Senate Bill No. 59

Introduced by Senator Knight

December 19, 2014

An act to amend Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 59, as introduced, Knight. Vehicles: high-occupancy vehicle lanes.

Existing law authorizes local authorities and the Department of Transportation to establish exclusive or preferential use of highway lanes for high-occupancy vehicles.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended
to read:

21655.5.  

(a) The Department of Transportation and local
authorities, with respect to highways under their respective
jurisdictions, may authorize or permit exclusive or preferential use
of highway lanes for high-occupancy vehicles. begin delete Prior to end delete begin insert Before end insert
establishing the lanes, competent engineering estimates shall be
made of the effect of the lanes on safety, congestion, and highway
capacity.

(b) The Department of Transportation and local authorities, with
respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions, shall place
and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, signs and other
official traffic control devices to designate the exclusive or
preferential lanes, to advise motorists of the applicable vehicle
occupancy levels, and, except where ramp metering and bypass
lanes are regulated with the activation of traffic signals, to advise
motorists of the hours of high-occupancy vehicle usage. begin delete No end delete begin insert A end insert
person shall begin insert not end insert drive a vehicle upon those lanes except in
conformity with the instructions imparted by the official traffic
control devices. A motorcycle, a mass transit vehicle, or a
paratransit vehicle that is clearly and identifiably marked on all
sides of the vehicle with the name of the paratransit provider may
be operated upon those exclusive or preferential use lanes unless
specifically prohibited by a traffic control device.

(c) When responding to an existing emergency or breakdown
in which a mass transit vehicle is blocking an exclusive or
preferential use lane, a clearly marked mass transit vehicle, mass
transit supervisor’s vehicle, or mass transit maintenance vehicle
that is responding to the emergency or breakdown may be operated
in the segment of the exclusive or preferential use lane being
blocked by the mass transit vehicle, regardless of the number of
persons in the vehicle responding to the emergency or breakdown,
if both vehicles are owned or operated by the same agency, and
that agency provides public mass transit services.

(d) For purposes of this section, a “paratransit vehicle” is defined
in Section 462.

(e) For purposes of this section, a “mass transit vehicle” means
a transit bus regularly used to transport paying passengers in mass
transit service.

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature, in amending this section,
to stimulate and encourage the development of ways and means
of relieving traffic congestion on California highways and, at the
same time, to encourage individual citizens to pool their vehicular
resources and thereby conserve fuel and lessen emission of air
pollutants.

(g) The provisions of this section regarding mass transit vehicles
and paratransit vehicles shall only apply if the Director of
Transportation determines that the application will not subject the
state to a reduction in the amount of federal aid for highways.