BILL NUMBER: SB 516 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 1, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 22, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2015
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 generally 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 aid system of call boxes.
This bill would require each service authority to determine how
those moneys received by it are to be used by the service authority
for the implementation, maintenance, and operations of a motorist aid
system, including call boxes. The bill would additionally authorize
the use of those moneys for traveler information systems, Intelligent
Transportation System architecture and infrastructure, and other
transportation demand management services, and safety-related hazard
and obstruction 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
implementation of a motorist aid system of call boxes pursuant to
specified guidelines.
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) Each service authority shall determine how moneys
received by it 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. The department and the Department of the California
Highway Patrol shall each review and approve plans, pursuant to the
"CHP/Caltrans Call Box and Motorist Aid Guidelines," referenced in
Section 2421.5 of the Vehicle Code, 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 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 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), 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) Safety-related hazard and obstruction removal.
(2) Any amendment to an existing plan for a motorist aid system of
call boxes adopted by a service authority for any state highway
route shall, prior to implementation, be submitted to the department
and the Department of the California Highway Patrol for review and
approval, and shall not be implemented until so reviewed and approved
pursuant to the "CHP/Caltrans Call Box and Motorist Aid Guidelines,"
referenced in Section 2421.5 of the Vehicle Code. The service
authority shall reimburse each department for the costs of that
review.
(3) Service authority funding provided for projects described in
subparagraphs (B),(F), and (G) of paragraph (1) is intended to
supplement, and not replace, department expenditures for similar
infrastructure and services on the California Freeway and Expressway
System.
(e) 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.
(g) Nothing in this section relieves a service authority of any
obligation under the law to receive appropriate permission or
approval from the department for activities within rights-of-way
under the jurisdiction of the department.