BILL NUMBER: SB 516 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Fuller
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Sections 2550 and 2557 of the Streets and Highways
Code, relating to highways.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 516, as introduced, Fuller. Transportation: motorist aid
services.
Existing law authorizes the establishment of a service authority
for freeway emergencies in any county if the board of supervisors of
the county and the city councils of a majority of the cities within
the county adopt resolutions providing for the establishment of the
service authority. Existing law authorizes a service authority to
impose a fee of $1 per year on vehicles registered in the counties
served by the service authority. Existing law requires moneys
received by a service authority to be used for the implementation,
maintenance, and operation of a motorist aid system of call boxes and
authorizes moneys received by a service authority in excess of what
is needed for that system to be used for additional motorist aid
services, including, among other things, changeable message signs and
lighting for call boxes.
This bill would instead require that those moneys be used for
service expenses associated with the implementation, maintenance, and
operations of a motorist aid system. The bill would additionally
authorize the use of those moneys for traveler information systems
and other transportation demand management services, litter and
debris removal, and Intelligent Transportation System architecture
and infrastructure.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2550 of the Streets and Highways Code is
amended to read:
2550. The Legislature declares that its intent in enacting this
chapter is to encourage the placement of call boxes
a motorist aid system comprising multiple service
elements and infrastructure along the California Freeway and
Expressway System to enable motorists in need of aid to obtain
assistance. However, it is not intended that a motorist aid system
of call boxes be considered an emergency
telephone system.
SEC. 2. Section 2557 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended
to read:
2557. (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and
(d), the The moneys received by each authority
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9250.10 of the Vehicle Code
shall be used for the implementation, maintenance, and operation of a
motorist aid system of call boxes, system,
including the lease or lease-purchase of facilities and
equipment for the system, on the portions of the California Freeway
and Expressway System and a county expressway system, and the
unincorporated county roads in that county, and on state highway
routes that connect segments of these systems, which
that are located within the county in which the
authority is established as well as associated service expenses
. The Department of Transportation
department and the Department of the California Highway Patrol
shall each review and approve plans for implementation of a motorist
aid system of call boxes proposed for any state
highway route and shall be reimbursed by the service authority for
all costs incurred due to review and approval of the plan.
(b) An authority or any other public entity may construct and
maintain, and lease or lease-purchase on terms and conditions it
deems appropriate, the facilities of a motorist aid system or it may
contract with a private person or entity to do so.
(c) If leases or lease-purchase agreements are entered into
pursuant to subdivision (a), or if revenue bonds are issued and sold
pursuant to Section 2558, the moneys received by each authority
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9250.10 of the Vehicle Code
shall be used to the extent necessary to make lease payments or to
pay the principal of, and interest on, the amount of bonded
indebtedness outstanding, as the case may be. Facilities and
equipment acquired through the expenditure of proceeds from the sale
of those bonds shall have a useful life at least equal to the term of
the bonds.
(d) (1) Any money moneys received by
an authority pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 9250.10 of the
Vehicle Code that exceeds the amount needed
may be used for full implementation and ongoing costs to
maintain and operate the motorist aid system of call boxes,
installed pursuant to subdivision (a), may be used
for purposes of paragraph (2) (2),
and for additional motorist aid services or support,
including, but not limited to, the following safety-related projects:
(A) Call boxes.
(A)
(B) Changeable message signs.
(B)
(C) Lighting for call boxes.
(C)
(D) Support for traffic operations centers.
(D)
(E) Contracting for removal of disabled vehicles from
the traveled portion of the right-of-way, including operation of the
freeway service patrol pursuant to Chapter 15 (commencing with
Section 2560).
(F) Traveler information systems and other transportation demand
management services.
(G) Litter and debris removal.
(H) Intelligent Transportation System architecture and
infrastructure.
(2) Any amendment to an existing plan for a motorist aid system
of call boxes adopted by an authority for any
state highway route shall, prior to implementation, be submitted to
the Department of Transportation department
and the Department of the California Highway Patrol for review
and approval and shall not be implemented until so reviewed and
approved. The authority shall reimburse each department for the costs
of that review.
(e) An authority may develop policies for the retention of
records, including, but not limited to, authority operations,
contracts, and programs, and the length of the retention period.
(f) A motorist aid system constructed, maintained, or operated
pursuant to this section shall meet the applicable standards of Title
II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law
101-336) and federal regulations adopted pursuant thereto.