BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2090
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 24, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 2090 (Fong) - As Amended: March 27, 2014
SUBJECT : Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority:
high-occupancy toll lanes
SUMMARY : Repeals specific level of service (LOS) requirements
for high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes operated by the Santa Clara
Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and requires instead that
VTA, with consent of the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), develop appropriate performance measures for the HOT
lanes; authorizes VTA to require high occupancy vehicle lane
(HOV) drivers to use electronic tolling equipment for
enforcement purposes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes VTA to conduct, administer, and operate a
value-pricing HOT lane program on any two corridors included
in the HOV system in Santa Clara County. (A HOT lane
established on U.S. 101 may extend into San Mateo County,
under certain conditions.)
2)Requires VTA to ensure that its HOT lane program maintains LOS
C or LOS D (described below) to ensure optimal use of the HOT
lanes by HOVs without adversely affecting other traffic on the
state highway system.
3)Requires that HOVs must have unrestricted access to the HOT
lanes operated by VTA.
4)Authorizes states, under the federal Moving Ahead for Progress
in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), until September 30, 2017, to
allow single-occupant vehicles to pay a toll for use of an HOV
facility. States that provide HOV access to single-occupant
vehicles must do all the following:
a) Monitor the HOV system and report on the impact
single-occupant vehicles have on operation of the system;
and,
b) Limit or discontinue the use of the facility by
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single-occupant vehicles if the presence of the vehicles
degrades the operation of the facility. The standard used
for purposes of determining whether a facility is degraded
is if vehicles operating on the facility are failing to
maintain a minimum average operating speed (generally 45
miles per hour) 90% of the time over a consecutive 180 day
period during morning or evening weekday peak hour periods.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Under existing law, VTA's HOT lane program is
required to maintain LOS C or, under certain conditions, LOS D.
LOS is a commonly used, nationally recognized measure of the
"density" of vehicles traveling on a given section of freeway.
LOS standards incorporate several measurement components,
including maneuverability, driver comfort, effect of minor
incidents, average travel speed, spacing between vehicles,
vehicle density per mile and a speed-flow-density relationship
for roadway sections with different design speeds. LOS is rated
from Level A (free flow operation/very good conditions) to Level
F (breakdown/lines/very poor conditions). LOS C essentially
means traffic is stable and is at or near free-flow conditions.
LOS D indicates traffic flow is becoming unstable.
While LOS has long been used to characterize the condition of
traffic flow, it is not the best tool for managing HOT lanes.
For example, under certain traffic conditions LOS C can be
interpreted as requiring very high speeds. When a HOT lane is
operating adjacent to a highly congested mixed-flow lane, this
standard is not appropriate and actually serves to undermine the
HOT lane's effectiveness.
The author introduced this bill at VTA's request to eliminate
specific LOS requirements set forth in existing law for VTA's
HOT lanes. VTA is seeking a more flexible, corridor-by-corridor
approach to managing its HOT lanes than strict adherence to LOS
standards can provide. Under this bill, VTA, along with
Caltrans, will develop performance measures to optimize the
operational efficiency of the entire corridor. (Federal
requirements related to HOV lane degradation will still apply.)
Regarding electronic tolling equipment for HOVs, VTA intends to
migrate to self-declaration switchable toll tags. These tags
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allow a driver to self-declare their vehicle occupancy status
(such as HOV or solo driver) using a switching mechanism (e.g.,
slide, dial, push button, etc.) on the toll tag. VTA is
concerned, however, that the existing statutory requirement that
HOV drivers must have unrestricted access to HOT lanes could
impede its ability to require HOV drivers to use a switchable
toll tag. The bill remedies this concern by specifically
declaring that VTA may require HOV drivers to use the tolling
equipment for enforcement purposes.
Related legislation : AB 1811 (Buchanan) revises current law as
it relates to HOV access on HOT lanes operated by the Sunol
Smart Carpool Lane Joint Powers Authority (which oversees the
State Route 680 HOT lanes) and the future Alameda County
Transportation Commission HOT lanes on State Route 580. Similar
to provisions in AB 2090, AB 1811 is intended to allow these
agencies to require HOVs to use electronic transponders for
enforcement purposes as well. AB 1811
Previous legislation : AB 2032 (Dutra) Chapter 418, Statutes of
2004, originally authorized VTA to develop HOT lane facilities
in two corridors in Santa Clara County for demonstration
purposes, not to exceed four years. Other HOT lane facilities
were also specifically authorized.
AB 574 (Torrico) Chapter 498, Statutes of 2007, authorized VTA
and other specific agencies to operate HOT lanes indefinitely.
AB 1105 (Gordon) Chapter 114, Statutes of 2011, authorized a HOT
lane established on U.S. 101 in Santa Clara County to extend
into San Mateo County, under certain conditions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (sponsor)
None on file
Opposition
None on file
AB 2090
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Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093