BILL NUMBER: SB 516 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2015
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 amended, 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. Existing law requires the Department
of Transportation and the Department of the California Highway Patrol
to review and approve plans, and amendments to plans, for
implementation of a motorist system of call boxes.
This bill would instead require that those moneys be used by
the service authority for service expenses associated with the
implementation, maintenance, and operations of a motorist aid
system system, including the installation of
call boxes . The bill would additionally authorize the use of
those moneys for traveler information systems and
systems, Intelligent Transportation System architecture and
infrastructure, other transportation demand management
services, and litter and debris removal, and
Intelligent Transportation System architecture and infrastructure.
removal. The bill would require the Department of
Transportation and the Department of the California Highway Patrol to
review and approve plans, and amendments to plans, for installation
of a motorist aid system of call boxes and any call box removal plan.
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 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 be
considered an emergency system.
SEC. 2. Section 2557 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended
to read:
2557. (a) The moneys received and allocated by each
service 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, 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, that are located within the county in which the
authority is established as well as associated service expenses. The
department and the Department of the California Highway Patrol shall
each review and approve plans for implementation
installation 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 service
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 moneys received and allocated by
an a service authority pursuant to subdivision
(b) of Section 9250.10 of the Vehicle Code may be used for
purposes of paragraph (2) and for full implementation and
ongoing costs to maintain and operate the motorist aid system
pursuant to subdivision (a), for purposes of paragraph (2),
and for additional motorist aid services or
support, including, but not limited to, the following
motorist aid and safety-related projects:
(A) Call boxes.
(B) Changeable message signs.
(C) Lighting for call boxes.
(D) Support for traffic operations centers.
(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 , Intelligent Transportation
System architecture and infrastructure, 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 a
service authority for any state highway route and any call
box removal plan shall, prior to implementation,
the installation or removal of the cal l
boxes, be submitted to the department and the Department of the
California Highway Patrol for review and approval and those
call boxes shall not be implemented
installed or removed until the amendment or removal plan
has been so reviewed and approved. The authority shall
reimburse each department for the costs of that review.
(e) An A service 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.