BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 39 Hearing Date: 4/21/2015
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|Author: |Pavley |
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|Version: |4/8/2015 |
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|Urgency: |Yes |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Erin Riches |
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SUBJECT: High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes: low-emission
vehicles
DIGEST: This bill raises the cap on the "green sticker" Clean
Air Vehicle program, which allows certain low-emission vehicles
to access HOV lanes with a single occupant.
ANALYSIS:
An HOV lane, also known as a carpool lane, aims to promote and
encourage ridesharing, thereby alleviating traffic congestion
and improving air quality. Depending on the particular HOV
lane, a vehicle must have a minimum of either two or three
occupants in order to access the lane.
Existing federal law authorizes states, until September 30,
2017, to allow certain low-emission and energy-efficient
vehicles with a single occupant to use HOV lanes. A state that
enacts such a policy must monitor its HOV system and report to
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on the impact these
vehicles have on highway operations. If these vehicles cause a
degradation of HOV lane operations, the state must limit or
discontinue clean-air vehicle use of the lanes. Federal law
deems that an HOV lane is degraded if vehicles operating in the
lane fail to maintain a minimum average operating speed
(generally 45 mph) during 90% of the time over a consecutive
180-day period during morning or evening weekday peak-hour
periods. Federal law requires states to take action on degraded
facilities within 180 days of identifying them as degraded. If
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a state fails to comply, FHWA may impose sanctions, including
withholding payment of federal funds and withholding approval of
projects.
Existing state law exempts certain clean, alternative-fuel
vehicles from HOV lane occupancy requirements, so that a vehicle
with just one occupant may use an HOV lane if it displays a
Clean Air Vehicle sticker. The state has implemented three
clean-air vehicle HOV sticker programs in recent years:
1.White HOV stickers. AB 71 (Cunneen), Chapter 330, Statutes of
1999, established the "white sticker program," which allows
vehicles that meet certain strict emission standards to drive
in carpool lanes with a single occupant. These vehicles are
typically pure battery electric vehicles, dedicated compressed
natural gas or liquid petroleum gas vehicles, and hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles, such as the Fiat 500e, Honda Civic CNG,
Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, and Toyota RAV 4 EV, among others.
State law does not limit the number of white stickers; as of
March 31, 2015, DMV had issued 70,978 white stickers. White
stickers expire on January 1, 2019.
2.Yellow HOV stickers (expired). AB 2618 (Pavley), Chapter 725,
Statutes of 2004, established the "yellow sticker program,"
which granted HOV lane access to certain single-occupant,
hybrid or alternatively fueled vehicles. The number of
vehicles that might be issued these stickers was ultimately
capped at 85,000, a limit that was reached in 2007; all yellow
stickers expired on July 1, 2011.
3.Green HOV stickers. SB 535 (Yee), Chapter 215, Statutes of
2010, established the "green sticker program," which allows
certain single-occupant vehicles - generally, plug-in hybrid
vehicles - to drive in carpool lanes. Eligible vehicles
include the BMW i3 Rex, Cadillac ELR, Chevrolet Volt, Ford
C-Max Energi, Ford Fusion Energi, Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid,
and Toyota Prius Plug-in. State law limits the number of
green stickers that DMV may issue to 70,000. The green
sticker program began on January 1, 2012; as of March 31,
2015, DMV had issued 62,973 green stickers. Green stickers
expire on January 1, 2019.
Pursuant to federal law, state law authorizes the state
Department of Transportation (Caltrans), if it is able to
attribute unacceptable congestion levels to clean vehicles, to
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ban them from HOV lanes.
This urgency bill raises the cap on the green sticker program to
85,000.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose. The author states that the supply of green stickers
for plug-in hybrids has not kept up with demand. On May 9,
2014, DMV issued the last green sticker allowed pursuant to
the 40,000 cap. Legislation passed last year (see below)
raised the cap to 55,000, which was reached on September 23,
2014. Additional legislation raised the cap again, to 70,000,
effective January 1, 2015. The author states that even the
additional allotment will soon run out; more than 5,000
stickers were issued in January. Governor Brown issued an
Executive Order in March 2012 setting a goal of 1.5 million
zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on California roads by 2025.
The author states that with only 200,000 ZEVs currently on the
road, and a temporary softening of market demand for ZEVs due
to lower gas prices, green stickers are a critical incentive
to maintain consumer demand and help the state meet its
long-term ZEV goals.
2.Do single-occupant vehicles clog carpool lanes? Caltrans
submitted its most recent HOV lane degradation report to FHWA
in December 2014. This report indicates that approximately
54% of HOV lanes in California were degraded during the first
half of the year, and 59% during the second half of the year.
According to Caltrans, this increase is associated with a
seasonal increase in traffic volume. Caltrans identifies key
causes of HOV lane congestion as vehicles from HOV lanes
merging into general-purpose lanes at the end of the HOV lane,
highway congestion, lane change conflicts when drivers attempt
to enter or exit the HOV lane, traffic incidents on the
freeway, and severe weather resulting in lower speeds. In
Caltrans' action report to the FHWA, also submitted in
December 2014, Caltrans states that it is not considering
prohibiting clean vehicles from HOV lanes because they account
for a relatively small percentage of peak-hour HOV volume.
