BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 716
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Wolk
VERSION: 4/30/09
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: No
Hearing date: May 12, 2009
SUBJECT:
Local transportation funds
DESCRIPTION:
This bill would authorize the use of Transportation Development
Act (TDA) funds to acquire vans for farm worker vanpools.
ANALYSIS:
The Legislature enacted the Transportation Development Act
(TDA), Senate Bill 325, Chapter 1400, Statutes of 1971, in
order to ensure "the efficient and orderly movement of people
and goods in the urban areas of the state." The TDA authorized
the boards of supervisors in each county to impose a -percent
local sales tax for transportation purposes. All counties
imposed the tax in 1972, because if they had not, the state,
under California's uniform tax law would not have collected the
one-percent local sales that supports the general funds of
cities and counties. Although the focus of the law is the
provision of transit services in urban areas, it recognizes
that rural areas have a different mix of transportation needs.
To this end, revenues from the tax must be used for public
transit purposes in counties with a population greater than
500,000 as of the 1970 census. Counties with a population under
500,000 as of 1970 may use the revenues for transit and for
local streets and roads. In 2007, $1.4 billion was generated by
the statewide local -percent sales tax for transportation.
About 11 percent of the funds were used for local street and
road purposes. California's TDA program is the only permanent,
statewide transit funding program in the country.
TDA funds are allocated by regional transportation planning
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agencies, which in the urban areas are often multicounty
entities, but in rural areas are generally single counties.
Before funds can be used for local streets and roads, the
regional transportation planning agency in a rural county must
hold public hearings and make one of three findings:
There are no unmet transit needs.
There are no unmet transit needs that are
reasonable to meet.
There are unmet transit needs, including
needs that are reasonable to meet.
This bill :
1. Authorizes an allocation of TDA funds in counties under
500,000 persons as of the 1970 census for the acquisition
or lease of vans to be used to transport agricultural
workers to and from work, after a finding had been made
that there are no unmet transit needs.
2. Precludes the use of TDA funds to pay for the operating
cost of vans used to transport agricultural workers.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The purpose of this bill is to provide safe and
reliable vanpool services to agricultural workers employed in
the fields and in food processing plants.
2.Background . In 1999, a van transporting agricultural workers
collided with a tractor semi-trailer at Five Points, a rural
community in Fresno County, resulting in the loss of 13
lives. Several reforms were enacted almost immediately after
the accident regarding the process for inspecting farm worker
vans. In addition, in 2000 a federal demonstration program
was established to underwrite farm worker transportation
projects. The most significant program was established in
2006 with the enactment of SB 1135 (Budget and Fiscal Review
Committee Bill), Chapter 516.
SB 1135 established the Agricultural Worker Transportation
Program (AWTP) to be administered by the Department of
Transportation (Caltrans). The Legislature funded the program
with an appropriation of $20 million from the Public Transit
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Account (PTA). Recipients of the funds had to encumbered
these funds by June 30, 2009 and expend them by January 1,
2011, when the AWTP sunsets. According to Caltrans, the
intent of the AWTP "is to provide safe, efficient, reliable
and affordable transportation services, utilizing vans and
buses, to agricultural workers commuting to/from worksites in
rural areas statewide."
After three rounds of AWTP funding, Caltrans has awarded
$605,552 for planning grants and $19 million for in-service
implementation grants to 10 agencies. Among the 10 agencies
are the Kings County Area Public Transit Agency, the City of
Greenfield, the Santa Barbara County Department of Public
Works, the San Luis Obispo County Council of Governments, the
Napa County Transportation Planning Agency, the Ventura
County Transportation Commission, and the Sacramento Area
Council of Governments.
The AWTP is modeled on the Agricultural Industries
Transportation Services (AITS) program operated by the Kings
Area Rural Transit, the transit provider for Kings County.
The AITS is a vanpool program for agricultural workers,
established using federal, state, and local funds in 2002
when 123 fifteen-passenger vans were deployed. The program
now operates approximately 200 vans throughout the southern
San Joaquin Valley and is widely considered a success.
3.Why are the vanpools being organized by public agencies ?
Vans used in providing vanpool services may not have more
than fifteen seats; otherwise they would come under the
regulatory jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission.
In urban settings, vanpools are usually organized by one of
two national firms that market this service across the
country. The vehicles are leased, a member of the vanpool
drives the vehicle, and the charge to the riders covers the
leasing cost, insurance, fuel, and other costs. Public
agencies or large employers may provide services that find
riders who live in close proximity that desire to participate
in a vanpool.
Agricultural vanpools operate in a different environment where
market rate services appear to be difficult to provide. To
begin with, the vans are purchased and maintained by public
agencies. Because the workers are very low paid, they are
charged only for the cost of fuel and maintenance. The cost
of vehicle acquisition or lease is not included in the charge
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to users. The driver is a volunteer and is legally an
independent contractor who collects the weekly payments from
the riders. (All drivers must have a good driving record and
pass an alcohol and drug test.) In the case of AITS, the
drivers do not have to pay for using the van and can use the
van for incidental trips such as taking their children to and
from child care. The use of the van is monitored via a GPS
system. AITS establishes a fee schedule based on miles
traveled during the week. For example, under 300 miles, the
fee to the rider is $25 per week. Between 601 and 700 miles,
the weekly fee is $40. Its top fee for weekly miles of
between 901 and 1,000 miles is $55. According to the general
manager of the service, there is no operating subsidy for the
service, as the fee revenues cover the operating cost. The
only direct public cost is for the vans.
4.TDA is stable and predictable/state transit assistance is
exactly the opposite . The TDA program has been a stable
program over its nearly forty years of existence. It is the
foundation of all transit funding in the state. Because the
revenue is derived from the sales tax, the growth of funds
mirrors the performance of the economy. While the Legislature
has amended the law to adjust to changing circumstances, it
has not tampered with the funds, or redirected them to other
local purposes. With the expenditure of the $20 million in
the state grant program for farm worker vanpools having been
exhausted, the TDA program is a potential source of revenue
to continue funding the program.
Over many years the state has endeavored to create its own
transit assistance program to complement the TDA by using
sales tax derived from gasoline sales. The state's efforts
have been unreliable from the perspective of the public
transit sector. For example, over the last three fiscal
years, approximately $4.3 billion have been diverted to the
General Fund from the state programs that assist public
transit. In fiscal year 2008, public transit received $306
million for operations and in fiscal year 2009, the amount of
state assistance was reduced to $150 million. In the next
fiscal year, no state funds are available for transit and
under existing law no funds may be made available until after
2013.
5.Farm worker vanpools and the TDA program . To date, the farm
worker transportation program has been operating as a pilot
program and relying on the $20 million dedicated stream of
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revenue established in the 2006 budget process. The purpose
of this bill is to take advantage of the TDA program to
continue the services created by the demonstration efforts.
The TDA funds, though, are fully subscribed. In the urban
counties, the allocation of the revenues is essentially done
by formula to well-established transit providers, and serves
as their baseline revenue. In rural counties, if the revenues
are not entirely committed to public transit services, there
is competition between transit and local street and road
needs, which is resolved through the unmet needs process.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
May 6, 2009)
SUPPORT: California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
(Sponsor)
Environmental Defense Fund
OPPOSED: California Transit Association
California State Association of Counties
California Association for Coordinate
Transportation
Long Beach Transit
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation
District
The County Connection
Riverside Transit Agency
City of Torrance Transit System
Victor Valley Transit Authority
United Transportation Union
Amalgamated Transit Union