AB 1720, as amended, Bloom. Vehicles: bus gross weight.
Existing law generally prohibits a publicly owned or operated transit system from procuring a transit bus whose weight on any single axle exceeds 20,500 pounds. Existing law, until January 1, 2015, exempts from this prohibition a transit system that is procuring a new bus that is of the same or lesser weight than the bus it is replacing, or if it is incorporating a new fleet class into its inventory and its governing board makes certain findings.
This bill would extend the operation of those exceptions until January 1,begin delete 2016.end deletebegin insert 2016, and would also, until January 1, 2016, authorize a transit system to procure a transit bus that exceeds 20,500 pounds if it is incorporating a new
fleet class expansion.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 35554 of the Vehicle Code, as amended
2by Section 3 of Chapter 771 of the Statutes of 2012, is amended
3to read:
(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 35550, the gross
2weight on any one axle of a bus shall not exceed 20,500 pounds.
3(2) A transit bus procured through a solicitation process
4pursuant to which a solicitation was issued before January 1, 2013,
5or through a solicitation process pursuant to subdivision (d) is not
6subject to this subdivision.
7(b) A transit bus is not subject to Section 35550.
8(c) A transit bus shall not operate on the Dwight D. Eisenhower
9System of Interstate and Defense Highways in excess of the weight
10limitation for transit buses specified
in federal law.
11(d) (1) A publicly owned or operated transit system or an
12operator of a transit system under contract with a publicly owned
13or operated transit system shall not procure, through a solicitation
14process pursuant to which a solicitation is issued on or after January
151, 2013, a transit bus whose gross weight on any single axle
16exceeds 20,500 pounds except as follows:
17(A) It may procure and operate a new bus whose gross weight
18exceeds 20,500 pounds on any single axle that is of the same or
19lesser gross weight per axle than the bus it is replacing.
20(B) It may procure and operate a new transit bus whose gross
21weight exceeds 20,500 pounds on any single axle in order to
22incorporatebegin insert
a fleet class expansion orend insert a new fleet class into its
23inventory if its governing board adopts a finding at a public hearing
24that the fleet class expansion or change in fleet classes is necessary
25to address a need to serve a new or existing market pursuant to its
26most recently adopted short-range transit plan, or to meet a federal,
27state, or regional statutory or regulatory requirement, and includes
28a consideration of vehicle needs and fleet size.
29(2) If the governing board of the publicly owned or operated
30transit system holds a public hearing to consider a procurement
31made pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), the
32board shall provide written notice to those cities and counties on
33whose roads the bus would travel of the public hearing at which
34this procurement is to be considered and shall
place in the public
35record any comment of concern the board receives about the
36procurement.
37(3) For purposes of thisbegin delete subdivisionend deletebegin insert subdivision,end insert “fleet class”
38means a group of transit buses designated by a publicly owned or
39operated transit system or an operator under contract with a
40publicly owned or operated transit system that owns those transit
P3 1buses, if the transit buses have a combination of two or more of
2the following similar defining characteristics:
3(A) Length.
4(B) Seating capacity.
5(C) Number of axles.
6(D) Fuel or power system.
7(E) Width.
8(F) Structure.
9(G) Equipment package.
10(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2016,
11and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
12is enacted before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends that date.
Section 35554 of the Vehicle Code, as added by
14Section 4 of Chapter 771 of the Statutes of 2012, is amended to
15read:
(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 35550, the gross
17weight on any one axle of a bus shall not exceed 20,500 pounds.
18(2) A transit bus procured through a solicitation process pursuant
19to which a solicitation was issued before January 1, 2013, is not
20subject to this subdivision.
21(b) A transit bus is not subject to Section 35550.
22(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.
O
98