BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1117 (DeSaulnier) - Statewide passenger rail plan.
Amended: May 1, 2012 Policy Vote: T&H 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 14, 2012 Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1117 would require the California
Transportation Commission (CTC), in cooperation with the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans), to prepare a statewide
passenger rail transportation plan that includes elements for
high-speed intercity rail, conventional intercity rail, commuter
rail, and urban rail transit, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
Potentially significant costs to Caltrans, likely in the
range of $500,000 (State Highway Account) in 2012-13 and
2013-14, to assist the CTC in preparing draft policies and a
draft plan with requirements and elements that exceed
current ongoing efforts related to the preparation of an
intercity rail transportation plan.
One-time costs to the CTC, likely in the range of $100,000
(State Highway Account) in 2012-13, to develop and adopt
policies and guidelines for each of the four rail modes.
Additional CTC costs, likely in the range of $50,000 to
$100,000 (State Highway Account) in 2014, to coordinate with
stakeholders, review and compile elements of the plan, hold
public workshops, and adopt the final plan.
Absorbable costs to the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) to
plan for the implementation of an incremental high-speed
rail development program (High-Speed Passenger Train Bond
Fund). The enumerated activities are consistent with
current efforts related to the biennial business plan.
Background: Existing law requires Caltrans to prepare a
California State Rail Plan (CSRP) every two years that includes
a ten-year planning view of operations, marketing efforts,
service expansions, and new routes for intercity passenger rail
SB 1117 (DeSaulnier)
Page 1
routes, and also includes a summary of capital and operations
planning for commuter rail service and an overview of high-speed
rail and freight rail programs. Caltrans submits the plan to
the CTC for its "advice and consent" and then forwards it the
governor, Legislature, and the Public Utilities Commission.
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. 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) Chap 728/2008 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.
Proposed Law: SB 1117 would require CTC to prepare and adopt a
statewide passenger rail transportation plan that includes goals
for an integrated rail passenger system consisting of high-speed
intercity rail, conventional intercity rail, commuter rail, and
urban rail transit services and facilities, and identifies the
following:
Proposed investments in the various rail modes and
identification of corridors in which improvements are
planned, including any expected impediments.
Demonstrated consistency with the requirements of SB
375, Chap 728/2008.
An assessment of the transportation energy requirements
for the four rail modes.
An assessment of the impacts that passenger rail service
on other modes of transportation.
SB 1117 (DeSaulnier)
Page 2
The bill would also require CTC to develop policies and
guidelines in consultation with Caltrans, HSRA, regional
transportation planning agencies, and urban transit and commuter
rail operators. The policies and guidelines would be used by
the responsible planning entities when developing their
individual plans to measure specified performance goals and
capital and operating revenue estimates for the various rail
modes of 5-, 10-, and 20-year time horizons. The HSRA would be
directed to plan for the implementation of an incremental
high-speed rail development program with specified features when
developing its element of the statewide plan.
SB 1117 would require Caltrans to assist the CTC in the
preparation of the statewide plan, including the preparation of
draft policies and the draft plan. CTC would be required to
submit a draft of the plan to the HSRA, regional transportation
planning agencies, and the Legislature by April 30, 2014. After
holding at least two public workshops and soliciting public
comment, the bill would require CTC to adopt the final plan at
the September 2014 meeting of the commission and every four
years thereafter.
Staff Comments: SB 1117 would require the CTC to provide
guidance to Caltrans, the HSRA, regional transportation planning
agencies, and urban transit and commuter rail operators to
ensure consistency in the various elements of the integrated
statewide passenger rail plan. CTC was unable to provide a cost
estimate related to the development and adoption of policies and
guidelines at the time of this analysis. Staff estimates,
however, that CTC would incur one-time staffing costs in the
first half of 2013 in the range of $100,000. These costs would
be a result of: conducting several stakeholder meetings with
representatives of the various agencies responsible for
developing individual elements of the plan in the development of
policies and guidelines; preparing draft policies and guidelines
and soliciting public comment; incorporating any changes and
adopting final policies and guidelines at a CTC public meeting.
Staff estimates that CTC would also incur costs in the range of
$50,000 to $100,000 in 2014 to coordinate the development of
draft plans by the entities responsible for preparing individual
elements, review and compile elements of the plan, hold public
workshops, and adopt the final plan.
Caltrans is currently working on the development of an update to
SB 1117 (DeSaulnier)
Page 3
the California State Rail Plan. The Division of Rail has
dedicated 3 PYs to this work and currently has a $2.7 million
contract to develop the CSRP and associated documents, as
mandated by new federal requirements. SB 1117 would expand the
scope of the CSRP effort currently underway, requiring
significantly more focus on all levels of passenger and urban
rail, including additional performance measures, developing
guidelines for rail planning efforts, and ensuring consistency
with the requirements under SB 375's Sustainable Communities
Strategy. Additional Caltrans costs are unknown at this time,
but likely in the range of $500,000 annually for 2012-13 and
2013-14. Staff notes that this bill does not delete current
Caltrans requirements relative to the preparation of the CSRP,
but it appears the efforts required by this bill would supplant
the need for the CSRP.