Bill Text: CA AB206 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Vehicles: length limitations: buses: bicycle transportation devices.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-08-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 95, Statutes of 2013. [AB206 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB206-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 206 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 95
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 13, 2013
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 13, 2013
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 1, 2013
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dickinson
JANUARY 30, 2013
An act to add Section 35400.8 to the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 206, Dickinson. Vehicles: length limitations: buses: bicycle
transportation devices.
Existing law imposes a 40-foot limitation on the length of
vehicles that may be operated on the highways, with specified
exemptions. Existing law exempts from this limitation an articulated
bus or trolley and a bus, except a schoolbus, that is operated by a
public agency or passenger stage corporation that is used in a
transit system if it is equipped with a folding device attached to
the front of the vehicle that is designed and used exclusively for
transporting bicycles, does not materially affect efficiency or
visibility of vehicle safety equipment, and does not extend more than
36 inches from the front of the body of the bus or trolley when
fully deployed. In addition, existing law prohibits a bicycle that is
transported on the above-described device from having the bicycle
handlebars extend more than 42 inches from the front of the vehicle.
This bill would authorize the Sacramento Regional Transit District
to install folding devices attached to the front of its buses that
are designed and used exclusively for transporting bicycles if the
use of the device meets certain requirements, including, but not
limited to, that the device does not extend more than 40 inches from
the front of the bus when fully deployed, and that the handlebars of
the bicycles being transported do not extend more than 46 inches from
the front of the bus. This bill would also establish, for a
specified purpose, a route review committee prior to the installation
of the initial folding device on a bus that is 45 feet in length.
This bill would require the committee to perform an initial review of
the routes on which the district proposes to operate a 45-foot bus
equipped with a front-mounted bicycle rack and would require the
committee to make a determination of, by unanimous vote of all
members, the routes that are suitable for the safe operation of a
45-foot bus that is equipped with a front-mounted bicycle rack. The
bill would require the district to submit a report, containing
specified requirements, to the Assembly Committee on Transportation
and the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing on or before
December 31, 2018.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the Sacramento Regional
Transit District.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 35400.8 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
35400.8. (a) Notwithstanding Section 35400, the Sacramento
Regional Transit District, created pursuant to Article 1 (commencing
with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the
Government Code as a joint powers agency, may install a folding
device attached to the front of a bus that is designed and used
exclusively for transporting bicycles if the following conditions are
met:
(1) The device does not extend more than 40 inches from the front
body of the bus when fully deployed.
(2) The device, including all bicycles transported on the device,
is mounted in a manner that does not materially affect efficiency or
visibility of vehicle safety equipment.
(3) The handlebars of a bicycle that is transported on a device
described in this subdivision do not extend more than 46 inches from
the front of the bus.
(b) For purposes of this section, "district" means the Sacramento
Regional Transit District.
(c) (1) The district shall establish a route review committee
prior to the installation of the initial folding device, pursuant to
subdivision (a), on a bus that is 45 feet in length. The purpose of
the committee is to ensure the safe operation of a 45-foot bus that
is equipped with a front-mounted bicycle rack.
(2) The committee established pursuant to this subdivision shall
perform an initial review of the routes on which the district
proposes to operate a 45-foot bus equipped with a front-mounted
bicycle rack. The review shall include a field review of the proposed
routes, including consultation with licensed traffic engineers from
affected public agencies that have jurisdiction over segments of the
route or routes under review in order to ensure coordination with all
affected state and local public road agencies that may potentially
be impacted due to the operation of a 45-foot bus with a
front-mounted bicycle rack.
(3) (A) By unanimous vote of all members, the committee shall make
a determination of the routes that are suitable for the safe
operation of a 45-foot bus that is equipped with a front-mounted
bicycle rack.
(B) Before conducting a vote pursuant to subparagraph (A), the
committee shall obtain certification approved by a licensed traffic
engineer that all proposed routes are safe for travel by 45-foot
buses equipped with the bicycle racks specified in subdivision (a).
(4) Upon any proposal to make substantive changes to additions to
approved routes, those changes shall be subject to review and
certification pursuant to paragraph (2) prior to being approved by
the committee.
(5) The members of the committee shall be selected not more than
30 days after receipt of the district's proposal to equip a 45-foot
bus with a front-mounted bicycle rack and shall be comprised of the
following members:
(A) One member from the district who shall be appointed by the
district's general manager and who shall be a voting member of the
committee.
(B) One member who is a licensed traffic engineer selected by the
governing board of the district and who shall be a voting member of
the committee.
(C) One member appointed by the labor organization that is the
exclusive representative of the busdrivers of the district. This
member shall be a voting member of the committee.
(D) One member appointed by the governing board of the district
who shall be a representative of the bicycling community and who
shall reside within the area of the district jurisdiction. This
member shall be a nonvoting member of the committee.
(d) If a folding device is installed pursuant to subdivision (a),
the district shall submit a report in compliance with Section 9795 of
the Government Code to the Assembly Committee on Transportation and
the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing on or before
December 31, 2018. The report shall include a summary of any
vehicular or traffic incidents where the size of the folding device
was a factor, and a summary of the mobility improvements that these
folding devices provide.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique circumstances of a large number of bicycle
riders using buses operated by the Sacramento Regional Transit
District and the need to determine whether there are safety
considerations in having 40-inch bicycle racks on the front of the
district's buses.
