Bill Text: CA AB2090 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: High-occupancy toll lanes: San Diego County and Santa

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-21 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 528, Statutes of 2014. [AB2090 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB2090-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 2090	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Fong

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2014

   An act to amend Section 149.6 of the Streets and Highways Code,
relating to transportation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2090, as introduced, Fong. High-occupancy toll lanes: Santa
Clara County.
   Existing law authorizes the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority (VTA) to conduct, administer, and operate high-occupancy
toll (HOT) lanes, under which single-occupancy vehicles may use
high-occupancy vehicle lanes by paying a toll, on 2 state highway
corridors within the county. Existing law requires that
implementation of the HOT lanes ensure that specified levels of
service, described as Level of Service C or D, as specified, be
maintained at all times in the high-occupancy lanes and that
unrestricted access to the lanes by high-occupancy vehicles be
available at all times.
   This bill would delete the reference to Level of Service C or D,
and instead would require VTA to establish, with the assistance of
the Department of Transportation, appropriate performance measures,
such as speed or travel times, for the purpose of ensuring optimal
use of the HOT lanes by high-occupancy vehicles without adversely
affecting other traffic on the state highway system. The bill would
provide for high-occupancy vehicles to have access to the lanes at
all times rather than unrestricted access as under existing law.
   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 149.6 of the Streets and Highways Code is
amended to read:
   149.6.  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 149 and 30800, and Section
21655.5 of the Vehicle Code, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority (VTA) created by Part 12 (commencing with Section 100000)
 of Division 10  of the Public Utilities Code may conduct,
administer, and operate a value pricing program on any two of the
transportation corridors included in the high-occupancy vehicle lane
system in Santa Clara County in coordination with the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission and consistent with Section 21655.6 of the
Vehicle Code. A high-occupancy toll  (HOT)  lane established
on State Highway Route 101 pursuant to this section may extend into
San Mateo County as far as the high-occupancy vehicle lane in that
county existed as of January 1, 2011, subject to agreement of the
City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County.
   (1) VTA, under the circumstances described in subdivision (b), may
direct and authorize the entry and use of those high-occupancy
vehicle lanes by single-occupant vehicles for a fee. The fee
structure shall be established from time to time by the authority. A
high-occupancy vehicle lane may only be operated as a 
high-occupancy toll (HOT)   HOT  lane during the
hours that the lane is otherwise restricted to use by high-occupancy
vehicles.
   (2) VTA shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the Bay Area
Toll Authority to operate and manage the electronic toll collection
system. 
   (b) Implementation of the program shall ensure that Level of
Service C, as measured by the most recent issue of the Highway
Capacity Manual, as adopted by the Transportation Research Board, is
maintained at all times in the high-occupancy vehicle lanes, except
that subject to a written agreement between the department and VTA
that is based on operating conditions of the high-occupancy vehicle
lanes, Level of Service D shall be permitted on the high-occupancy
vehicle lanes. If Level of Service D is permitted, the department and
VTA shall evaluate the impacts of these levels of service on the
high-occupancy vehicle lanes, and indicate any effects on the
mixed-flow lanes. Continuance of Level of Service D operating
conditions shall be subject to the written agreement between the
department and VTA. Unrestricted access 
    (b)     With the assistance of the
department, VTA shall establish appropriate performance measures,
such as speed or travel times, for the purpose of ensuring optimal
use of the HOT lanes by high-occupancy vehicles without adversely
affecting other traffic on the state highway system. Access  to
the lanes by high-occupancy vehicles shall be available at all times.
At least annually, the department shall audit the level of service
during peak traffic hours and report the results of that audit at
meetings of the program management team.
   (c) Single-occupant vehicles that are certified or authorized by
the authority for entry into, and use of, the high-occupancy vehicle
lanes in Santa Clara County, and, if applicable, San Mateo County as
provided in subdivision (a), are exempt from Section 21655.5 of the
Vehicle Code, and the driver shall not be in violation of the Vehicle
Code because of that entry and use.
   (d) VTA shall carry out the program in cooperation with the
department pursuant to  a cooperative   an 
agreement that addresses all matters related to design,
construction, maintenance, and operation of state highway system
facilities in connection with the value pricing program. 
With the assistance of the department, VTA shall establish
appropriate traffic flow guidelines for the purpose of ensuring
optimal use of the high-occupancy toll lanes by high-occupancy
vehicles without adversely affecting other traffic on the state
highway system. 
   (e) (1) Agreements between VTA, the department, and the Department
of the California Highway Patrol shall identify the respective
obligations and liabilities of those entities and assign them
responsibilities relating to the program. The agreements entered into
pursuant to this section shall be consistent with agreements between
the department and the United States Department of Transportation
relating to this program. The agreements shall include clear and
concise procedures for enforcement by the Department of the
California Highway Patrol of laws prohibiting the unauthorized use of
the high-occupancy vehicle lanes, which may include the use of video
enforcement. The agreements shall provide for reimbursement of state
agencies, from revenues generated by the program, federal funds
specifically allocated to the authority for the program by the
federal government, or other funding sources that are not otherwise
available to state agencies for transportation-related projects, for
costs incurred in connection with the implementation or operation of
the program.
   (2) The revenues generated by the program shall be available to
VTA for the direct expenses related to the operation (including
collection and enforcement), maintenance, construction, and
administration of the program. The VTA's administrative costs in the
operation of the program shall not exceed 3 percent of the revenues.
   (3) All remaining revenue generated by the program shall be used
in the corridor from which the revenues were generated exclusively
for the preconstruction, construction, and other related costs of
high-occupancy vehicle facilities and the improvement of transit
service, including, but not limited to, support for transit
operations pursuant to an expenditure plan adopted by the VTA. To the
extent a corridor extends into San Mateo County pursuant to
subdivision (a), VTA and the City/County Association of Governments
of San Mateo County shall, by agreement, determine how remaining
revenue shall be shared for expenditure in Santa Clara County and San
Mateo County consistent with this paragraph.
   (f) (1) The VTA may issue bonds, refunding bonds, or bond
anticipation notes, at any time to finance construction and
construction-related expenditures necessary to implement the value
pricing program established pursuant to subdivision (a) and
construction and construction-related expenditures that are provided
for in the expenditure plan adopted pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (e), payable from the revenues generated from the
program.
   (2) The maximum bonded indebtedness that may be outstanding at any
one time shall not exceed an amount that may be serviced from the
estimated revenues generated from the program.
   (3) The bonds shall bear interest at a rate or rates not exceeding
the maximum allowable by law, payable at intervals determined by the
authority.
   (4) Any bond issued pursuant to this subdivision shall contain on
its face a statement to the following effect:

