BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 628|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 628
Author: Block (D), et al
Amended: 7/7/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SEN. TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 9-1, 7/14/09
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, DeSaulnier, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Kehoe, Oropeza, Pavley, Wolk
NOES: Ashburn
NO VOTE RECORDED: Simitian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 5/11/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Toll evasion: pay-by-plate toll payment
SOURCE : South Bay Expressway, L.P. (source)
DIGEST : This bill defines pay-by-plate toll payment and
establishes what constitutes evidence of a toll evasion
violation where a toll operator offers this method of toll
payment. This bill also provides that a toll operator
offering pay-by-plate toll payment must communicate the
amount of toll in the same manner as it does for other
methods of toll payment.
ANALYSIS : Existing law makes every vehicle using a toll
bridge or toll highway liable for any tolls or other
charges that may be prescribed and prohibits a person from
CONTINUED
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evading or attempting to evade the payment of those tolls
or charges.
If a vehicle is found, by automated devices (including
cameras), by visual observation, or otherwise, to have
evaded a toll, a toll operator shall issue to the
registered owner of the vehicle a notice of toll evasion
violation within 21 days of the violation. The notice must
describe the violation, the approximate time and location
of the violation, the vehicle license plate number, a clear
and concise explanation of the procedures to contest the
violation, and if practicable, the registration expiration
date and make of the vehicle. If the toll operator is
unable to obtain accurate information concerning the
identity and address of the registered owner within 21 days
of the violation, it shall have an additional 46 calendar
days to issue the notice.
Toll evasion penalties include any late payment penalty,
administrative fee, fine, assessment, and costs of
collection. Existing law limits toll evasion violation
penalties to $100 for the first offense, $250 for a second
within one year, and $500 for each additional violation
within one year.
Existing law establishes a process for contesting a notice
of toll evasion violation. Within 21 days from the
issuance of the notice or within 15 days from the mailing
of the notice, whichever is later, a person may contest the
notice in which case the toll operator is required to
conduct an administrative investigation. If the person is
not satisfied with the results of the investigation, he or
she may, within 15 days of the mailing of the results and
after paying the penalty for toll evasion, request an
administrative hearing. If the person is not satisfied
with the results, he or she may, within 20 days of the
mailing of the results, appeal to the court.
For a toll bridge or toll highway where toll payment may be
made with cash or with a transponder or other electronic
toll payment device, suing the toll facility without either
lawful money of the United States in the person's immediate
possession in an amount sufficient to pay the tolls or
charges or a transponder or other electronic toll payment
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device associated with a valid Automatic Vehicle
Identification account with a balance sufficient to pay
those tolls is considered prime facie evidence of a toll
evasion violation. For a troll bridge or toll highway
where a transponder or other electronic device is the only
method of toll payment, failing to have an account with a
balance sufficient to pay the tolls due is considered prima
facie evidence of toll evasion. Prime facie evidence
indicates that the burden is on the alleged violator to
prove that either the violation did not occur or that
person was not responsible for it.
This bill:
1.Defines "pay-by-plate toll payment" as an issuing
agency's use of on-road vehicle license plate
identification recognition technology to accept payment
of tolls.
2.Requires toll operators that permit pay-by-plate to
communicate, as practicable, the amount of toll in the
same manner that it communicates other toll payment
methods, which may include on-road signage approved by
the Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
3.Requires toll operators that permit pay-by-plate toll
payment to make publicly available information regarding
how pay-by-plate works, the toll amount, the process for
payment, and the period of time a vehicle has to resolve
the payment before an issuing agency may process the trip
as a toll payment violation. The bill also specifies the
media that toll operators may use to communicate this
information.
4.Provides that administrative costs shall be incorporated
into the base toll rate for pay-by-plate and that no
additional costs shall be added above the posted
pay-by-plate toll rate.
5.Provides that the bill does not require a toll operator
to offer pay-by-plate toll payment.
