BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 1117
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Desaulnier
VERSION: 3/29/12
Analysis by: Art Bauer FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 24, 2012
SUBJECT:
Rail planning
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the California Transportation Commission
(CTC) to prepare a statewide passenger rail transportation plan
for conventional and high-speed intercity passenger rail,
commuter rail, and urban rail transit.
ANALYSIS:
Since 1995, the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has
prepared a ten-year intercity rail transportation plan, which it
updates biennially. Caltrans submits the plan to the CTC for
its "advice and consent" and then forwards it the governor,
Legislature, and the Public Utilities Commission.
Existing law is very prescriptive as to the contents of the
state's intercity passenger rail plan. It especially emphasizes
planning for services that have sound operating economics. In
addition, the plan includes forecasted capital needs and an
assessment of funding for both investments and operations.
Caltrans include a summary of the state's commuter rail agencies
plans in the state plan. Caltrans is currently updating the
plan consistent with federal requirements that each state
prepare a state intercity passenger rail plan. This is the
first passenger rail plan required by the federal government.
Existing state and federal law requires local commuter and rail
transit agencies to prepare rail transit development plans in
coordination with the preparation of the regional transportation
plans to ensure the proposed investments are consistent with the
forecasted available funding for investing in a region's
multimodal regional transportation system.
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Finally, capital investments in the intercity passenger rail
plan and in regional and urban rail transit programs are
included in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP),
the state's five-year transportation capital outlay program,
which the CTC updates and adopts every two years.
SB 375 (Steinberg), Chapter 728, of the Statutes of 2008,
requires regional transportation plans to include a Sustainable
Communities Strategy designed to achieve the targets for
greenhouse gas emission reduction. This requirement essentially
links transportation and land use planning.
This bill :
1. Requires the CTC to prepare a statewide passenger rail
plan with the following elements:
a. Goals for an integrated rail passenger system
consisting of the four rail modes: high-speed
intercity rail, conventional intercity rail, commuter
rail, and urban rail transit.
b. Proposed regional and state investments in the
four rail systems.
c. An assessment that the rail plans proposed by
the regional transportation planning agencies are
consistent with SB 375, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008.
d. An assessment of transportation energy
requirements for the four rail modes.
e. An assessment of the reduction in regional and
intercity highway congestion due to the regional
plans, and in the case of high-speed rail, an
assessment of the ability of the service to reduce
intercity airline travel and airport congestion.
f. Identification of rail corridors in which
investments will be made and the expected impediments,
if any, to their development, including right-of-way
availability for facilities.
g. CTC - developed performance goals related to
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financial capacity, service performance and frequency,
and the connections between rail modes to increase
travel opportunities.
h. An estimate of the capital and operating
revenue available for the development of the four rail
services in five-, ten-, and twenty-year time
horizons.
2. Authorizes the CTC to prepare policy guidelines for the
plan in consultation with the High-Speed Rail Authority
(HSRA), Caltrans, regional transportation planning
agencies, and urban transit and commuter rail operators.
The regional transportation planning agencies shall use
these guidelines when developing their regional plans.
3. Directs, for the high-speed rail element of the plan,
the HSRA, consistent with the policies of the CTC and the
high-speed rail bond act, to develop an incremental
investment plan for the Phase I high-speed rail corridor
between San Francisco Transbay Terminal to Los
Angeles/Anaheim that benefits both conventional rail
services and future high-speed service. The HSRA must
submit the plan to the CTC identifying one or more possible
operating segments in the Phase I corridor as a candidate
for a public-private partnership. The HSRA must submit a
draft of the incremental development program to the CTC by
December 31, 2013.
4. Requires the CTC to submit a draft rail transportation
plan to the Legislature and stakeholders by April 30, 2014.
The CTC shall adopt the final plan at its September 2014
meeting and submit the plan to the Legislature and
stakeholders. The CTC shall adopt an update plan every
four years thereafter.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose . Because California may be embarking upon a
major rail transportation program by investing in
high-speed rail, the author believes that it is important
to have an overall policy framework for rail development.
Such a plan will ensure that the public is obtaining the
greatest return on its investments in the four modes of
rail transit. In addition, the enactment of SB 375
established a policy framework that integrates land use and
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transportation development. This bill ensures there is a
statewide framework for rail development consistent with SB
375.
2. Enlarges the CTC's role . Existing law requires the CTC
to adopt the STIP every two years. The CTC also adopts the
ten-year State Highway Operations and Protection Program
(SHOPP), which is updated every two years. In addition,
the CTC adopts guidelines that govern regional
transportation planning. Because of the requirements of SB
375, the guidelines are quite substantial, focusing on
several issues, including the modeling of transportation
and land use. To be sure, the adoption of a state rail
plan encompassing the four major modes-urban transit,
commuter rail, conventional intercity rail, and high-speed
rail-is an enlargement of the CTC's role, but it reflects
the direction of state transportation policy. With the
high-speed rail program now focusing on an incremental
development strategy, which relies on existing railroad
infrastructure, as well as the state and regional rail
programs, the need for state coordination with the other
rail modes and agencies will grow in importance. Because
of California's tradition of devolving authority and
responsibility for much of transportation development to
local agencies and regions, the CTC is a venue for
providing an overview of rail investments throughout the
state and for providing state policy guidance. This bill
requires the CTC to integrate the regional plans into a
statewide plan. It also provides a framework for
integrating the high-speed rail plans into a state-regional
partnership.
To date, the CTC has relied upon Caltrans to prepare its
various documents. This has allowed the CTC to maintain a
small staff that focuses on the needs of the commissioners
to address transportation policy issues, without the
inevitable distractions of managing a large staff. This
bill is silent on where the responsibility rests for
preparing the rail transportation plan. The committee may
wish to amend the bill to assign responsibility for the
preparation of the proposed policies and the plan to
Caltrans, but under the policy direction of the CTC.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
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April 18, 2012)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: None received.