Bill Text: CA SB59 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: California Transportation Commission: advisory committee: autonomous vehicle technology.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-08-30 - August 30 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB59 Detail]
Download: California-2019-SB59-Introduced.html
Bill Title: California Transportation Commission: advisory committee: autonomous vehicle technology.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-08-30 - August 30 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB59 Detail]
Download: California-2019-SB59-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Bill | No. 59 |
| Introduced by Senator Allen |
December 19, 2018 |
An act to add Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 65053) to Chapter 1.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, relating to automated vehicle technology.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 59, as introduced, Allen.
Automated vehicle technology: Statewide policy.
Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor’s office, which serves the Governor and his or her cabinet for long-range planning and research and constitutes the comprehensive state planning agency. Existing law permits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle being operated if specified requirements are met.
This bill would establish the policy of the state relating to automated vehicles in order to ensure that these vehicles support the state’s efforts to, among other things, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage efficient land use. The bill would require the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor’s office, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, to convene an automated
vehicle interagency working group of specified state agencies, including, among others, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Transportation Agency, and the Department of Motor Vehicles, to guide policy development for automated vehicle technology consistent with the statewide policies described above. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California, as a technological hub for innovation, should support the continued research and development of automated vehicle technology, as it has the potential to provide environmental, economic, and social equity benefits.
(b) Automated vehicle technology is also poised to transform California’s entire transportation system, affecting both mobility and land use patterns across the state. Depending on how automated vehicle technology develops, this technology could help California attain its greenhouse gas emissions reduction, air quality improvement, and equity goals or could potentially hinder these
efforts.
(c) Research funded through the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 20-102, Impacts of Connected Vehicles and Automated Vehicles on State and Local Transportation Agencies, confirmed that automated vehicles will lead to changes in land use patterns that could either support or undermine efforts to fight climate change and reduce sprawl and vehicle miles traveled (VMT).
(d) According to research conducted by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Davis, automated vehicles will make travel less onerous, which could increase vehicle travel by 15 to 20 percent by 2050. This would contribute to more greenhouse gas emissions, a worsening of air quality, and increased traffic congestion.
(e) For many families, especially those without access to a car, public
transportation is the critical link to employment, education, child care facilities, and other important services. An increased deployment of automated vehicles could be used to justify reduced public support for public transportation services, exacerbating current inequities.
(f) Negative impacts resulting from automated vehicles can be mitigated and, in some cases, eliminated if policies are adopted to guide their development and use. Strategies include electrifying automated vehicles, maximizing automated vehicle deployment in shared fleets, encouraging pooled rides, and expanding high-quality public transportation and infrastructure and programs for active transportation.
(g) Research from the University of California at Davis has shown that widespread on-demand travel, when supported by substantial ride sharing and electric vehicles, can reduce car travel by over 50 percent,
reduce carbon emissions from transportation by 80 percent, and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure and operations by 40 percent by 2050.
(h) In recognition of these facts, the State Air Resources Board’s 2017 Scoping Plan proposed implementing a process for intrastate agency and regional and local transportation coordination on automated vehicles to ensure shared policy goals in achieving safe, energy efficient, and low carbon autonomous vehicle deployment that also contribute to VMT reductions.
(i) The 2018 Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Action Plan Priorities Update calls on the Office of Planning and Research and the State Air Resources Board to lead an autonomous vehicle interagency group to determine policies necessary to ensure that the rise of autonomous transportation benefits all Californians, both environmentally and economically, and to consider the intersection
of autonomous and ZEV technology, as well as the implications of autonomous vehicles on land use and VMT.
SEC. 2.
Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 65053) is added to Chapter 1.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to read:Article 5.5. Automated Vehicles for Healthy and Sustainable Communities
65053.
To ensure automated vehicles support the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and criteria pollutants, reduce traffic congestion and vehicle miles traveled, encourage efficient land use, and improve access to mobility and economic opportunities for all Californians, the following shall be the policy of the State of California:(a) The deployment of automated vehicles shall maximize ride-sharing and shared-use vehicles as an alternative to personal car ownership by encouraging pooling, prioritizing pooled vehicles’ mobility, and providing for shared-vehicles passenger safety and comfort.
(b) The deployment of automated vehicles shall shift rapidly toward the use of zero-emission
vehicles.
(c) The deployment of automated vehicles shall reduce overall emissions from all vehicles on the road ensuring a near-term benefit to public health.
(d) The deployment of automated vehicles shall include strategies to ensure vehicles are sufficiently sized, but not oversized, for the trip purpose.
(e) Automated vehicles shall be integrated as part of, and complementary to, a multimodal transportation system that moves people and goods to destinations quickly and efficiency and that is, taken as a whole, energy efficient, space efficient, environmentally benign, and beneficial to human health.
(f) The deployment of automated vehicles shall facilitate compact infill development rather than accelerating sprawl and shall further the implementation
of robust policies that support the state planning priorities described in Section 65041.1.
(g) Planning decisions related to automated vehicles shall prioritize people rather than vehicles, improve the safety of roads for all users, provide an array of transportation mode options, and improve outcomes related to health, safety, the environment, and livability for all Californians.
(h) The deployment of automated vehicles shall increase the availability of affordable mobility options, particularly for low-income and disadvantaged communities and individuals with physical impairments.
(i) The deployment of automated vehicles shall consider the transportation needs of rural residents and communities in a manner that improves access to destinations and goods without increasing
sprawl.
65054.
(a) The Office of Planning and Research, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, shall convene an automated vehicle interagency working group to guide policy development for automated vehicle technology consistent with the policies described in Section 65053.(b) The following entities shall participate in the interagency working group:
(1) The California Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The Transportation Agency.
(3) The Department of Transportation.
(4) The State
Department of Public Health.
(5) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission.
(6) The Department of General Services.
(7) The Department of Motor Vehicles.
(8) The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
(9) The Strategic Growth Council.
