BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 247 (Lara) - Charter bus transportation: safety improvements
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|Version: January 4, 2016 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 8 - 0, |
| | E.,U.,& C. 8 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: January 19, 2016 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 247 would place new safety requirements on charter
buses. Specifically, this bill would require all charter buses
to have specified safety and emergency equipment, require all
charter buses manufactured after July 1, 2017 to have a
secondary door as an emergency exit, and require drivers to
instruct passengers on the vehicle's safety equipment and
emergency exits prior to any trip.
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Fiscal
Impact:
Potential California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) costs
in the range of $150,000 to $300,000 for staff support and an
administrative law judge to conduct a formal rulemaking
proceeding for the new charter bus safety requirements
(Transportation Reimbursement Account). See Staff Comments.
California Highway Patrol (CHP) costs of approximately $20,000
to develop standards and criteria for the proposed safety
equipment requirements. (Motor Vehicle Account)
Background: Existing law, the Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act,
defines a "charter-party carrier of passengers" as a person or
entity engaged in the transportation of persons by motor vehicle
for compensation on a prearranged basis over any public highway
in the state. The CPUC is generally responsible for the
regulation of charter-party carriers of passengers, and existing
law prohibits these entities from engaging in transportation
services without obtaining a specified permit from the CPUC.
Existing law also defines "charter bus transportation" as
transportation using a vehicle designed, used, or maintained for
carrying more than 10 persons, including the driver, who have
acquired the exclusive use of the vehicle to travel together,
pursuant to a common purpose, and under a single contract at a
fixed charge.
Existing law requires the CHP to regulate the safe operation of
motor vehicles engaged in transportation for hire or
compensation, including charter buses, and to inspect those
vehicles to ensure that they have the required safety equipment.
Proposed Law:
SB 247 would place new safety requirements on charter-party
carriers of passengers engaged in charter bus transportation.
Specifically, these carriers must:
Ensure that charter bus drivers instruct all passengers on the
safety equipment and emergency exits on the vehicle prior to
any trip, including providing passengers with written
instructions that demonstrate the location and operation of
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all exits and the importance of wearing a seatbelt.
Ensure that its charter buses are equipped with all of the
following safety measures:
o Burn resistant materials for passenger compartments.
o Independently powered emergency lighting fixtures
designed to turn on in the event of an impact or
collision.
o Interior and exterior luminescent or retroreflective
emergency signage.
o An event data recorder capable of recording
vehicle-related data in the event of sudden deceleration
or hard braking.
o Windows that can be easily opened and remain open
during an emergency.
The bill would also require CHP to adopt standards for the
implementation of the charter bus safety requirements by July 1,
2017, and require charter buses manufactured after that date to
be equipped with a secondary door for use as an emergency exit.
Related
Legislation: SB 109 (Corbett), Chap 752/2013, requires all
modified limousines to have at least two rear side doors and two
rear push-out windows that may be used as emergency exits by
passengers.
Staff
Comments: This bill is intended to place new safety
requirements on charter buses that are consistent with
recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) following the investigation of a tragic head-on collision
between a FedEx tractor-trailer and a charter bus in 2014 that
resulted in the death of eight passengers.
The CPUC indicates that the bill may require a formal proceeding
to implement the new rules pertaining to charter bus safety
measures, which would result in one-time costs as high as
$328,341 for staff support and an administrative law judge to
run the proceeding. The uncertainty is due to the bill
requiring CHP to adopt the standards for implementing bus safety
requirements, but the provisions are in the Public Utilities
Code. Staff notes that it is unclear that a full PY of CPUC
staff and administrative law judge time would be necessary to
conduct a rulemaking proceeding of this nature. This Committee
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has typically noted CPUC costs in the range of $150,000 for
conducting proceedings of similar scope and complexity, such as
those related to limousine safety improvements.
Staff notes that the costs to make the specified safety
improvements to charter buses, the scope of which is currently
unknown, would be the responsibility of charter bus companies
and are not expected to result in a direct state fiscal impact.
Recommended
Amendments: Staff recommends a technical drafting amendment to
remove the provisions of the bill from the Public Utilities
Code, and instead include the language within the Vehicle Code
(similar to the safety equipment requirements for modified
limousines, as enacted by SB 109 of 2013). This would have the
practical effect of reducing the bill's costs by eliminating the
need for a formal CPUC proceeding to implement charter bus
safety requirements.
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