BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 719|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 719
Author: Hernandez (D)
Amended: 4/21/15
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 4/14/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Department of Transportation: motor vehicle
technologies testing
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) to test technologies that enable drivers to safely
operate motor vehicles with less than 100 feet between them.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Restricts a driver of a motor vehicle from following
another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent,
depending on various factors such as the speed of his or her
vehicle and the traffic on and condition of the roadway.
2) Specifies that a driver of a truck cannot follow any
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closer than 300 feet behind another truck, except to pass,
unless travelling on a highway with two or more lanes in the
same direction of travel.
This bill:
1)Authorizes Caltrans, in coordination with the California
Highway Patrol (CHP), to test technologies that enable drivers
to safely operate motor vehicles with less than 100 feet
between each vehicle or combination of vehicles.
2)Requires CHP to authorize the motor vehicles as well as the
streets and highways that Caltrans may use in testing these
technologies.
3)Requires Caltrans to report its findings from these tests to
the Legislature on or before July 1, 2017.
4)Sunsets on January 1, 2018.
Comments
Purpose. Recently, a partnership between Caltrans, the
University of California at Berkeley, private truck
manufacturers, and others received a federal grant to
demonstrate partially automated trucks in closely spaced
operations, also known as "truck platooning." Caltrans states
that this grant funding supports a research project designed to
explore three potential benefits of truck platooning:
increasing throughput, reducing fuel consumption due to improved
aerodynamics, and the resulting emission reductions from reduced
fuel consumption.
According to the author, Caltrans needs a temporary exemption
from existing law in order to perform the truck platooning
tests. This bill grants Caltrans the necessary exemption from
existing law.
Truck platooning and connected vehicles. Due to the fact that
people operating vehicles require time and space to react to
changing driving conditions, the present system of driving on
roadways requires a tremendous amount of space between vehicles.
The amount of space between vehicles increases as the speed of
the vehicles increases. For example, a parked car requires
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approximately 100 square feet of ground space. When the same
vehicle is moving at 70 mph, because of the longitudinal space
requirements to allow for human reaction time, it requires
approximately 5,000 square feet of space on a freeway. This
space requirement is even higher for trucks and commands a
premium price in an already developed urban environment such as
southern California.
Automated Highway Systems, or AHS, holds great promise in
improving traffic flow on congested roadways and promises
dramatic improvements in capacity. AHS is a vehicle- and
road-based system that can drive a vehicle automatically. This
is done using sensors that determine a vehicle's lane position
and the speed and location of other vehicles. Actuators on the
throttle, brake, and steering wheel give the vehicle the
necessary commands to safely navigate the vehicle on the
roadway. AHS vehicles often also have equipment to communicate
with other AHS vehicles. Automated highways are safer, more
efficient, and produce lower emissions compared to the traffic
flow on conventional highways.
The objective of Caltrans' latest project is to improve freight
operations by building on previous research that successfully
demonstrated two-truck platoons driving as closely as three
meters apart at highway speeds. This project will advance the
state of the art in driver-assist systems that facilitate the
formation of three-truck platoons, and will tackle the technical
challenges of automating lane changing, merging, and joining and
leaving a truck platoon.
Caltrans claims that AHS will eventually deliver incredible
benefits to the state. Automating truck speed and spacing, in
conjunction with vehicle-to-vehicle communications, can as much
as double throughput capacity on the state's highways.
Close-formation platoons also reduce aerodynamic drag, with fuel
consumption savings - and carbon emissions reductions - in the
range of 10% to 15%. Ultimately, successful platoon maneuvering
on dedicated truck-ways may help to accommodate future increases
in freight volumes in high-density urban corridors.
Related Legislation
SB 431 (Beall) requires that an officer's determination of what
is a reasonable and prudent following distance take into account
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the presence of vehicle automation technology, such as a
"driver-assistive truck platooning system" as defined. The bill
is pending in the Assembly.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/4/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/4/15)
None received
Prepared by:Eric Thronson / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
5/6/15 16:16:31
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