BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1236
Author: Monning (D)
Amended: 4/24/14
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-0, 4/22/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Pavley, Roth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Transit Districts: transit offenses and enforcement
SOURCE : Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District
DIGEST : This bill authorizes a transit district to designate
district employees, except as specified, or security officers
contracted by the district, to enforce state laws relative to
certain prohibited acts on or in public transportation systems,
if the employees or officers satisfy specified training
requirements.
ANALYSIS : Penal Code (PEN) Sections 640 and 640.5 make it an
infraction for a person to engage in any of the following
activities in a vehicle or facility of any transit district:
Fare evasion.
Misuse of a transfer, pass, ticket, or token with the intent
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to evade the payment of a fare.
Unauthorized use of a discount ticket or failure to present
acceptable proof of eligibility to use a discount ticket.
Eating, drinking, or smoking in areas where the system
operator has prohibited those activities.
Expectorating.
Skateboarding, roller skating, bicycle riding, or roller
blading, except as necessary for utilization of the transit
facility by a bicyclist.
The sale or peddling of goods, merchandise, property, or
services without written consent if the public transportation
system has prohibited those acts.
Disturbing another person by loud or unreasonable noise.
Defacing facilities or vehicles with graffiti. (PEN Section
640.5 relates only to this infraction.)
Public Utilities Code (PUC) Section 99170 makes it an infraction
for a person to do any of the following with respect to the
property, facilities, or vehicles of a transit district:
Operate, interfere with, enter into, or climb on or in the
property, facilities, or vehicles of the transit district
without permission.
Interfere with the operator or operation of a transit vehicle,
or impede the safe boarding or alighting of passengers.
Extend any portion of the body through a window opening of a
transit vehicle in a manner that may cause harm or injury.
Throw an object from a transit vehicle.
Commit an act or engage in a behavior that may, with
reasonable foreseeability, cause harm or injury to any person
or property.
Violate a notice, prohibition, instruction, or direction on a
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sign that is intended to provide for the safety and security
of transit passengers, or the safe and secure operation of the
transit system.
Existing law allows specified transit operators to designate
employees or contractors to issue citations for infractions
referenced in PEN Section 640, provided that these individuals
complete a specialized training course. These designated
individuals are not peace officers and have no authority to
carry weapons or exercise the powers of arrest. Other transit
operators not named in this law must rely on city or county
police officers to enforce such violations.
This bill:
1.Authorizes the governing board of a transit district to
designate district employees, except for union-represented
employees employed to drive revenue-generating transit
vehicles, or security officers contracted by the district, to
enforce PEN Sections 640 and 640.5, and PUC Section 99170
relative to certain prohibited acts on or in public
transportation systems or on the property, facilities, or
vehicles of a transit district.
2.Requires the employees or officers to complete the existing
required specialized training course, and requires that
training course cover applicable crimes covered in PEN Section
640.5, and PUC Section 99170.
3.Adds to the list of infractions in PUC Section 99170:
A. Knowingly give false information to a district employee,
or contracted security officer, engaged in the enforcement
of a district ordinance or a state law, or otherwise
obstruct the issuance of a citation for the violation of a
district ordinance or a state law.
B. Violating any of the conditions established by a transit
district ordinance under which a passenger may board a
transit vehicle with a bicycle and where that bicycle may
be stowed on the transit vehicle.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
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SUPPORT : (Verified 5/7/14)
Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (source)
Capitola Police Department
City of Santa Cruz, Mayor, Lynn Robinson
City of Santa Cruz, Vice Mayor, Don Lane
County of Santa Cruz, Board of Supervisors
Santa Cruz Police Department
Scotts Valley Police Department
SEIU, Local 521
United Transportation Union, Local 23
Watsonville Police Department
JA:k 5/7/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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