BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 539
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: williams
VERSION: 6/27/12
Analysis by: Eric Thronson FISCAL: no
Hearing date: July 3, 2012
SUBJECT:
Electronic toll collection systems: privacy concerns
DESCRIPTION:
This bill permits transportation agencies to share some
information with toll collection agencies in other states in
order to participate in a nationwide interoperability program.
ANALYSIS:
Toll agencies may employ an automatic vehicle identification
system to facilitate toll operations, such as the FasTrak
transponder that is commonly used in California. These systems
allow subscribers to prepay tolls thereby eliminating the need
to stop at the toll plaza. Existing law requires that the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and toll
operators develop functional specifications and standards for
these systems to ensure interoperability.
In 2010, the Legislature passed SB 1268 (Simitian) Chapter 489,
which established privacy protections for subscribers to
electronic toll collection systems and anyone else using toll
facilities. Specifically, SB 1268 prohibited transportation
agencies from selling or otherwise providing personally
identifiable information about their subscribers, with some
minor exceptions such as for law enforcement purposes or to
comply with the state's interoperability efforts.
This bill explicitly permits transportation agencies to share
some information with toll collection agencies in other states
in order to participate in a nationwide interoperability
program. This bill permits a transportation agency to share
only the license plate number, transponder identification
number, and date and time of a vehicle's use of the toll
facility. Finally, this bill clarifies that current law does
not prohibit a transportation agency from performing certain
AB 539 (WILLIAMS) Page 2
functions, such as billing, toll collection, and violation
enforcement, whether or not the toll facility use occurs in
California.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . According to the author, this bill enables
California toll facility operators to participate in a
national toll interoperability pilot program, opening the door
for motorists with one toll transponder to travel non-stop
across the nation on any toll facility. While existing law
allows toll agencies to share information for interoperability
purposes, it limits this sharing to in-state agencies. This
bill enables these agencies to share certain information with
any toll collection agency within or outside the state.
2.Background . As toll facilities across the nation move toward
all-electronic tolling and away from cash collection and toll
booth infrastructure, interoperability is becoming
increasingly important. Currently, the country's toll
facilities are a patchwork of different technological groups
using proprietary systems inherently incapable of working
together. This can be challenging for fleets that operate
throughout the country, road-tripping motorists, and others
who are currently required to carry multiple transponders in
order to navigate through different toll systems.
Over the long term, the best solution is for all toll
collection agencies to adopt a uniform, standard, automatic
vehicle identification technology. Changing out technologies
can present significant financial challenges to toll
operators, however, and therefore this solution may take time
to implement. In the short-term, toll operators are seeking
an interim solution by establishing nationwide
interoperability standards such that the varied technologies
can communicate with each other and allow travelers to use one
transponder and be charged against one toll account.
The Alliance for Toll Interoperability is conducting a
national toll interoperability program for their member toll
agencies to be able to provide nationwide interoperability to
those agencies' active account holders. This bill enables
California transportation agencies to participate in this
national program.
3.Privacy concerns . SB 1268 instituted privacy protections for
AB 539 (WILLIAMS) Page 3
individuals with toll facility accounts due to concerns that
information originally collected for the purposes of
electronic toll collection could be provided to other
companies or organizations for marketing purposes. This bill
allows the state's toll facilities to share some limited
information with organizations or other toll operators outside
the state. Some have raised concerns that those organizations
may not comply with the state's privacy laws, undoing the
protections contained in SB 1268. Therefore, the committee
may wish to consider an amendment requiring that toll
operators in the state only provide information to
organizations or entities that comply with requirements of
applicable state and federal privacy laws.
Assembly Votes:
Previous votes are not relevant.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 27,
2012)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.