BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 39|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 39
Author: Pavley (D), et. al.
Amended: 4/8/15
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 9-1, 4/21/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Galgiani, Leyva, McGuire,
Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
NOES: Bates
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: High-occupancy vehicle lanes: low-emission vehicles
SOURCE: Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
Association of Global Automakers
DIGEST: This bill raises the cap on the "green sticker" Clean
Air Vehicle program, which allows certain low-emission vehicles
to access high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes with a single
occupant.
ANALYSIS: Existing law provides that 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:
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1)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.
2)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 a state fails to comply, FHWA may impose
sanctions, including withholding payment of federal funds and
withholding approval of projects.
Existing state law:
1)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:
a) 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 May 4, 2015,
the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) had issued 72,835
white stickers. Pursuant to legislation passed last year,
AB 266 (Blumenfield, Chapter 405, Statutes of 2013), white
stickers expire on January 1, 2019.
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b) 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.
c) 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 April 8, 2015, DMV had issued 63,255
green stickers. Pursuant to legislation passed last year,
SB 286 (Yee, Chapter 414, Statutes of 2013), green stickers
expire on January 1, 2019.
2)Authorizes, pursuant to federal law, the state Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), if it is able to attribute
unacceptable congestion levels to clean vehicles, to ban them
from HOV lanes.
This urgency bill raises the cap on the green sticker program to
85,000.
Comments
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, AB 2013 (Muratsuchi,
Chapter 527, Statutes of 2014), raised the cap to 55,000, which
was reached on September 23, 2014. Additional legislation, SB
853 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 27, Statutes
of 2014), raised the cap again, to 70,000, effective January 1,
2015. The author states that even the additional allotment will
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soon run out; more than 5,000 stickers were issued in January
2015. 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.
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.
Should the cap be lifted? As noted on the state Air Resources
Board (ARB) Web site 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 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 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.
Does HOV access incentivize clean car purchases? It appears
that HOV lane access is no longer a primary driver of clean car
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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).
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.
How many incentives are enough? The ARB's Clean Vehicle Rebate
Program (CVRP) provides rebates of up to $2,500 for the purchase
or lease of a new ZEV 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 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.
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)
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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.
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 CSE
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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/4/15)
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (co-source)
Association of Global Automakers (co-source)
CalETC
CALSTART
California Municipal Utilities Association
Ford Motor Company
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/4/15)
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Association of Global Automakers
states that the availability of the HOV lane access incentive
has been cited by consumers as a key consideration in the
purchase of a ZEV. The Association states that California's
strong support of advanced technology is essential to the
development and commercialization of these vehicles, and cannot
be achieved without the help of proven incentives like access to
HOV lanes.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The Metropolitan Transportation
Commission expresses concern that if the Legislature continues
to expand this program, it could undermine a lynchpin of
California's long-term mobility strategy; namely, express lanes.
MTC also urges the Legislature to consider placing a cap on the
white sticker program, now that sales of alternative fuel
vehicles are growing quite rapidly.
Prepared by:Erin Riches / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
5/6/15 16:16:12
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