BILL NUMBER: AB 1908	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Harper
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Brough   and Gatto   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act to add and repeal Section 149.2 of the Streets and Highways
Code, relating to highways.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1908, as amended, Harper. High-occupancy vehicle lanes.
   Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to
designate certain lanes for the exclusive or preferential use of
high-occupancy vehicles. When those exclusive or preferential use
lanes are established and double parallel solid lines are in place to
the right thereof, existing law prohibits any person driving a
vehicle from crossing over those double lines to enter into or exit
from the lanes, and entrance or exit from those lanes is authorized
only in areas designated for these purposes or where a single broken
line is in place to the right of the lanes, except as specified.
   This bill would prohibit, commencing July 1, 2017, a
high-occupancy vehicle lane from being established on a state highway
in southern California, unless that lane is established as a
high-occupancy vehicle lane only during the hours of heavy commuter
traffic, as determined by the department. The bill would require any
existing high-occupancy vehicle lane in southern California to be
modified to conform with those requirements. The bill would authorize
the department, on or after May 1, 2018, to reinstate 24-hour
high-occupancy vehicle lanes in southern California if the department
makes a specified determination, and would require the department to
report to the Legislature on the impact on traffic of limiting the
use of high-occupancy lanes only during the hours of heavy commuter
traffic, as provided in the bill.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 149.2 is added to the Streets and Highways
Code, to read:
   149.2.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, except as otherwise
provided in subdivision (d), a high-occupancy vehicle lane shall not
be established on a state highway in southern California, unless the
lane is established as a high-occupancy vehicle lane only during the
hours of heavy commuter traffic, as determined by the department.
   (b) Any existing high-occupancy vehicle lane located in southern
California shall be modified as necessary to conform with subdivision
(a).
   (c) (1) The department shall report to the Legislature, in
compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, on or before
January 1, 2019, on the impact on traffic of limiting the use of
high-occupancy vehicle lanes only during the hours of heavy commuter
traffic as provided in subdivision (a).
   (2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2023, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
   (d) On or after May 1, 2018, if the department determines that
there is an adverse impact on safety, traffic conditions, or the
environment by limiting the use of high-occupancy vehicle lanes only
during the hours of heavy commuter traffic as provided in subdivision
(a), the department may submit to the Assembly Committee on
Transportation and the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing
a notice of that determination and  of the  intent to
reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes. The department
thereafter may reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
   (e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2017.
   (f) This section shall become inoperative 60 days after the date
the Legislature receives the notice described in subdivision (d) and
is repealed on January 1 thereafter. The department shall post the
date that the Legislature receives this notice on the department's
Internet Web site.