Bill Text: CA SB1134 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Vehicles: public transit buses: illuminated signs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-07-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 100, Statutes of 2014. [SB1134 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB1134-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1134 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 100
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 8, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 8, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 30, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Knight
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to add and repeal Section 25353.2 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1134, Knight. Vehicles: public transit buses: illuminated
signs.
Existing law authorizes a bus operated by a publicly owned transit
system on regularly scheduled service to be equipped with
illuminated signs that display information directly related to public
service and include, among other things, destination signs,
route-number signs, run-number signs, public service announcement
signs, or a combination of those signs, visible from any direction of
the vehicle, that emit any light color, other than the color red
emitted from forward-facing signs, pursuant to specified conditions.
Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2017, a pilot program
that allows up to 25 buses operated by the City of Santa Monica's
publicly owned transit system for the first 2 years of the pilot
program, and up to 30 buses thereafter, to be equipped with
illuminated signs that display advertising subject to certain
conditions, including a display area of not greater than 4,464 square
inches. Existing law also authorizes, until January 1, 2019, the
University of California, Irvine (university), to implement a similar
pilot program if the university determines, on or before March 1,
2014, that the City of Santa Monica has less than 12 transit buses
equipped with illuminated signs that are operational pursuant to the
city's pilot program.
This bill would authorize, until July 1, 2020, the Antelope
Valley Transit Authority to implement a similar pilot program if the
authority determines, on or before March 1, 2015, that the university
has less than 12 transit buses equipped with illuminated signs that
are operational pursuant to the university's pilot program. The bill
would require the authority, if the pilot program is implemented, to
submit a specified report to the Legislature and the Department of
the California Highway Patrol by January 1, 2020, on the incidence of
adverse impacts, if any.
The bill would make legislative findings and declarations
concerning the need for special legislation.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25353.2 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
25353.2. (a) Notwithstanding Sections 25400 and 25950, except as
provided in subdivision (c), a bus operated by the Antelope Valley
Transit Authority's publicly owned transit system, on regularly
scheduled service, in addition to the illuminated signs described in
Section 25353, may also be equipped with illuminated signs that
display advertising and that emit any light color, if all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall emit
diffused nonglaring light.
(2) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall be limited
in size to a display area of not greater than 4,464 square inches.
(3) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall not
resemble nor be installed in a position that interferes with the
visibility or effectiveness of a required lamp, reflector, or other
device upon the vehicle.
(4) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall only be
placed on one or both sides of the vehicle, and shall not be placed
in a forward-facing or rear-facing position, and no more than one
sign shall be placed on either side of any single vehicle.
(5) The mixing of individually colored light-emitting diode
elements, including red, is allowed in each illuminated sign
displaying advertising as long as the emitted color formed by the
combination of light-emitting diode elements is not red.
(b) (1) An illuminated sign displaying advertising may be operated
as a dynamic message sign in a paging or streaming mode. However,
the electronic message sign display shall remain static while a bus
is operating on a freeway as defined in Section 257 of the Streets
and Highways Code.
(2) The following definitions shall govern the construction of
paragraph (1):
(A) "Paging," meaning character elements or other information
presented for a period of time and then disappearing all at once
before the same or new elements are presented, is permitted if the
display time of each message is between 2.7 and 10 seconds. Blanking
times between each message shall be between 0.5 and 25 seconds.
(B) "Streaming," meaning character elements or other information
moving smoothly and continuously across the display, is permitted if
the character movement time, from one end of the display to the
other, is at least 2.7 seconds, and the movement time of the entire
message does not exceed 10 seconds.
(c) (1) On or before March 1, 2015, the Antelope Valley Transit
Authority, if it elects to implement a pilot program pursuant to this
section, shall determine whether the University of California,
Irvine, has at least 12 transit buses equipped with illuminated signs
that are operational pursuant to Section 25354. The Antelope Valley
Transit Authority may implement the pilot program authorized by this
section only if it determines that the University of California,
Irvine, has less than 12 transit buses equipped with illuminated
signs that are operational pursuant to Section 25354.
(d) If the Antelope Valley Transit Authority implements the pilot
program pursuant to this section, it shall, by January 1, 2020,
submit to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government
Code, and to the department, a report on the incidence of adverse
impacts on roadway and pedestrian safety due to the utilization of
illuminated signs on transit buses displaying advertising pursuant to
this section, if any. The report shall be the product of a
collaborative effort by Antelope Valley law enforcement and transit
officials, and other local law enforcement officials in whose
jurisdictions Antelope Valley transit vehicles operate.
(e) The Antelope Valley Transit Authority's publicly owned transit
system may, pursuant to subdivision (a), operate up to 25 buses with
illuminated signs displaying advertising for two years, after which
time the authority may increase the number of buses with the signs to
up to 30.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until July 1, 2020,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before July 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
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 the Antelope Valley Transit Authority is facing an operating
revenue deficit in its public transit system and is evaluating
several strategies designed to enhance revenue over the next several
years, including the use of electronic illuminated signage that
displays advertising on local transit buses, which is not authorized
under state law. It is, therefore, declared that a statute of general
applicability cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision
(b) of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution.
Therefore, this special statute is necessary.
