported and meets safety requirements. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the CPUC to verify on an annual basis, in collaboration with DMV, that the buses, limousines, and modified limousines used by a PSC or CPC have been reported to the CPUC by the carrier. 2)Requires the CPUC to ensure that all newly registered buses, limousines, or modified limousines of PSCs or CPCs, reported by DMV, meet all statutory and regulatory requirements for safe operation. 3)Requires CPUC to take immediate steps to require the PSC or CPC to update its reporting of buses, limousines, and modified limousines to CPUC and request the Department of the AB 1574 Page 3 California Highway Patrol (CHP) to conduct a safety inspection of the bus, limousine, or modified limousine, if CPUC become aware that the vehicle has not been reported by the carrier. 4)Requires each CPC to furnish annually to the CHP and CPUC a list of all buses, limousines and modified limousines used in the transportation for compensation, including the vehicle registration information for each vehicle. 5)Requires the CPUC to furnish a copy of the specified list to the carrier's insurer, if the carrier's accident liability protection is provide by a policy of insurance. 6)Authorizes the CPUC, in addition to any other specified penalties, for a first occurrence, to suspend the carrier's certificate or permit or impose a fine, or both, and for a subsequent occurrence may suspend or revoke the certificate or impose a fine, or both, if the CPC's insurer informs the CPUC that the carrier has failed to obtain insurance coverage for any vehicle reported on the specified list. 7)Prohibits the CPUC from issuing or continuing in effect any permit or certificate of a PSC or CPC that has not submitted the required list. 8)Requires the DMV, in issuing or renewing a commercial vehicle registration, to require the owner of a bus, limousine, or modified limousine used by a CPC or PSC to disclose the name of the carrier or corporation that will be using the vehicle in its operations. 9)Requires the DMV to notify the CPUC when a CPC or PSC renews or first registers a bus, limousine, or modified limousine, AB 1574 Page 4 and provide the CPUC with information that will allow it to identify the vehicle. 10)Provides that the bill take effect on January 1, 2018. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the total costs to the CPUC would be several hundred thousand dollars annually, but will depend on the amount of additional workload. In addition, the CHP will incur an estimated cost of about $200,000 for every additional 2,500 vehicle inspections. Furthermore, the DMV will incur a one-time special fund cost of around $225,000 to establish four new body-type codes, in order to distinguish auto or commercial vehicles used by a PSC or CPC. COMMENTS: 1)Author's Statement: "The current tour bus regulation and inspection program isn't working. San Franciscans unfortunately got a first-hand view of this in November when an unregistered and uninspected tour bus crashed in Union Square. The bus in the Union Square crash was a so-called ghost bus, which means the CPUC, the regulator here, didn't know it was in the company's fleet [?] Tour buses in California must be safer; we can't have another crash happen like the one in Union Square. For us to make sure tour buses are safe, we need to know that they're on the road in the first place. Ensuring full inspections and eliminating ghost buses are important steps we need to take so that tourists and residents do not become victims of regulatory loopholes." 2)Background: PSCs are services that provide transportation to the general public on an individual fare basis, such as scheduled bus operators, which are buses that operate on a AB 1574 Page 5 fixed route and scheduled services, or airport shuttles, which operate on an on-call door-to-door share the ride service. CPCs are services that charter a vehicle, on a prearranged basis, for the exclusive use of an individual or group. Charges are based on the mileage or time of use, or a combination of both. Types of CPCs include limousines, tour buses, sightseeing services, and charter and party buses. 3)San Francisco Tour Bus Crash: In November 2015, a sightseeing tour bus operated by City Sightseeing crashed in San Francisco's Union Square, injuring 20 people. According to news reports, the bus was registered with the DMV, but it was not registered with the CPUC, hence, the bus was not inspected by CHP before it went into operation. 4)CPUC and DMV Discrepancies: Although the CPUC requires carriers to identify their CPC or PSC vehicles during the permitting or licensing process, according to the author not all carriers do so. In addition, the DMV registers commercial vehicles but they are not required to collect information on which CPC or PSC carrier the commercial vehicle may be operating under, nor share such information with the CPUC. According to the author this creates the number discrepancy between the CPUC and DMV. This bill requires, beginning January 1, 2018, the CPUC, in collaboration with the DMV, to verify that the buses, limousines, and modified limousines used by a PSC or a CPC has been reported and meet safety requirements. Analysis Prepared by: Edmond Cheung / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083 FN: 0003247 AB 1574 Page 6