6.Specifies that for toll facilities where the issuing
agency permits pay-by-plate toll payment of tolls, it is
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prima facie evidence of a toll evasion violation for a
person to enter the toll facility without either lawful
money of the United States, a transponder or other
electronic toll payment device with a valid Automatic
Vehicle Identification account with a balance sufficient
to pay those tolls, or valid California vehicle license
plates properly affixed to the vehicle.
7.Specifies that for toll facilities where the issuing
agency permits pay-by-plate toll payment and where
electronic toll collection is the only other method of
paying tolls, it is prima facie evidence of a toll
evasion violation for a person to enter the toll facility
without either a transponder or other electronic toll
payment device with a valid Automatic Vehicle
Identification account with a balance sufficient to pay
those tolls or valid California license plates properly
affixed to both the front and rear of the vehicle.
8.Allows, for agencies that permit pay-by-plate toll
payment, the person reporting the toll evasion violation
to include a statement that the tolls or other charges
and any applicable fee were not paid in accordance with
the issuing agency's policies for pay-by-plate and
specifies that the documentation shall be considered
prima facie evidence of the violation.
9.Establishes civil penalties that may be imposed on any
person who knowingly provides false information regarding
a toll payment violation.
Comments
How pay-by-plate would work . Each toll operator would be
responsible for developing its own policy regarding the use
of a pay-by-plate toll payment and processing system, but
in general, a driver who would like to pay a toll but is
unable to, either because they did not realize they had
entered a tolled area or do not have a transponder or
sufficient cash, will within a specified period of time
(e.g., 72 hours), be able to call or access a web site to
pay the toll (plus an administrative fee) via credit card.
The toll operator would be able to match the license plate
number provided by the driver to the license plate
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photographed at the time the vehicle failed to pay the
required toll. Depending on the toll operator's policy, a
person could establish a pre-paid account that is debited
each time he or she uses the road. Drivers could be
informed of the pay-by-plate payment method in a variety of
ways, including signs with the telephone number or web site
located within the toll facility.
Two types of enforcement . Toll evasion can be enforced in
two ways, through criminal penalties or civil penalties.
In the first way, a CHP officer observes a motorist failing
to pay a toll and issues a citation for a toll evasion
violation. The base fine for a violation is $35 with a
total bail of $146. Money derived from the base fine is
distributed either to the city and/or the county, depending
on where the violation occurred, and money derived from the
penalty assessments is distributed to several state and
county funds for a variety of purposes. Between 2004 and
2008, CHP issued a total of 14,945 citations for toll
evasion.
The second way to enforce toll evasion, through civil
penalties, is more common and typically involves a toll
operator capturing by photograph the license plate of a
vehicle that fails to pay a toll. The toll operator then
matches the license plate number to a record in DMV's
database and issues a notice toll evasion violation to the
registered owner of the vehicle. These notices result in
civil penalties ranging between $25 and $100, plus the cost
of the toll. The toll operator controls these funds. In
the Bay Area, the Bay Area Toll Authority issues an average
of approximately 200,000 notices of toll evasion violation
per month, which represents about two percent of the 10
million bridge crossings that occur in the same time
period.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/09)
South Bay Expressway, L.P. (source)
Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
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Orange County Transportation Authority
Transportation Corridor Agencies
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill permits toll roads
operating in California, which already use vehicle
identification cameras for recording toll violators, to
begin using the same technology for the payment of tolls.
This method is in addition to cash, a transponder (e.g.,
FasTrak), or other electronic toll payment devices that are
authorized under current law.
The author's office asserts that motorists may accidentally
enter a toll area with no ability to turn around or they
may have mistakenly believed they had sufficient cash or a
transponder when entering a toll payment area.
Furthermore, individuals may wish to utilize a toll road on
an intermittent basis, but do not possess a transponder or
are averse to using the road for lack of cash and threat of
penalty. Under this bill, the same technology currently
used to capture images of and process license plate numbers
could be used to record license plate numbers for purposes
of toll payment, thereby allowing drivers an additional
option when they want to use a toll road and helping to
reduce congestion and related impacts on overcrowded
freeways.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass
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JJA:cm 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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