3.Should the cap be lifted? As noted on the ARB website
regarding the yellow sticker program, "The California
legislature limited the time of this early hybrid vehicle
program to help promote and encourage development of newer
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plug-in hybrid and other zero-emissions technologies."
Automakers are already working to develop these technologies
in response to the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy
(CAFE) and greenhouse gas emissions standards, which aim to
increase fuel economy to the equivalent of 54.5 miles per
gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by 2025. Automakers
argue, however, that producing the cars does no good if
consumers are not motivated to buy them; the green sticker
program provides an incentive to do so.
4.Does HOV access incentivize clean car purchases? It appears
that HOV lane access is no longer a primary driver of clean
car purchases. The Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE)
released a set of survey results at the Governor's ZEV summit
in March 2014 indicating that HOV lane access accounted for
none of Tesla purchases and only 15% of Nissan Leaf, 20% of
Chevy Volt, and 34% of Toyota Prius purchases or leases in the
fourth quarter of 2013. For fourth quarter 2013, nearly half
of Nissan Leaf (48%) and Chevy Volt (48%) purchases or leases,
as well as 34% of Toyota Prius purchases or leases, were
attributable to a desire to save money on fuel (this factor
was not in evidence in Tesla purchases).
5.Time to narrow the program? The Coalition for Clean Air (CCA)
has taken a "support if amended" position on this bill. CCA
points out that a recent research report from the Institute of
Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis
(ITS) found that drivers who purchased a plug-in vehicle with
HOV lane access as the main motivation are not choosing a
vehicle battery size to maximize electric vehicle miles
traveled during their commute days as compared to drivers who
purchased their car for other reasons. ITS found that the car
with the lowest electric range, the Prius, was driven less
than one electric mile for every mile on an HOV lane, as
compared to four electric miles for every mile driven on an
HOV lane for the Leaf. CCA recommends amending this bill to
limit green stickers to vehicles capable of traveling at least
20 miles per charge.
6.How many incentives are enough? The state Air Resources
Board's (ARB) Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP) provides
rebates of up to $2,500 for the purchase or lease of a new
zero-emission vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
CVRP is so heavily utilized that the program ran out of funds
midyear in 2014; the ARB maintained a waiting list until the
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program could start up again in June with the new fiscal year.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy offers a $7,500
federal tax credit for the purchase of an electric vehicle.
Clean vehicle owners also tend to enjoy free parking in
commercial garages, among other benefits.
7.HOT lanes. A high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane, also known as an
express lane, allows single-occupant vehicles to access an HOV
lane by paying a toll. State law originally exempted all
vehicles with green or white stickers from paying tolls in HOT
lanes. AB 1721 (Linder), Chapter 526, Statutes of 2014,
authorizes a toll agency to impose reduced-rate tolls (but not
full tolls) on vehicles with a green or white sticker
accessing the agency's HOT lanes. Writing in opposition to
this bill, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
states that express lanes are designed to maintain the time
savings benefits of HOV lanes, but also to allow
single-occupant vehicles to use the lanes for a fee. MTC
states that with congestion levels up to almost 40% in the Bay
Area as compared to 2010, now is not the time to expand the
number of single-occupant vehicles allowed in HOV or express
lanes unless they pay the same toll as other single-occupant
vehicles.
8.Social equity concerns. For a variety of reasons,
low-emission vehicles often have higher purchase prices than
comparable gasoline-powered vehicles. These higher purchase
prices generally make low-emission vehicles that qualify for
HOV lane access unaffordable for low-income drivers. (Note
that the CCSE survey referenced above indicated that over half
of CVRP recipients earn more than $150,000 per year.) Some
may question whether it is appropriate to be able to "buy"
single-occupant lane access to lanes that are intended to
promote ridesharing.
Related Legislation:
AB 914 (Brown), which will be heard in the Assembly
Transportation Committee later this month, authorizes the San
Bernardino County Transportation Commission to construct and
operate toll facilities on State Highway Routes 10 and 15, and,
upon agreement, in Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. AB 914
includes a provision that green- and white-sticker vehicles
would not be exempt from tolls on these toll facilities.
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AB 2013 (Muratsuchi, Chapter 527, Statutes of 2014) - raised the
cap on the green sticker program from 55,000 to 70,000,
effective January 1, 2015.
SB 853 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 27,
Statutes of 2014) - raised the cap on the green sticker program
from 40,000 to 55,000, effective immediately.
SB 286 (Yee, Chapter 414, Statutes of 2013) - extended the
sunset on the green sticker program from January 1, 2015, to
January 1, 2019 or until federal authorization expires,
whichever comes first.
SB 535 (Yee, Chapter 215, Statutes of 2014) - extended the
sunset on the white sticker program from January 1, 2015 to
January 1, 2019 or until federal authorization expires,
whichever comes first.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 15, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (sponsor)
Association of Global Automakers
California Electric Transportation Coalition
California Municipal Utilities Association
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
OPPOSITION:
Coalition for Clean Air
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
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