Amended in Senate August 2, 2016

Amended in Assembly May 31, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2222

Introduced by Assembly Member Holden

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Gonzalez)

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(Coauthor: Senator Allen)

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February 18, 2016

An act to add Part 4 (commencing with Section 75240) to Division 44 of the Public Resources Code, relating to begin delete greenhouse gases. end delete begin insert school transportation. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2222, as amended, Holden. begin delete Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Transit Pass Program. end delete begin insert Transit Pass Program: free or reduced-fare transit passes. end insert

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The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

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Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Each of these segments is authorized to provide instruction and other services to the students who attend the institutions under their respective jurisdictions. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school whenever in the judgment of the board the transportation is advisable and good reasons exist to do so.

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This bill would establish the Transit Pass Program to be administered by the Department of Transportation with moneys begin delete from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, end delete begin insert made available, end insert upon begin delete appropriation, end delete begin insert appropriation by the Legislature, end insert to support transit pass programs that provide free or reduced-fare transit passes to specified pupils and students. The bill would require the begin delete department, in coordination with the state board, end delete begin insert department end insert to develop guidelines that describe the criteria that eligible transit providers are required to use to make available free or reduced-fare transit passes to eligible begin delete participants and the methodologies that eligible participants would use to demonstrate that the proposed expenditures will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. end delete begin insert participants. end insert The bill would exempt those guidelines from the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would require eligible transit providers and eligible participants to enter into agreements for the distribution of free or reduced-fare transit passes to students.

This bill would require that the guidelines ensure that moneys from the program are used to expand eligibility or further reduce the cost of a transit pass under existing programs. The bill would require the department to develop performance measures and reporting requirements to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, including an annual update of the number of free or reduced-fare transit passes distributed to pupils and students and whether the program is increasing transit ridership among pupils and students. The bill would set a minimum allocation of $20,000 for each eligible transit provider and would provide for the distribution and allocation of remaining Transit Pass Program moneys by formula to eligible transit providers.

The bill would require, for purposes of determining an eligible transit provider’s eligibility for moneys distributed to a transportation planning agency from the Public Transportation Account, that free or discounted transit fare passes be calculated at their full retail value. begin delete The bill would authorize the use of moneys from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program, and other low carbon transportation programs to augment a free or reduced-fare transit pass program, as specified. end delete

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.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) California landmark laws and regulations for reducing
greenhouse gases address one of the most important issues of our
time, and dramatically increasing the use of public transportation
is a vital component in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80
percent by the year 2050.

(b) Student transit pass programs have been shown to increase
overall transit ridership and fill empty seats on trains and buses,
resulting in reduced costs per rider and improved service because
of higher demand.

(c) Targeting student transit passes to low-income middle school,
high school, college, and university students can promote the
development of lifelong transit riders and further bolster the
capacity and reliability of our transit systems.

(d) Student transit pass programs in this state and across the
country have resulted in significant increases in transit ridership
and have made it easier and cheaper for students to get to schools
and to jobs.

(e) Student transit pass programs can help the state reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, vehicle miles traveled, petroleum use,
and air pollution and improve overall community health.

(f) Student transit passes lower pollution around elementary
schools, thereby improving student health.

(g) Schools are often the major generators of traffic in cities,
and student transit pass programs can help reduce the traffic and
parking problems in neighborhoods around schools.

(h) Student transit pass programs can reduce the need for
colleges to use campus land for expensive parking structures when
this land and money could be better used for educational purposes.

(i) Student transit pass programs have decreased the need to
drive to and from school, along with the costs associated with
driving to and from school, thereby reducing the overall cost of
school attendance and reducing parental burdens for working
families.

(j) A University of California, Los Angeles, study of 35 college
and university student transit pass programs across the United
States in 2001 showed ridership increases of 71 to 200 percent
after the implementation of these programs.

SEC. 2.  

Part 4 (commencing with Section 75240) is added to
Division 44 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

 

PART 4.  Transit Pass Program

 

75240.  

