BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2090
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 9, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 2090 (Fong) - As Amended:  March 27, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                               
          TransportationVote:14-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Repeals specific level of service (LOS) requirements for  
            high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes operated by the Santa Clara  
            Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and instead requires the  
            VTA, with consent of Caltrans, to develop appropriate  
            performance measures for the HOT lanes.

          2)Authorizes VTA to require high occupancy vehicle lane (HOV)  
            drivers to use electronic tolling equipment (transponders) for  
            enforcement purposes.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable costs for Caltrans to review and provide  
          consent for VTA's revised HOT lane performance measures.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . LOS is a commonly used, nationally recognized  
            measure of the density of vehicles traveling on a given  
            section of freeway. 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.

           2)Purpose  . The VTA is seeking to eliminate specific LOS  
            requirements set forth in existing law for its HOT lanes, and  








                                                                 AB 2090
                                                                  Page  2

            instead proposes a more flexible, corridor-by-corridor  
            approach to managing these lanes. 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, but when a HOT lane is operating adjacent to a  
            highly congested mixed-flow lane, this standard is not  
            appropriate and can actually undermine the HOT lane's  
            effectiveness.

            Regarding electronic tolling equipment for HOVs, VTA intends  
            to migrate to self-declaration switchable toll tags. These  
            tags allow a driver to self-declare their vehicle occupancy  
            status (such as HOV or solo driver) using a switching  
            mechanism 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  
            addresses this concern by specifically declaring that VTA may  
            require HOV drivers to use the tolling equipment for  
            enforcement purposes.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081