BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 983
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 23, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 983 (Hern�ndez) - As Amended: June 30, 2014
SENATE VOTE : Not relevant
SUBJECT : California Transportation Commission: high-occupancy
toll lanes
SUMMARY : Extends indefinitely the California Transportation
Commission's (CTC's) authority to approve regional
transportation agencies' applications to develop and operate
high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and expands the authority to
include applications submitted by the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans). Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes Caltrans to apply to CTC to develop and operate HOT
lanes using essentially the same process previously used by
regional transportation agencies and reconstituted in this
bill.
2)Extends indefinitely the process whereby CTC reviews and
approves applications from regional transportation agencies to
develop and operate HOT lanes.
3)Deletes the limitation on the number (four) of HOT lane
applications CTC may approve, thereby granting open-ended
authority to approve applications.
4)Directs the applicant (either Caltrans or a regional
transportation agency) to reimburse CTC for its costs and
expenses in reviewing HOT lane applications.
5)Directs CTC to develop guidelines for the development and
operation of HOT lanes, subject to the following minimum
requirements:
a) HOT lane facilities must be developed and operated in
cooperation between Caltrans and regional transportation
agencies and the Department of the California Highway
Patrol;
b) The applicant is responsible for establishing,
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collecting, and administering tolls;
c) The applicant is responsible for paying for the
maintenance of the facilities from net toll revenues;
d) Toll revenue generated will be available to the
applicant for direct expenses;
e) Excess revenue is to be used in the corridor from which
it was generated pursuant to an adopted expenditure plan;
and,
f) Development of a HOT lane shall not prevent competing
facilities from being constructed and the applicant shall
not be entitled to compensation for the adverse effects on
toll revenues because of competing facilities.
6)Adds to the definition of "regional transportation agency"
county transportation authorities in the nine-county San
Francisco Bay Area and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifically authorizes HOT lane facilities in Alameda, San
Diego, and Santa Clara counties.
2)Until January 1, 2012, authorized any regional transportation
agency to apply to CTC for authority to develop and operate
HOT lanes.
3)Limited CTC to approving no more than four applications: two
in northern California and two in southern California. CTC
found HOT lane facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los
Angeles County, and Riverside County eligible under this
provision.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : HOT lanes are increasingly being implemented in
metropolitan areas around the state and the nation. HOT lanes
allow single-occupant or lower-occupancy vehicles to use a
high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane for a fee, while maintaining
free or reduced travel to qualifying HOVs. The acknowledged
benefits of HOT lanes include enhanced mobility and travel
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options in congested corridors and better usage of underutilized
HOV lanes.
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) was the first
agency to be granted authority to operate a HOT lane, on
Interstate 15 (AB 713 (Goldsmith), Chapter 962, Statutes of
1993). Subsequently, AB 2032 (Dutra), Chapter 418, Statutes of
2004, authorized HOT lane facilities in Alameda, San Diego, and
Santa Clara counties. With the successful implementation of
these programs, which were all originally authorized as
demonstration programs then later extended indefinitely, the
Legislature delegated responsibility for approving toll
facilities under certain conditions to the CTC (AB 1467 (Nunez),
Chapter 32, Statutes of 2005) until January 1, 2012. This
delegation was limited to no more than four projects.
Although to date only a handful of regional transportation
agencies have authority to operate HOT lanes and only on a
limited number of corridors, it is clear that California is in
the embryonic stage of what promises to be a substantial
build-out of HOT lanes in the very near future. In fact, last
year as part of the Governor's proposed budget, the Governor
directed the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) to
convene a workgroup consisting of state and local transportation
stakeholders to, among other tasks, explore long-term,
pay-as-you-go funding options. As a result, CalSTA released in
February of this year its vision and interim recommendations in
a report entitled California Transportation Infrastructure
Priorities: Vision and Interim Recommendations, commonly
referred to as CTIP. Two of the recommendations were:
1)Work with the Legislature to expand the Caltrans' use of
pricing and express lanes to better manage congestion and the
operation of the state highway system while generating new
revenues for preservation and other corridor improvements.
2)Support efforts to maintain and expand the availability of
local funds dedicated to transportation improvements.
SB 983 is consistent with this direction. It expands the
potential for HOT lanes in California by granting CTC broad,
indefinite authority to review and approve HOT lane applications
submitted by regional transportation agencies and by Caltrans.
Regional transportation agencies up and down the state, as well
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as Caltrans, struggle with meeting the challenges of increasing
traffic congestion and decreasing transportation revenue.
Although HOT lanes should be primarily a congestion management
tool, they may have the added benefit of generating net revenue
that can be put back into the corridor from which it was
generated for additional improvements or other benefits. Given
the success of multiple HOT lane demonstration programs to date,
it is appropriate now to provide an administrative process
whereby regional transportation agencies and Caltrans can work
together with CTC to develop and operate HOT lane facilities.
Related legislation: AB 2250 (Daly) requires any revenue
generated in managed lanes to be used in the corridor in which
it was generated. That bill is in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
SB 1298 (Hern�ndez) repeals and recasts specific authority for
the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to
operate a value-pricing and transit development program,
including HOT lanes on State Routes 10 and 110. SB 1298 is in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Previous legislation : AB 1467 (Nunez), Chapter 32, Statutes of
2005, originally granted authority to the CTC to review regional
transportation agencies' applications for HOT lanes, for up to
four projects, until January 1, 2012.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Transportation Commission
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093