The Transit Pass Program is hereby created, to be
administered by the Department of Transportation. Moneys made
available for the program, upon appropriation by the begin delete Legislature
from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to
Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, end delete begin insert Legislature, end insert shall be
allocated by the Controller to support transit pass programs that
provide free or reduced-fare transit passes to any of the following:

(a) Pupils attending public middle schools or high schools that
are eligible for funding under Title I of the federal No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).

(b) Students attending a California community college who
qualify for a waiver of student fees pursuant to subdivision (g) of
Section 76300 of the Education Code.

(c) A student who attends a campus of the California State
University or the University of California and who receives an
award under the Cal Grant Program established in Chapter 1.7
(commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title
3 of the Education Code, the federal Pell Grant Program established
under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. Sec. 1070 et seq.), or both.

75241.  

As used in this part, the following terms are defined as
follows:

(a) “Department” means the Department of Transportation.

(b) “Eligible participant” means a public agency, including, but
not limited to, a transit operator, school district, community college
district, the California State University, or the University of
California.

(c) “Eligible transit provider” means a transportation agency,
transportation planning agency, or county transportation
commission that is eligible to receive moneys from a state transit
assistance fund pursuant to the distribution formula in subdivision
(b) or (c) of Section 99312 of and Sections 99313 and 99314 of
the Public Utilities Code.

(d) “Program” means the Transit Pass Program established
pursuant to this part.

75242.  

(a) Moneys shall be allocated by the Controller
consistent with the requirements of this part begin delete and with Section
39712 of the Health and Safety Code, end delete upon a determination by the
department that the expenditures proposed by an eligible transit
provider meet the requirements of this part and the guidelines
developed pursuant to subdivision (c), and the amount of funding
requested that is currently available.

(b) (1) Moneys allocated for the program shall be expended to
provide low- or no-cost public transit passes to students, as
specified in Section 75240, through programs that support new or
existing transit pass programs.

(2) An eligible transit provider may consider granting priority
to an application from an eligible participant with an existing,
successful transit pass program, provided that the eligible
participant can demonstrate that the additional moneys will further
reduce the cost of the transit pass or expand program eligibility.

(c) The begin delete department, in coordination with the State Air Resources
Board, end delete begin insert department end insert shall develop guidelines that describe the
criteria that eligible transit providers shall use to make available
free or reduced-fare transit passes to eligible begin delete participants and the
methodologies that eligible participants shall use to demonstrate
that the proposed expenditures will reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. end delete begin insert participants. end insert The Administrative Procedure Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) shall not apply to
the development of the guidelines for the program established
pursuant to this part.

(1) The guidelines shall ensure that moneys from the program
are used to expand eligibility or further reduce the cost of a transit
pass under existing programs.

(2) The department shall develop performance measures and
reporting requirements to evaluate the effectiveness of the program,
including an annual update of the number of free or reduced-fare
transit passes distributed to students and whether the program is
increasing transit ridership among students.

(d) Eligible transit providers and eligible participants shall enter
into agreements pursuant to the guidelines developed pursuant to
subdivision (c) to ensure that free or reduced-fare transit passes
are distributed to students.

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(e) Moneys from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable
Communities Program (Part 1 (commencing with Section 75200)),
the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (Part 3 (commencing
with Section 75230)), and other low carbon transportation programs
may be used to augment a free or reduced-fare transit pass program.
Those moneys shall remain subject to the requirements to benefit
disadvantaged communities consistent with the guidance provided
by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 39715 of
the Health and Safety Code.

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75244.  

For the purposes of determining an eligible transit
provider’s eligibility for moneys distributed to a transportation
planning agency pursuant to the distribution formula in
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 99312 of and Sections 99313
and 99314 of the Public Utilities Code, free or reduced-fare transit
passes made available pursuant to the program shall be calculated
at their full retail value.

75245.  

(a) Each eligible transit provider shall receive twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000) from the program.

(b) After the initial twenty-thousand-dollar ($20,000) amount
is allocated, the remaining program moneys shall be allocated to
eligible transit providers pursuant to the distribution formula in
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 99312 of and Sections 99313
and 99314 of the Public Utilities Code.

(c) Any moneys allocated during a fiscal year not distributed
pursuant to subdivisions (a) or (b) shall be added to the allocation
for the following fiscal year to be distributed pursuant to this
section.