BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 432
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 432 (Dickinson)
As Amended June 21, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 31, 2011) |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 6, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: TRANS .
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Sacramento Area Council of Governments
(SACOG) to create a combined farebox recovery ratio for the
Sacramento County transit operators (Sacramento Regional Transit
District, Elk Grove Transit, Folsom Transit, South County
Transit (Galt), and Sacramento County transit services) to be
eligible to receive public transportation operating subsidies
from the Transportation Development Act of 1971 (TDA).
The Senate amendments delete the contents of the bill as passed
by the Assembly and instead authorize SACOG to determine whether
transit operators serving Sacramento County, as a group, have
met the requirements for claims for transit funds. The bill
would require the Sacramento Regional Transit District to cover
no less than 23% of operating costs from fares even if the
transit operators serving Sacramento County are evaluated as a
group.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides funding for transit and non-transit related purposes
that comply with regional transportation plans. TPA serves to
improve existing public transportation services and encourage
regional transportation coordination.
2)Authorizes transportation planning agencies to administer
transit funding made available under the TDA. Imposes certain
financial requirements on transit operators making claims for
transit funds, including requirements that fares collected by
the operator cover a specified percentage of operating costs.
3)Authorizes separately the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan
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Transportation Commission (for transit operations serving the
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District area) and the
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System to make a determination
as to whether transit operators serving a specified area have
met the requirements for claims for transit funds by
evaluating the operators as a group rather than individually.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required that a peace
officer or law enforcement agency issue the notice to appear for
an automated enforcement citation and that the notice be
accompanied by a certificate of mail obtained through the United
States Postal Service, completed by the local law enforcement
agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : The TDA provides funding for public transportation
services. Funds are allocated to each county based on
population, taxable sales and transit performance. TDA is
funded through local sales tax revenues that are collected by
the state and returned to the local governments and transit
operators through the regional transportation planning agencies
(RTPA). Generating $1.3 billion dollars in the 2010-11 fiscal
year, TDA is a major funding source for public transportation in
California.
To be eligible to receive TDA funds, a transit operator must
meet a specified ratio of fare revenues to operating cost,
referred to as the farebox recovery ratio. The ratio varies
according to different circumstances. For operators that were
providing transit services in urbanized areas in 1979, their
ratio is what they achieved that year. For operators who began
providing service after 1979, their ratio is the average of the
first three years of operation, with a minimum ratio of 20%.
New operators in nonurbanized areas have five years to determine
their farebox recovery ratio. In addition, if an operator
receives funds from a local transportation sales tax or some
other local revenue sources, it can meet its farebox recovery
ratio by combining fare revenues with that local support.
According to the author, the TDA establishes a formula for
transit operators to measure how much of their funding comes
from ticket and passes. This "farebox requirement" is often
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difficult for smaller and rural transit operators to meet. This
state-imposed requirement limits the ability of local government
to meet the transit needs of the diverse communities in
Sacramento County. The author further contends that Sacramento
County is the only county in SACOG's regional transportation
planning jurisdictional area with a population greater than
500,000. Under current law, RTPA's have discretion to adjust
the farebox requirement to meet local needs for counties with a
population less than 500,000. The purpose of this bill is to
allow SACOG to make adjustment for rural and smaller operators
that are within the larger urbanized Sacramento County thereby
allowing transit operations for the cities of Elk Grove, Folsom,
Galt and the County of Sacramento to remain eligible to receive
TDA funding by creating a regional ratio of fare revenues to
operating cost. The author contends that these operators are
finding it difficult to meet the farebox recovery minimum
requirements and asserts that "the City of Galt, as a result of
a modest population increase as determined by the recent census,
has gone from being considered a rural community to an urban
one. The result is a requirement that doubles the farebox
recovery ratio requirement for South County Transit/Link, which
serves Galt and portions of Sacramento County. This is
difficult for Galt to meet because it has a transit service
model based on the historic share of state/local revenues and
farebox revenues."
This bill would provide flexibility to SACOG in determining
compliance with TDA farebox recovery requirements. For purposes
of establishing a group farebox recovery ratio, this bill would
allow the costs and revenues of the urban and suburban operators
within Sacramento County to be combined. Additionally, as the
bill requires that Sacramento Regional Transit District cover no
less than 23% of the regional operating costs from fares,
minimum performance requirements are established for Sacramento
County operators to meet as a whole. Combining farebox recovery
ratios as proposed by this bill are not new TDA allowances as
grouping requirements are currently authorized for the San
Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District service area and for
the service area of the Metropolitan Transit System in San
Diego.
The bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
contents of the bill have not been heard in the Assembly.
AB 432
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Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319- 2093 FN:
0004467