BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: AB 1890
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  Solorio
                                                         VERSION: 6/6/12
          Analysis by:  Eric Thronson                    FISCAL:  no
          Hearing date:  June 12, 2012



          SUBJECT:

          Motorcyclist electronic toll transponder use

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill allows motorcyclists to store an electronic toll 
          transponder in various locations on their persons or 
          motorcycles.

          ANALYSIS:

          Existing law makes it unlawful to enter a toll bridge or highway 
          without either the funds sufficient to pay the toll or a 
          transponder or other electronic toll payment device.  If a 
          driver uses a transponder to pay tolls, the device must be in a 
          visible location in the vehicle while on the toll facility for 
          enforcement purposes.  While existing law specifies where on the 
          windshield of a vehicle it is allowable for a driver to affix a 
          transponder, there is no requirement that the transponder be 
          affixed, only that it be visible while on the toll facility.

           This bill  allows a motorcyclist to place a transponder in one of 
          the following locations, as long as the toll device reader can 
          still detect the device:

                 In the motorcyclist's pocket;
                 Inside a cycle net that drapes over the gas tank of the 
               motorcycle;
                 On license plate devices if provided by the toll 
               operator;
                 In the glove or storage compartment of the motorcycle; 
               or
                 On the windshield of the motorcycle.
          
          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  According to the author, this bill codifies some of 




          AB 1890 (SOLORIO)                                      Page 2

                                                                       


            the existing best practices of toll management authorities 
            regarding motorcyclists' use of electronic toll payment 
            devices.  Existing law details the precise mounting locations 
            of these transponders on a vehicle's windshield.  The author 
            notes that because these mounting requirements were developed 
            with only automobiles in mind, they fail to apply 
            appropriately to motorcyclists.  This bill resolves this 
            problem by allowing motorcyclists to use any one of five 
            transponder storage methods when passing through toll 
            facilities, as long as the toll operator's detection equipment 
            can read the transponder.

          Assembly Votes:
               Floor:    77 - 0 
               Trans:    14 - 0 
          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on 
                     Wednesday,                             
                     June 6, 2012)

               SUPPORT:  Orange County Transportation Authority
          
               OPPOSED:  None received