BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS Senator Ben Hueso, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 1574 Hearing Date: 6/13/2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Chiu | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |4/12/2016 As Amended | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Nidia Bautista | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Vehicles of charter-party carriers of passengers and passenger stage corporations DIGEST: This bill requires, beginning January 1, 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to verify with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that the buses, limousines, and modified limousines used by a passenger stage corporation (PSC) or a charter-party carrier (CPC) has been reported and meet safety requirements. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Establishes the CPUC and empowers it to regulate privately owned public utilities and common carriers in California. (Article XII of the California Constitution; Public Utilities Code §301 et seq.) 2)Defines passenger stage corporation as every corporation or person engaged as a common carrier, for compensation, in the ownership, control, operation, or management of any passenger stage over any public highway in the state between fixed termini or over a regular route, not including those exclusively operating within a local jurisdiction or school buses. Establishes the CPUC's authority to regulate, require license or permit to operate, require vehicles used are in safe operating condition, require insurance and workers compensation, take appropriate enforcement action and other provisions related to passenger stage corporations. (Public Utilities Code §§226 and 1031 et seq.) AB 1574 (Chiu) Page 2 of ? 3)Defines "charter-party carrier of passengers" as every person engaged in the transportation of persons by motor vehicle for compensation, whether in common or contract carriage, over any public highway in the state and includes any person, corporation, or other entity engaged in the provision of a hired driver service when a rented motor vehicle is being operated by a hired driver. Establishes the CPUC's authority to regulate, require license or permit to operate, require insurance and workers compensation, require vehicles are in safe operating condition, take appropriate enforcement action and other provisions related to charter-party carrier of passengers. (Public Utilities Code §5351) 4)Establishes the CPUC's authority to regulate private carriers of passengers including requiring public liability and property insurance, cargo insurance, knowledge of rates, documentation, timely reporting of revenues and payment fees, and provides that the CPUC can take appropriate enforcement action, etc. (Public Utilities Code §4001) 5)Provides the CHP with the ability to take enforcement action related to requirements of buses of charter-party carriers as required by the Public Utilities Code, including ensuring a proper and current license or permit from the CPUC. (Vehicle Code §14602.9) 6)Provides that the DMV shall regulate the safe operation of buses, including tour buses, and establish regulations regarding equipment and operations. (Vehicle Code §34500 et seq.) This bill: 1)Requires CPUC to verify with DMV, on an annual basis, that buses, limousines, and modified limousines used by a PSC or CPC have been reported to CPUC by the carrier. 2)Requires 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. AB 1574 (Chiu) Page 3 of ? 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 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 every PSC and CPC to report annually to CPUC, in addition to the list of all buses, limousines, and modified limousines used in transportation for compensation by each PSC and CPC, the vehicle registration information for each vehicle. 5)Prohibits CPUC from issuing or continuing in effect any permit or certificate of a PSC or CPC that does not submit the vehicle registration information for each vehicle reported to CPUC. 6)Requires the DMV to notify the CPUC when a CPC or PSC renews or first registers a bus, limousine, or modified limousine, and provide the CPUC with information that will allow it to identify the vehicle. 7)Provides that the bill take effect on January 1, 2018. Background On November 13, 2015, a City Sightseeing bus crashed into construction scaffolding in San Francisco's Union Square resulting in 19 people injured. The bus was originally used as a transit vehicle and had been retrofitted as a double-decker open-air tour bus before it was sold to City Sightseeing. The CHP's investigation found the cause of the crash was driver error, specifically driving at an unsafe speed. Post-crash investigations revealed that City Sightseeing had not notified the CPUC when it added the bus to its fleet, as required by law. The CHP identified other safety violations at the company in a December 2015 terminal inspection. Ghost buses. The CPUC has regulatory oversight over tour buses AB 1574 (Chiu) Page 4 of ? that operate as charter-party carriers or passenger stage corporations. Simultaneously, tour buses must be registered with the DMV in order to operate on public roads. Under current law, tour bus operators are required to provide a list of all vehicles in operation to CPUC subject to its licensing requirements. However, operators sometimes fail to identify all their vehicles to the CPUC. Additionally the DMV is not required to share registration bus information with the CPUC. Unfortunately, the disconnect between the two agencies leads to "ghost" buses that are not properly licensed with the CPUC and, as a result, these buses also do not undergo safety inspections required by the CHP for CPUC-licensed buses, which can lead to dangerous conditions on California roads. According to the Assembly Transportation Committee analysis, based on data from the CPUC and DMV, there are approximately 81,824 buses registered with the DMV, but only approximately 12,600 buses licensed are registered with CPUC. Although CPUC requires carriers to identify their CPC or PSC vehicles during the permitting or licensing process, not all carriers do so. In addition, 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 CPUC. By requiring DMV and CPUC to collect and share registration and licensing information, the author intends to ensure that all vehicles operated by CPCs or PSCs are properly accounted for and inspected. Double Referral. Should this bill be approved by the committee, it will be re-referred to the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing for its consideration. Prior/Related Legislation AB 1677 (Ting, 2016) would require the CHP to develop protocols for the inspection of tour buses by local agencies. The bill is currently in the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing. SB 247 (Lara, 2015) would require charter buses to have specified emergency equipment by July 1, 2017, including a secondary exit door, burn resistant materials, event data recorder, and others. The bill also would require charter bus drivers to instruct passengers of locations and operations of emergency exits and the use of seat belts prior to the beginning of a trip and provide these instructions in writing. The bill is currently in the Assembly Committee on Transportation. AB 1574 (Chiu) Page 5 of ? SB 812 (Hill, 2016) would make multiple changes to the CHP's authority to inspect tour buses, with the goal of increasing regulatory scrutiny of operators with poor safety records. The bill is currently in the Assembly Committee on Transportation. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT: Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco California Bicycle Coalition Greater California Livery Association San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Walk SF OPPOSITION: None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, 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. The incident highlights an unfortunate disconnect in California's oversight of tour bus safety. This bill is very simple: it requires the DMV to let the CPUC know when a bus is registered. And it requires the CPUC to continuously check with the DMV to see if new buses are registered. It's about making sure that these large state bureaucracies talk to each other. -- END --