"Neither the full faith and credit nor the taxing power of the State
of California is pledged to the payment of principal of, or the
interest on, this bond."

   (5) Bonds shall be issued pursuant to a resolution of VTA adopted
by a two-thirds vote of its governing board. The resolution shall
state all of the following:
   (A) The purposes for which the proposed debt is to be incurred.
   (B) The estimated cost of accomplishing those purposes.
   (C) The amount of the principal of the indebtedness.
   (D) The maximum term of the bonds and the interest rate.
   (E) The denomination or denominations of the bonds, which shall
not be less than five thousand dollars ($5,000).
   (F) The form of the bonds, including, without limitation,
registered bonds and coupon bonds, to the extent permitted by federal
law, the registration, conversion, and exchange privileges, if
applicable, and the time when all of, or any part of, the principal
becomes due and payable.
   (G) Any other matters authorized by law.
   (6) The full amount of bonds may be divided into two or more
series and different dates of payment fixed for the bonds of each
series. A bond shall not be required to mature on its anniversary
date.
   (g) Not later than three years after VTA first collects revenues
from any of the projects described in paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a), VTA shall submit a report to the Legislature on its findings,
conclusions, and recommendations concerning the demonstration program
authorized by this section. The report shall include an analysis of
the effect of the HOT lanes on adjacent mixed-flow lanes and any
comments submitted by the department and the Department of the
California Highway Patrol regarding operation of the lanes.