BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 61
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: jeffries
VERSION: 3/8/11
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 7, 2011
SUBJECT:
Neighborhood electric vehicles
DESCRIPTION:
This bill authorizes, until 2017, the County of Riverside and
the cities within that county to adopt neighborhood electric
vehicle transportation (NEV) plans.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law defines a low-speed vehicle as a motor vehicle that
is 4-wheeled; can attain a speed of no more than 25 MPH on a
paved, level surface; and has a gross vehicle weight rating of
less than 3,000 pounds. Low-speed vehicles are also known as
neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs). NEVs meet federal motor
vehicle safety standards, and one must possess a valid
California driver's license to operate a NEV on public streets.
Existing law generally prohibits NEVs from being operated on any
roadway with a speed limit in excess of 35 MPH, but a number of
bills have provided exceptions for several communities to run
pilot projects, provided that the following conditions are met:
1)Each local government establishes a "neighborhood electric
vehicle transportation plan" for its jurisdiction or some part
of it. Existing law puts numerous requirements on the
adoption of the plan, including consultation with local law
enforcement and transportation planning officials. The plan
must accommodate the travel of NEVs by identifying routes and
providing for NEV facilities (separate lanes, trails, street
crossings, parking, charging stations, etc.), and the plan may
allow NEVs on streets with speed limits over 35 MPH only where
dedicated lanes are provided for NEVs.
2)Each jurisdiction works with the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to establish uniform specifications
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and symbols for signs, traffic control devices, and
rights-of-way designation in the plan areas and obtain
Caltrans approval in any instance where a NEV route in the
plan will cross or use a state highway.
3)If a jurisdiction adopts a NEV transportation plan, it reports
to the Legislature on the plan, its effectiveness, and its
impact on traffic flows and safety, and the jurisdiction makes
a recommendation to the Legislature on whether to extend the
sunset date or expand the authorization for NEV transportation
plans statewide. These reports are due to the Legislature
about a year before the jurisdiction's NEV plan authority
sunsets.
Communities statutorily authorized to adopt NEV plans are:
Lincoln and Rocklin . AB 2353 (Leslie), Chapter 422, Statutes
of 2004, authorizes the NEV transportation plan pilot projects
until January 1, 2009, for the cities of Lincoln and Rocklin,
and AB 2963 (Gaines), Chapter 199, Statutes of 2008, extends
the sunset date on these pilot projects until January 1, 2012.
Amador County and the cities of Jackson, Sutter Creek, and
Amador City . AB 584 (Huber), Chapter 437, Statutes of 2010,
allows until 2016, the County of Amador and the cities of
Jackson, Amador City, and Sutter Creek to establish a NEV
transportation plan or plans.
Fresno . AB 1781 (Villines), Chapter 452, Statutes of 2010,
authorizes until 2016 the City of Fresno to establish a NEV
plan.
Ranch Plan Planned Community in Orange County . SB 956
(Correa), Chapter 442, Statutes of 2007, authorizes Orange
County to establish a NEV transportation plan for Ranch Plan
Planned Community under essentially the same criteria as the
Lincoln and Rocklin pilot projects, except with a sunset date
of January 1, 2013.
This bill authorizes the County of Riverside and the cities
within that county to establish jointly or individually NEV
transportation plans under the same terms as the pilot projects
previously authorized in law. Specifically, the bill:
1)Permits the County of Riverside or any of the cities within it
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to establish by ordinance or resolution a NEV plan for streets
under its jurisdictions. Prior to adoption, the county or city
or a combination thereof shall receive comments on the plan
from the Riverside County Transportation Commission and any
agency with traffic law enforcement responsibilities in those
jurisdictions. The plan must accommodate the travel of NEVs by
identifying routes and providing for NEV facilities (e.g.,
separate lanes, trails, street crossings, parking, charging
stations, etc.).
2)Requires the jurisdictions that adopt a NEV plan to report to
the Legislature by January 1, 2016, in consultation with
Caltrans, CHP, and local law enforcement agencies. Each
report shall describe the plan adopted, evaluate its
effectiveness and impact on traffic flows and safety, and make
a recommendation to the Legislature on whether to extend the
sunset date or expand the authorization for NEV transportation
plans statewide.
3)Sunsets on January 1, 2017.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose . The author notes that NEVs provide
zero-emission-vehicle alternatives that can assist communities
in improving mobility while reducing carbon-based vehicle
emissions. In order to do this effectively, NEV plans are
needed to overcome connection issues and identify safe routes
for NEVs. The author represents a portion of the County of
Riverside, which includes a number of cities that have begun
to consider and develop NEV plans and hope to implement them
in the near future. This bill will enable those communities
to implement the NEV plans they are developing.
2)Outstanding public safety issues for NEV plans . While the
Legislature has authorized several jurisdictions to create NEV
transportation plans as pilot projects, only the City of
Lincoln has actually implemented a plan. Partly because of
this limited experience, several outstanding public safety
issues remain unresolved with NEV plans, including:
conflicts with bicycles, as noted below;
appropriate and universal signage; and
the difficulty for a NEV making a left turn on a street
with a speed limit in excess of 35 MPH where the NEV must
cross traffic in order to move from a dedicated lane on the
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right hand side of the roadway.
In recognition of these issues, all of the existing statutory
authorizations for NEV plans have sunset dates. This bill
includes a 2017 sunset date for the same reason.
1)Conflicts between NEVs and bicycles . Bicycle advocates have
expressed concern with NEV plans and opposed some of the bills
authorizing them, because the plans can result in NEVs
operating in bicycle lanes. Specifically, these advocates
note that NEVs are too wide for bike lanes, that NEVs should
drive in the same lanes as other motorized vehicles rather
than bikes because of the severity of NEV-bike accidents for
bicyclists, and that allowing NEVs in bike lanes leads to the
incorrect impression that NEVs may travel on bicycle paths
that are separate from roadways. To address these concerns,
the committee or author may wish to amend this bill to clarify
that dedicated NEV lanes may not be for joint use of NEVs and
bicycles nor may NEV lanes displace bicycle lanes.
RELATED LEGISLATION:
SB 290 (Correa) extends, from January 1, 2013 until January 1,
2017, the authority of Orange County to establish a NEV
transportation plan for the Ranch Plan Planned Community.
Pending in the Assembly Transportation Committee.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 60 - 0
Appr: 16 - 0
Trans: 13 - 0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 1,
2011)
SUPPORT: Western Riverside Council of Governments
(sponsor)
City of Banning
City of Corona
City of Lake Elsinore
City of Moreno Valley
City of Murrieta
City of Perris
City of San Jacinto
South Coast Air Quality Management District
AB 61 (JEFFRIES) Page 5
OPPOSED: None received.