BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 432
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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)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |13-1 |(August 20, 2012) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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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) for purposes of
determining eligibility for receiving public transportation
operating subsidies.
The Senate amendments delete all prior contents of the bill and
instead authorize SACOG to determine whether transit operators
serving Sacramento County, as a group, have met the eligibility
requirements in order to receive public transportation operating
subsidies from the Transportation Development Act of 1971 (TDA).
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, known as TDA, funding for transit and non-transit
related purposes that comply with regional transportation plans.
Serves to improve existing public transportation services and
encourage regional transportation coordination.
2)Authorizes transportation planning agencies to administer transit
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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
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.
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According to the author, the TDA law establishes a formula for
transit operators to measure how much of their funding comes from
ticket and passes. This "farebox requirement" is often 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319- 2093 FN:
0005209
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