BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2014
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Date of Hearing: April 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 2014
(Melendez) - As Amended April 5, 2016
SUBJECT: Freeway Service Patrol Act: workload study
SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to publish a statewide Freeway Service Patrol (FSP)
Assessment. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires Caltrans, in coordination with the California Highway
Patrol (CHP) and local entities, to publish a statewide
assessment of the FSP program by June 30, 2018, and every five
years thereafter.
2)Requires the assessment to:
a) Identify, quantify, and analyze existing freeway service
patrols and identify opportunities to increase or expand
service levels;
b) Include an analysis and recommendations regarding the
current and anticipated future financial condition of the
FSP program, taking into account factors such as
operational costs, available funding, and state personnel
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resources.
c) Examine all of the following:
i) The financial sustainability of maintaining current
FSPs;
ii) The route miles unserved or underserved by FSPs;
and,
iii) Historical, current, and future state and local
funding for FSPs.
3)Further requires the assessment to include an analysis of
public benefits received by the state from existing and
potential new FSPs and an assessment of how FSPs relate to
other state policies, plans, and goals.
4)Requires Caltrans to submit the FSP assessment to the
Legislature and Department of Finance, along with a
recommendation of the appropriate state funding to meet the
needs identified in the program assessment.
5)Requires the State Budget to include a line-item within the
budget for Caltrans and the CHP to identify the amount of
local assistance funding and state operations funding provided
in support of the FSP program.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Authorizes the establishment of Service Authorities for
Freeway Emergencies (SAFEs) in any county upon approval of the
county board of supervisors and city councils of a majority of
the cities within a county; generally provides that county
transportation commissions or councils of governments may be
designated as SAFEs.
2)Declares that it is the Legislature's intent in authorizing
SAFEs to encourage the placement of call boxes along
California's freeways and expressways to enable motorists in
need of aid to obtain assistance.
3)Authorizes SAFEs to impose a $1 annual fee on vehicles
registered within the county to cover the costs of the
program; authorizes the use of any revenue derived from the $1
fee, above that needed to cover the full costs of the call
boxes, for additional motorist aid services, including but not
limited to the following:
a) Changeable message signs;
b) Lighting for call boxes;
c) Support for traffic operations centers; and,
d) Freeway service patrols.
1)Provides funding for FSPs upon appropriation in the annual
State Budget from the State Highway Account. Local entities
are required to provide at least a 25% match.
2)FSP funds are distributed by a formula based on the number of
urban freeway miles, population, and traffic congestion. In
applying for funds, local agencies have to demonstrate at
least an overall benefit-cost ratio of 3:1.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
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COMMENTS: The FSP is a joint program provided by Caltrans, the
CHP, and SAFEs (all SAFEs are administered by a transportation
planning agency). The FSP program is a free service of
privately owned tow trucks that patrol designated routes on
congested urban California freeways. The goal of the FSP is to
maximize the effectiveness of the freeway transportation system
by expeditiously removing disabled and/or stranded vehicles from
the freeway. Each year, the FSP program assists approximately
650,000 motorists on California's highway system.
Removing obstructions on the freeways as rapidly as possible has
a positive impact on traffic volumes by eliminating problems
that contribute to non-recurrent congestion. Rapid removal of
freeway obstructions reduces fuel consumption and minimizes
automobile emissions by reducing the time vehicles spend idling
in stopped traffic. Currently, over 350 tow trucks operated by
CHP-trained, certified and supervised drivers, patrol in excess
of 1,750 miles of the most congested freeways in California.
Studies have repeatedly shown that FSPs are one of the most
cost-effective incident management strategies available.
In introducing AB 2014, the author asserts that existing FSP
resources have not kept up with increased demand for this
service. She cites an example wherein the Riverside County
Transportation Commission sought to add three FSP routes but CHP
did not have the personnel available to supervise the new routes
because of inadequate funding for the program. The author
believes that the assessment called for in this bill will
provide a venue for state and local partners to collaboratively
maintain institutional focus on sustaining and growing the
program appropriately. The author hopes that the assessment
will lead to prioritizing FSPs in the State Budget.
As the author correctly points out, state funding for the FSP
program has remained flat since 2006. The state annually
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provides about $25 million to fund the program, including $4
million to support CHP functions. CHP uses overtime hours for
various law enforcement duties such as investigating tow truck
driver-related complaints, ensuring that tow truck drivers are
patrolling their assigned beats, inspecting and dispatching tow
trucks, and providing continuous training, testing,
certification, and supervision of drivers. In addition to the
$4 million reimbursement from Caltrans, CHP spends over $1
million in additional funds to support the program.
Furthermore, local agencies statewide contribute an 85% match to
the program, well exceeding the 25% match requirement.
Suggested amendment: Much of the information called for in the
assessment proposed in
AB 2014 is similar, in part, to an annual report Caltrans
commission's from the University of Berkley that assesses the
effectiveness of the FSP program, except that the current report
stops short of making recommendations for future growth of the
program or of reporting needs as identified by partner agencies.
That FSPs provide a cost-effective tool to minimize congestion
delays in the most congested corridors is indisputable, and why
funding for the program has not been raised in 10 years is
puzzling. This bill would bring to light the need and likely
benefits of potential new FSPs. However, as prescribed,
recommendations included in the assessment could be tempered to
represent the interests of the state and not necessarily those
of partner agencies. Consequently, the required assessment
should be modified to include direct input from these partner
agencies.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
Riverside County Transportation Commission (Sponsor)
Automobile Club of Southern California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093