BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2200
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GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 2200 (Ma)
As Amended August 23, 2012
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |52-16|(May 29, 2012) |SENATE: |26-7 |(August 28, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |43-24|(August 29, | | | |
| | |2012) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Suspends the operation of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV)
lanes in the Interstate 80 corridor within the jurisdiction of
the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) during the
morning reverse commute direction, as defined, until January 1,
2020, or until the director of the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) determines that the HOV lanes have
been converted to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, whichever
occurs first.
The Senate amendments:
1)Restrict the suspension of HOV operations to the morning
reverse commute direction (rather than both reverse commute
directions).
2)Provide that the bill will sunset prior to 2020 if the
Caltrans director makes a determination that the HOV lanes
have been converted to HOT lanes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes Caltrans and local authorities, with respect to
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highways under their respective jurisdictions, to permit
preferential use of highway lanes for HOVs, under specific
conditions.
2)Requires Caltrans, or the appropriate local entity, to produce
engineering reports that estimate the effect of an HOV lane
prior to establishing the lane. The reports must evaluate the
proposals for safety, congestion, and highway capacity.
3)Vests, under federal law, state departments of transportation
with responsibility for establishing occupancy requirements
for vehicles using HOV lanes, except that the requirement can
be no less than two occupants.
4)Requires, under the federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,
states that do not meet federal standards for carbon monoxide
and ozone to develop State Implementation Plans (SIPs).
5)Requires, under federal law, SIPs to result in emission
reductions to federal standards and to conform with regional
transportation plans;
6)Authorizes federal sanctions for a state's failure to conform
to SIP requirements; sanctions include withholding approval
for federal highway projects.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Suspends, until January 1, 2020, operation of the HOV lanes on
this particular corridor during this particular period, so
long as doing so is consistent with the SIP for the San
Francisco Bay area and with other federal requirements.
2)Defined "reverse commute direction" to mean eastbound on
Interstate 80 between the hours of 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and
westbound on Interstate 80 between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7
p.m.
3)Made findings and declarations regarding the unique nature of
the Interstate 80 corridor in the San Francisco Bay area.
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, one-time costs of up to $175,000 in 2012-13 to
replace 45 barrier-mounted and ground-mounted signs and three
overhead HOV signs, including costs for traffic control measures
and a public information campaign to alert motorists of the
change. Equivalent one-time costs in 2019-20 to replace signs
when the statute sunsets.
COMMENTS : The primary purpose of an HOV lane is to increase the
total number of people moved through a congested corridor by
offering two kinds of incentives: a savings in travel time and
a reliable and predictable travel time. HOV lanes work best
where significant roadway congestion during the peak periods
occurs. Experience with HOV lanes from around the country has
shown a positive relationship between ridership and travel time
savings, suggesting that, as congestion grows, the travelers'
willingness to carpool or ride on a bus that uses an HOV lane
also grows.
In the Bay Area, HOV lane occupancy requirements are two or more
except on parts of the system that feed into the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Carquinez Bridge, and the
Benicia-Martinez Bridge, which have HOV occupancy requirements
of three or more. While federal law vests states with the
authority to set the minimum HOV occupancy requirements, in
practice this decision is made in the Bay Area jointly by
Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration, and MTC.
HOV lanes in the Bay Area are operated contiguous with general
purpose lanes and have continuous unlimited access into and out
of the lane, with no buffer (neither physical nor striped)
separating them from the adjacent lanes. The lane restrictions
are in effect only during weekday commute periods (e.g., 5-9
a.m. and 3-7 p.m.). During off-peak periods and on weekends,
the lanes are open to all traffic. Typically, HOV lanes work at
their optimum when the vehicular volume is approximately 1,650
vehicles per hour. (In contrast, mixed flow lanes are generally
expected optimally to carry between 1,800 and 2,000 vehicles per
hour.)
This bill suspends operation of the HOV lanes in Interstate 80
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between the Carquinez Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge during the morning reverse commute direction. The author
asserts that HOV lanes in this corridor are not fully utilized
at all times.
In May 2012, Caltrans collected travel time data on the Alameda
County segment of Interstate 80, because it historically suffers
from the most congestion in the corridor. Based on this traffic
study, Caltrans concluded that suspending HOV operation during
the morning reverse commute is not expected to result in adverse
traffic impacts, because both the HOV and regular lanes
currently operate at or near the speed limit with little or no
delays. Caltrans also concluded that the suspension would not
have any appreciable effect on mixed-flow lanes either, because
they, too, currently operate at or near the speed limit with
little or no delays.
MTC is pursuing an ambitious plan to develop a region-wide HOT
lane network throughout the San Francisco Bay area, including
Interstate 80 within its jurisdiction. Because of that, this
bill includes a January 1, 2020, sunset date (or sooner, upon a
determination by the Caltrans director) to ensure that the
proposed HOT lane is not impacted by suspending operation of the
HOV lanes.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"This bill would suspend the carpool lane on eastbound I-80 in
the Bay Area during the morning commute.
"Encouraging carpooling is important to reduce pollution and
make more efficient use of our highways. This bill goes in a
wrong direction."
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0005939
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