BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2620
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 2620 (Eng) - As Amended: April 8, 2010
SUBJECT : State highways: toll facilities
SUMMARY : Dedicates an unspecified percentage of net toll
revenues from future toll facilities on the state highway system
for maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation of the system.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Make legislative findings and declarations regarding the
decreasing level of available funding for maintenance,
preservation, and rehabilitation of the state highway system
and the increasing needs in these areas.
2)Provides that an unspecified percentage of net toll revenues
generated by future toll facilities on the state highway
system are to be dedicated to maintenance, preservation, and
rehabilitation of the system.
3)Applies these provisions only to toll facilities developed on
and after January 1, 2011, that are subject to a cooperative
agreement between the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) and another public agency entered into on or after
that date.
EXISTING LAW:
4)Authorizes various specific transportation agencies and/or
joint powers agencies to conduct value-pricing high-occupancy
toll lane programs in specific state highway system corridors.
5)Authorizes regional transportation agencies or Caltrans to
enter into public-private partnership agreements for
transportation projects, under specific conditions and until
January 2, 2017.
6)Authorizes Caltrans and other public agencies to enter into
agreements to develop toll facilities in order to increase the
construction of new capacity or improvements for the state
transportation system consistent with specified goals.
AB 2620
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7)Requires Caltrans to prepare a State Highway Operation and
Protection Program (SHOPP) identifying major capital
improvements that are needed to preserve and protect the state
highway system; limits SHOPP projects to, among other things,
those projects that do not add capacity to the system.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown but will result in increased revenues
for maintenance and rehabilitation activities on the state
highway system, to the extent that new toll facilities are
developed.
COMMENTS: Regional transportation agencies are generally
responsible for making improvements within the urban areas of
the state highway system. Increasingly, these regional
transportation agencies are considering developing toll
facilities on the state highway system as a means of funding
transportation improvements in the corridor and in the region.
Several such toll facilities have already been authorized in
statute and others are being considered.
Despite the role of the regional transportation agencies in
making improvements to the state highway system, Caltrans is the
owner-operator of the system. Any improvements made to the
system have to have Caltrans' approval, typically via a
cooperative agreement, and have to be constructed consistent
with Caltrans' design standards. Further, Caltrans is
responsible for the maintenance and operation of the
system-costs for which are soaring as the system ages well
beyond its design life. Caltrans is also legally responsible
for the state highway system and assumes related tort
liabilities.
According to the author, the intent of AB 2620 is to increase
the amount of money available for use in SHOPP. The SHOPP is a
four-year program of projects developed to reduce collisions,
restore major damage, preserve bridges, preserve the roadway and
roadside, enhance mobility, and preserve other transportation
facilities related to the state highway system.
In February 2010, the California Transportation Commission
adopted the $6.75 billion, four-year 2010 SHOPP. This SHOPP has
less funding compared to the 2008 SHOPP. The capacity to add
new projects has been reduced primarily due to the reduction of
available funding. Further, the escalation of construction
AB 2620
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costs continues to erode the buying power of the limited funding
that is available. The decline of available funding for the
SHOPP together with the following items continues to strain the
ability to meet rehabilitation and preservation needs on the
state highway system:
8)The continuing increase in vehicle travel and goods movement
contribute to an increasing rate of pavement and bridge
deterioration, new traffic collision concentration locations,
and increasing hours of traffic congestion.
9)The continued under-funding of preservation and rehabilitation
delays needed projects and ultimately increases the cost when
projects are undertaken.
AB 2620 acknowledges that the backbone of regions' plans for
developing and operating toll facilities is the state highway
system-a state asset. As such, it directs some portion of the
revenues derived from the toll facilities to Caltrans to
preserve and maintain the system. The author indicates that, at
this point, the amount of the percentage is still undecided as
talks continue with Caltrans and regional transportation
authorities to determine an equitable percentage of the toll
proceeds that should be directed to the SHOPP.
Previous legislation : SB 1422 (Ridley-Thomas) Chapter 547,
Statutes of 2008 authorized a value-pricing and transit
development demonstration program involving high-occupancy toll
(HOT) lanes to be conducted, administered, developed, and
operated on State Highway Route 110 and Interstate 10 in Los
Angeles County by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
AB 1954 (Jeffries) Chapter 421, Statutes of 2008 authorized a
value-pricing and transit program involving HOT lanes to be
developed and operated on State Highway Route 15 in Riverside
County by the Riverside County Transportation Commission.
AB 2032 (Dutra) Chapter 418, Statutes of 2004 authorized the San
Diego Association of Governments, the Sunol Smart Carpool Lane
Joint Powers Authority, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority, and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency
to undertake value-pricing programs involving various HOT lanes
under the jurisdiction of these agencies.
AB 2620
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093