BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
                              Senator Jim Beall, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:          AB 2073           Hearing Date:     6/14/2016
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          |Author:   |Holden                                                |
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          |Version:  |2/17/2016                                             |
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          |Urgency:  |No                     |Fiscal:      |No              |
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          |Consultant|Randy Chinn                                           |
          |:         |                                                      |
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          SUBJECT:  Golf carts:  City of La Verne


            DIGEST:  This bill allows for the use of oversized golf carts as  
          part of the City of La Verne's golf cart transportation plan.  

          ANALYSIS:

          Existing law:

          1)Defines "golf carts" as motor vehicles weighing less than  
            1,300 pounds, designed to operate at not more than 25 miles  
            per hour, and designed to carry not more than two persons.

          2)Authorizes cities or counties to adopt golf cart  
            transportation plans that do not include the use of any state  
            highway.  A crossing of, or a golf cart lane along, a state  
            highway may be included in the plan if authorized by the law  
            enforcement agency having primary traffic enforcement  
            responsibility.

          3)Specifies certain required elements in the golf cart  
            transportation plan, including minimum general design criteria  
            for the development, planning, and construction of separated  
            golf cart lanes.

          4)Exempts the City of La Verne from the requirement for  
            separated golf cart lanes under specified conditions. 

          This bill expands the definition of "golf cart" in the City of  







          AB 2073 (Holden)                                   Page 2 of ?
          
          
          La Verne to include utility-style golf carts and shuttle-style  
          golf carts for use within the area included in their golf cart  
          transportation plan.

          


          COMMENTS:
          
          1)Purpose of bill.  The author seeks to revise his bill from  
            last year, which eliminated the sunset on La Verne's authority  
            to permit golf carts on specified city streets under specified  
            conditions, by expanding the definition of "golf cart" to  
            include larger vehicles.  This would allow the continued use  
            of oversized golf cart-like vehicles, according to the author.

          2)History of La Verne and golf carts.  Founded in 1887, La Verne  
            is in the foothills of the San Gabriel-Pomona valleys.  La  
            Verne is approximately 35 miles east of Los Angeles in Los  
            Angeles County.  La Verne is a small city of 33,000 covering  
            8.5 square miles.  It has eight mobile home parks, three large  
            retirement communities, and a university of about 2,500  
            students.

            Golf carts have been authorized for use on certain city  
            streets in La Verne since 2009.  The original authorizing  
            legislation sunset on January 1, 2016; this was intended to  
            allow time for the university and retirement communities to  
            transition to safer vehicles which meet the Federal Motor  
            Vehicle Safety Standards.  Because of the historic use of golf  
            carts by the retirement communities and the university, La  
            Verne was exempted from the requirement to have separate golf  
            cart lanes.  However, La Verne was still required to develop a  
            golf cart transportation plan and subject to several  
            additional safety restrictions, including:

             a)   Limiting the golf carts to streets with speed limits of  
               not more than 25 miles per hour
             b)   Limiting the golf carts to streets immediately adjacent  
               to or surrounded by the university or a retirement  
               community
             c)   Requiring the law enforcement agency with primary  
               traffic jurisdiction to approve the street segments
             d)   Limiting the authority to golf carts owned by the  
               university or retirement community and equipped with a  








          AB 2073 (Holden)                                   Page 3 of ?
          
          
               windshield, headlights, brake lights, and seatbelts
             e)   Limiting the golf cart usage to employees of the  
               university or retirement community within the scope of  
               employment of the university or retirement community

            In 2015, the sunset was eliminated via AB 173 (Holden, Chapter  
            65, Statutes of 2015), allowing La Verne to permanently permit  
            the use of golf carts, a change in the policy articulated in  
            the original legislation.  

          This bill revises the definition of "golf cart" for purposes of  
          La Verne by authorizing the use of vehicles which are larger and  
          heavier than the typical two-person golf cart.  These include  
          vehicles which can transport as many as eight people, as well as  
          larger flatbed vehicles.  While these vehicles have apparently  
          been used for years, this bill legitimizes their use.  

        1)Recent experience indicates no problems.  The La Verne Police  
          Chief indicates there have been no issues with these vehicles.   
          As these vehicles wear out, he expects that they will be  
          replaced with larger street-legal neighborhood electric  
          vehicles.

          Assembly Votes:

               Floor:    77-0
               Trans:         16-0
          
          Related Legislation:
          
          AB 173 (Holden, Chapter 65, Statutes of 2015) - deleted the 2016  
          sunset on the authority of the City of La Verne to permit golf  
          carts to be used on city streets thereby continuing the  
          authority indefinitely.


          AB 963 (Adams, Chapter 6, Statutes of 2008) - allowed the City  
          of La Verne, until January 1, 2016, to designate a highway or  
          portion thereof for use by both golf carts and motor vehicles  
          under specified conditions.

          AB 1244 (Adams, 2007) - would have exempted the City of La  
          Verne, from the requirement to provide separate lanes for golf  
          carts.  AB 1244 was passed by the Legislature but vetoed due to  
          concerns about the safety of mixing motor vehicle traffic and  








          AB 2073 (Holden)                                   Page 4 of ?
          
          
          golf carts in the same travel lanes. This bill was vetoed by the  
          Governor.

          FISCAL EFFECT:  Appropriation:  No    Fiscal Com.:  No    Local:  
           No


            POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,
                          June 8, 2016.)
          
            SUPPORT:  

          Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
          City of La Verne Police Department
          Hillcrest
          University of La Verne

          OPPOSITION:

          None received

          -- END --