SB 194, as introduced, Cannella. 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 vehicleson highways under their respective jurisdictions.
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 21655.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended
2to read:
(a) The Department of Transportation and local
4authorities, with respect to highways under their respective
5jurisdictions, may authorize or permit exclusive or preferential use
6of highway lanes for high-occupancy vehicles.begin delete Prior toend deletebegin insert Beforeend insert
7 establishing the lanes, competent engineering estimates shall be
8made of the effect of the lanes on safety, congestion, and highway
9capacity.
P2 1(b) The Department of Transportation and local authorities, with
2respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions, shall place
3and maintain, or cause
to be placed and maintained, signs and other
4official traffic control devices to designate the exclusive or
5preferential lanes, to advise motorists of the applicable vehicle
6occupancy levels, and, except where ramp metering and bypass
7lanes are regulated with the activation of traffic signals, to advise
8motorists of the hours of high-occupancy vehicle usage.begin delete Noend deletebegin insert Aend insert
9 person shallbegin insert notend insert drive a vehicle upon those lanes except in
10conformity with the instructions imparted by the official traffic
11control devices. A motorcycle, a mass transit vehicle, or a
12paratransit vehicle that is clearly and identifiably marked on all
13sides of the vehicle with the name of the paratransit provider may
14be operated upon those exclusive or
preferential use lanes unless
15specifically prohibited by a traffic control device.
16(c) When responding to an existing emergency or breakdown
17in which a mass transit vehicle is blocking an exclusive or
18preferential use lane, a clearly marked mass transit vehicle, mass
19transit supervisor’s vehicle, or mass transit maintenance vehicle
20that is responding to the emergency or breakdown may be operated
21in the segment of the exclusive or preferential use lane being
22blocked by the mass transit vehicle, regardless of the number of
23persons in the vehicle responding to the emergency or breakdown,
24if both vehicles are owned or operated by the same agency, and
25that agency provides public mass transit services.
26(d) For purposes of this section, a “paratransit vehicle” is defined
27in Section 462.
28(e) For purposes of this section, a
“mass transit vehicle” means
29a transit bus regularly used to transport paying passengers in mass
30transit service.
31(f) It is the intent of the Legislature, in amending this section,
32to stimulate and encourage the development of ways and means
33of relieving traffic congestion on California highways and, at the
34same time, to encourage individual citizens to pool their vehicular
35resources and thereby conserve fuel and lessen emission of air
36pollutants.
37(g) The provisions of this section regarding mass transit vehicles
38and paratransit vehicles shall only apply if the Director of
P3 1Transportation determines that the application will not subject the
2state to a reduction in the amount of federal aid for highways.
O
99