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 --