Bill Text: CA AB476 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 476 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Bill Title: Department of Transportation: state highways: part-time transit lane pilot program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB476 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB476-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 476

Introduced by Assembly Member Mullin
~~(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Berman)~~

February 08, 2021

An act to ~~amend Section 131285 of the Public Utilities Code,~~ add Section 148.2 to the Streets and Highways Code, and to amend Section 21650 of the Vehicle Code, relating to transportation.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 476, as amended, Mullin. ~~San Francisco Bay area county transportation authorities: contracting.~~ Department of Transportation: state highways: transit bus pilot program.

Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of the state highway system and associated real property. Existing law generally requires vehicles to be driven upon the right ¹/₂ of a roadway, defined to include only that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel. Existing law generally prohibits the driver of a vehicle from overtaking and passing another vehicle by driving off the paved or main-traveled portion of the roadway.
Existing law authorizes the Monterey-Salinas Transit District and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District to conduct a transit bus-only program using the shoulders of certain state highways as transit bus-only traffic corridors, subject to approval by the Department of Transportation and the Department of the California Highway Patrol. Existing law requires that the highway segments to be used for the program are to be jointly determined by the districts, the department, and the Department of the California Highway Patrol, as provided.
This bill would authorize the Department of Transportation to establish a pilot program to authorize a transit operator or operators to operate transit buses on the shoulders of state highways, under a project selected under the program. The bill would authorize an operator or operators, in partnership with a regional transportation agency that meets specified requirements, to submit an application to the department to establish and operate a project under the program. The bill would authorize the department to select no more than 8 total projects under the program using guidelines developed with input from the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the public. The bill would require the department, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, and the operator or operators and regional transportation agency that submitted the application to jointly determine the state highways, or segment of state highways, that will be used in a project. The bill would require the applicable regional transportation agency to be responsible for all costs attributable to the project. Two years after commencing a project, the bill would require an operator or operators, in conjunction with the applicable regional transportation agency, to submit a report to the Legislature that includes certain information about the project.
The Bay Area County Traffic and Transportation Funding Act authorizes each of the 9 counties in the San Francisco Bay area to impose a 12 of 1% or 1% sales tax for transportation purposes, subject to voter approval. Existing law provides for the establishment of a county transportation authority in each county imposing a sales tax under these provisions, requires the development of a county transportation expenditure plan, and specifies the powers and duties of a county board of supervisors and the county transportation authority in this regard. Existing law requires each county transportation authority to award contracts for the purchase of supplies, equipment, and materials in excess of $75,000 to the lowest responsible bidder after competitive bidding, except in an emergency declared by the vote of 23 of the voting membership of the county transportation authority.
This bill would require each county transportation authority to award contracts for the purchase of supplies, equipment, and materials in excess of $150,000, rather than $75,000, either to the lowest responsible bidder or to the responsible bidder whose proposal provides the best value, as defined, on the basis of the factors identified in the solicitation, except in a declared emergency, as specified. The bill would specify that the requirement does not apply to construction contracts.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 148.2 is added to the Streets and Highways Code, to read:

148.2.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Operator” has the same meaning as defined in Section 99210 of the Public Utilities Code.
(2) “Regional transportation agency” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (k) of Section 149.7.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the department may establish a pilot program to authorize an operator or operators to operate transit buses on the shoulders of state highways or segments of state highways under a project selected pursuant to subdivision (e). The department may authorize no more than four projects under the program on state highways located in the counties comprising Group No. 1, as specified in Section 187, and no more than four projects on state highways located in the counties comprising Group No. 2, as specified in Section 187.
(c) (1) The department, with input from the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the public, shall develop guidelines for the selection and operation of projects under the pilot program that ensure driver and vehicle safety and the integrity of state highway infrastructure.
(2) The guidelines shall establish a speed limit for the operation of transit buses participating in the program of no more than 35 miles per hour.
(d) An operator or operators, in partnership with a regional transportation agency responsible for programming regional transportation improvement program funds or that collects a countywide special tax dedicated for transportation purposes, may submit an application to the department to establish and operate a project.
(e) (1) The department shall evaluate and select applications for projects submitted pursuant to subdivision (d) using the guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (c).
(2) The department, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, and the operator or operators and regional transportation agency that submitted the application shall jointly determine the state highways, or segment of state highways, that will be used in a project.
(f) The department and the applicable regional transportation agency shall monitor the state of repair of highway shoulders used in the project, including necessary repairs resulting from the operation of transit buses on the shoulders.
(g) The regional transportation agency shall be responsible for all costs attributable to its project, including costs related to necessary repairs resulting from the operation of transit buses on shoulders.
(h) (1) Two years after commencing the operation of a project, an operator or operators, in conjunction with the regional transportation agency, shall submit a report to the Legislature that includes all of the following:
(A) Information regarding the geographic scope of the project.
(B) Information about any highway modification necessary to support the project.
(C) Information regarding the costs associated with the project.
(D) The performance measures used to evaluate the success of the project, such as safety, freeway operations, and transit travel time reliability and savings.
(2) The regional transportation agency shall post the report required by this subdivision on its internet website to enable the public to access the report.
(3) The report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

SEC. 2.

Section 21650 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:

21650.

Upon all highways, a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway, except as follows:

(a) When overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction under the rules governing that movement.

(b) When placing a vehicle in a lawful position for, and when the vehicle is lawfully making, a left turn.

(d) Upon a roadway restricted to one-way traffic.

(e) When the roadway is not of sufficient width.

(f) When the vehicle is necessarily traveling so slowly as to impede the normal movement of traffic, that portion of the highway adjacent to the right edge of the roadway may be utilized temporarily when in a condition permitting safe operation.

(g) This section does not prohibit the operation of bicycles on any shoulder of a highway, on any sidewalk, on any bicycle path within a highway, or along any crosswalk or bicycle path crossing, where the operation is not otherwise prohibited by this code or local ordinance.

(h) This section does not prohibit the operation of a transit bus on the shoulder of a state highway in conjunction with the implementation of a program authorized pursuant to Section 148.1 or 148.2 of the Streets and Highways ~~Code on state highways within the areas served by the transit services of the Monterey-Salinas Transit District or the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District.~~ Code.

SECTION 1.Section 131285 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
131285.
(a)The county transportation authority shall, after competitive bidding, award a contract for the purchase of supplies, equipment, and materials in excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) either to the lowest responsible bidder or to the responsible bidder whose proposal provides the best value on the basis of the factors identified in the solicitation, except in an emergency declared by the vote of two-thirds of the voting membership of the county transportation authority. This section shall apply only to the procurement of supplies, equipment, and materials, and shall not apply to construction contracts.
(b)For purposes of this section, “best value” means the overall combination of quality, price, and other elements of a proposal that, when considered together, provide the greatest overall benefit in response to requirements described in the solicitation documents.