BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 819|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 819
Author: Wieckowski (D)
Amended: 8/14/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM. : 8-0, 7/3/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/6/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Dutton
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-21, 1/26/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Bikeways
SOURCE : California Bicycle Coalition
California Association of Bicycle Organizations
DIGEST : This bill requires, by June 30, 2013, the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to establish
procedures to permit exceptions to adopted designs and
markings for bikeway construction and bicycle travel.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, Caltrans is responsible
for establishing minimum safety design criteria for the
planning and construction of bikeways and roadways where
bicycle travel is permitted. These criteria are contained
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within a document called the California Highway Design
Manual (HDM). Further, Caltrans establishes uniform
specifications and symbols for signs, markers, and traffic
control devices to designate bikeways, regulate traffic,
improve safety and convenience for bicyclists, and alert
pedestrians and motorists of the presence of bicyclists
where bicycle travel is permitted. Caltrans adopts these
specifications, along with standards for all traffic
control devices, in the California Manual on Uniform
Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
Existing law requires all local agencies responsible for
the development or operation of bikeways or roadways where
bicycle travel is permitted to utilize Caltrans-adopted
design criteria and specifications as contained in the HDM
and MUTCD. Although existing procedures of the MUTCD
provide for experimental traffic control devices upon
consideration by the California Traffic Control Devices
Committee, there is no similar process expressly for the
consideration of experimental or modified bikeway designs.
This bill:
1.Requires, by January 1, 2013, Caltrans to establish
procedures to permit exceptions to the HDM and MUTCD
related to bikeways and roadways where bicycle travel is
permitted for the purposes of research, experimentation,
testing, evaluation, or verification.
2.Requires Caltrans to submit a report to the Legislature
by November 1, 2014 on permitting exceptions to
established design standards and specifications,
including:
A. The number of local agency requests received by
Caltrans between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.
B. The number of exceptions granted by Caltrans in
that period.
C. The reasons for rejecting any requests.
1.Sunsets the reporting requirements on January 1, 2016.
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Comments
Caltrans' liability concerns . Caltrans is often reluctant
to adopt new or experimental design standards for good
reason. Should some transportation structure that meets
the state's design standards experience some tragic
results, the state ultimately can be found liable and have
to pay large sums of money in settlements. In roadway
design, many years and miles of experience have led to
generally expected outcomes and agreed upon standards.
Bikeway design and construction, on the other hand, is
still being developed and refined nationwide. This bill is
attempting to establish a process by which Caltrans can
consider evolving bikeway design standards and approve some
proposals for experimentation and verification of safety.
Then, if the facilities tested provide successful results,
Caltrans can be more comfortable adopting new design
standards statewide.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, potential
Caltrans staffing costs in the range of $100,000 to
$150,000 in 2012-13 to develop procedures and administer a
process for reviewing requests for non-standard bikeway
designs. Actual costs would depend upon the number of
local agency requests for implementing non-standard bikeway
designs.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/14/12)
California Bicycle Coalition (co-source)
California Association of Bicycle Organizations (co-source)
AFSCME
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-21, 1/26/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
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Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nielsen,
Silva, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Davis, Gorell,
Halderman, Smyth
JJA:n 8/14/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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