BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1381
Author: John A. Perez (D)
Amended: 4/15/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: 9-1, 6/16/09
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, DeSaulnier, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Ashburn
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 64-3, 5/14/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : High-occupancy toll lanes: Los Angeles County
SOURCE : California Department of Transportation
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority
DIGEST : This bill requires, rather than permits, the Los
Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(LACMTA) to implement a value-pricing and transit
development demonstration program in cooperation with the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and adds the
California Highway Patrol (CHP) as an agency with which
LACMTA must work to implement the program. The bill also
provides that the demonstration program does not preclude
Caltrans or any local agency from developing facilities
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that may compete with the high-occupancy toll lane
facilities and states that LACMTA is not entitled to
compensation for adverse effects on toll revenue that may
be due to those competing facilities.
ANALYSIS : High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes permit
single-occupant vehicles to use high-occupancy vehicle
(HOV) lanes for a fee. Since 1993, several bills have been
enacted to authorize a total of 13 HOT lane facilities.
AB 713 (Goldsmith), Chapter 962, Statutes of 1993,
authorized the San Diego Association of Governments
(SANDAG) to allow single-occupant vehicles into the HOV
lanes on Interstate 15 in San Diego County for a fee. The
project was part of a federal demonstration program to
assess the application of congestion pricing and to
increase revenues for transit development in the I-15
corridor.
In 2004, AB 2032 (Dutra), Chapter 418, authorized the Sunol
Smart Carpool Lane Joint Powers Authority, the Alameda
County Congestion Management Agency, the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority, and SANDAG to develop and operate
HOT lane facilities using value or congestion pricing on a
specified number of transportation corridors within their
jurisdictions, subject to certain conditions.
AB 1467 (N??ez), Chapter 32, Statutes of 2006, authorized,
until January 1, 2012, regional transportation agencies, in
cooperation with Caltrans, to apply to the California
Transportation Commission (CTC) to develop and operate up
to four HOT lane projects, including the administration and
operation of a value pricing program and exclusive or
preferential lane facilities for public transit. Under AB
1467, HOT lanes are approved by the enactment of a statute.
In accordance with AB 1467, the Legislature passed and the
Governor signed SB 1422 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 547,
Statutes of 2008, to authorize, until January 15, 2013,
LACMTA to convert existing HOV lanes on Interstates 10 and
110 to HOT lanes as part of a value-pricing and transit
development demonstration program pursuant to a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) set forth by the United States
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Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), Caltrans, and
LACMTA.
SB 1422 permits LACMTA to enter into a cooperative
agreement with Caltrans for all matters relating to design,
construction, maintenance, and operation of the facilities
and to establish traffic flow guidelines for the purpose of
ensuring optimal use of the HOT lanes by high-occupancy
vehicles. SB 1422 also establishes several conditions
under which LACMTA may implement the value pricing and
transit development program.
This bill:
1. Requires, rather than permits, LACMTA to implement the
value-pricing and transit development demonstration
program in cooperation with Caltrans.
2. Adds CHP as an agency with which LACMTA must cooperate
to implement the demonstration program.
3. Provides examples of specific performance measures that
the facility should meet.
4. Provides that the statute authorizing the demonstration
program does not preclude Caltrans or any local agency
from developing facilities that may compete with the HOT
lane demonstration project program.
5. States that LACMTA is not entitled to compensation for
adverse effects on toll revenue that may be due to those
competing facilities.
6. Makes technical and clarifying changes to make
consistent references to state highways in statute
(i.e., replacing "Interstate" with "State Highway
Route"), to articulate the role of Caltrans more
precisely, and to reference LACMTA more precisely.
Comments
The purpose of this bill is to make clean-up changes to SB
1422 (Ridley-Thomas). SB 1422 provided the necessary
legislative authorization to convert the HOV lanes on I-10
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and I-110 to HOT lanes so that LACMTA could receive $210.6
million in federal transit aid as part of a program
administered by U.S. DOT to encourage the implementation of
congestion pricing in metropolitan areas.
U.S. DOT conditioned its approval of LACMTA's proposal on
receiving the necessary legislative authorization to
implement an MOU between it, Caltrans, and LACMTA and
established a deadline of October 15, 2008. To take
advantage of the federal funds, therefore, it was necessary
to pass SB 1422 by the conclusion of the 2007-2008
legislative session. In drafting the bill and moving it
through the process quickly, the proponents inadvertently
left out certain provisions and there was insufficient time
to make corrections.
Additionally, the Professional Engineers in California
Government (PECG) proposed changes to SB 1422 to ensure
that Caltrans and local agencies could build transportation
facilities near the HOT lane facilities and to specify that
payment of compensation would not be due if those
facilities resulted in a reduction of toll revenue on the
HOT lanes. In the final days of the 2007-08 Session, the
Director of Caltrans, Will Kempton, and LACMTA Chief
Executive Officer, Roger Snoble, wrote a letter to PECG
stating, "Given the very limited time remaining in the
current Legislative Session, we want to commit to
addressing both your concerns in legislation next year."
This bill fulfills that commitment.
Description of the HOT lanes authorized by SB 1422 . The
intent of LACMTA's proposal is to test innovative
strategies to alleviate congestion, maximize freeway
capacity, and enhance transit alternatives in the I-10 and
I-110 corridors. A large component of the program is to
convert certain segments of HOV lanes into HOT lanes
whereby single-occupant vehicles may access the lane for a
fee. In addition to allowing single-occupant vehicles to
use the lanes for a fee, LACMTA intends to increase bus
service that currently operates in those HOV lanes and make
a variety of improvements to transit facilities in the
region.
I-110 currently has two HOV lanes in each direction.
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LACMTA's proposal involves converting the 11-mile segment
of the HOV lane that extends in both directions from 182nd
Street/Artesia Transit Center to Adams Boulevard into a HOT
lane. The minimum occupancy standard for this facility is
2+ persons per vehicle.
The I-10 HOV lane is a single lane in each direction.
LACMTA will convert a14-mile segment extending from Alameda
Street/Union Station to I-605 into a HOT lane. Under the
demonstration program, a buffer zone that currently exists
within that 14-mile segment will be removed in order to
establish a second HOT lane. This second lane will extend
for nine of the 14 miles. The minimum occupancy standard
for this facility is 2+ per vehicle except for during peak
commute hours at which time the minimum is increased to
three.
Both facilities will involve electronic tolling using
technology similar to FasTrak utilized on other toll
facilities in the state. There will be no tollbooths where
motorists may pay their toll in cash. The HOT lanes will
utilize dynamic pricing whereby the price of tolls may
change as frequently as once every five minutes to manage
demand for use of the facility. During peak periods, toll
rates will increase thereby decreasing the number of
single-occupant vehicles likely to choose to use the lane.
The HOT lanes will become operational in January 2011.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/16/09) (unable to re-verify)
California Department of Transportation (co-source)
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(co-source)
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Cook, Coto, De La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani,
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Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torres, Torrico,
Tran, Yamada
NOES: Anderson, Hernandez, Miller
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Conway, Davis, DeVore, Duvall,
Fuentes, Gaines, Jeffries, Saldana, Smyth, Torlakson,
Villines, Bass
JJA:do 6/30/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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