BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: SB 998 Hearing Date: 4/19/2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Wieckowski | |----------+------------------------------------------------------| |Version: |4/6/2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Erin Riches | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Vehicles: mass transit guideways DIGEST: This bill prohibits an individual from operating, stopping, parking, or leaving a motor vehicle in a transit-only lane of a highway. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Prohibits an individual from stopping, parking, or leaving a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with directions from a peace officer or official traffic control device, in specified situations. These situations include, but are not limited to, within an intersection, on a crosswalk, in front of a driveway, in a tunnel, on a bridge, and in passenger loading zones, including bus stops. 2)Provides that these offenses are infractions, subject to a fine of $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense occurring within one year of a prior offense, and $250 for a third or subsequent offense occurring within one year of two or more prior offenses. This bill prohibits an individual from: 1)Operating a motor vehicle on a portion of highway that has been designated for the exclusive use of public transit buses, SB 998 (Wieckowski) Page 2 of ? except in compliance with directions from a peace officer or official traffic control device. 2)Stopping, parking, or leaving a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with directions from a peace officer or official traffic control device, on a portion of highway that has been designated for the exclusive use of public transit buses. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. The author states that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a high-capacity, lower cost public transit service intended to effectively accommodate longer distance passenger trips in transit corridors in urban areas. By operating in dedicated bus-only lanes, public transit agencies are able to decrease travel times and make bus service more reliable and competitive with automobiles. BRT is gaining popularity as a solution to buses stuck in traffic; several public transit agencies in California are currently operating or constructing BRT projects with exclusive bus-only lanes. These agencies include the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority, Omnitrans in San Bernardino County, Sacramento Regional Transit District, San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. This bill will help ensure the success and efficiency of existing BRT lanes and encourage more public transit agencies to plan for BRT lanes in the future. 2)Bus stops v. bus lanes. Existing law prohibits a motorist from stopping, parking, or leaving a vehicle in a bus stop, punishable as an infraction and subject to a $100 fine (or higher for subsequent offenses). This bill expands those prohibitions to BRT lanes, as well as prohibiting driving in a BRT lane. These new offenses would also be infractions, subject to the same fines. 3)Fines. Due to additional surcharges, penalties, and assessments, a $100 base fine for an infraction - such as the offenses created by this bill - results in a total of $541. A similar bill, SB 1051 (Hancock) authorizes the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, in addition to the City and County of San Francisco, to enforce parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes and bus stops using video cameras. Current law SB 998 (Wieckowski) Page 3 of ? specifies that these violations are civil penalties, not infractions, subject to a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $1,000. Civil penalties differ from infractions in that civil penalties are not subject to the add-on fees. 4)Can't these motorists be cited now? Santa Clara Valley Transportation authority, co-sponsor of this bill, states that because transit agencies are not statutorily created special districts, they do not have the authority under state law to cite vehicles that are parked, stopped, left standing, or driven in a designated bus-only lane. In addition, while existing law prohibits parking, stopping, or leaving a vehicle in a bus stop, it does not address BRT lanes. By specifically designating prohibitions in BRT lanes, this bill would authorize transit agencies to issue citations for impeding BRT service operations. Related Legislation: SB 1051 (Hancock) - allows the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District to enforce parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes and bus stops using video cameras. SB 1051 is also being heard by this committee today. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, April 13, 2016.) SUPPORT: Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority OPPOSITION: None received -- END -- SB 998 (Wieckowski) Page 4 of ?