Bill Text: CA SB59 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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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-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  April 01, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 59

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Introduced by Senator Allen

December 19, 2018

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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 autonomous vehicle technology.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 59, as amended, Allen. Automated Autonomous 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 the Governor’s 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 certain guiding principles relating to automated autonomous 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, Research, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, to convene an automated autonomous vehicle interagency working group of specified state agencies, including, among others, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Transportation Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Motor Vehicles, to guide policy development for automated autonomous vehicle technology consistent with the statewide policies principles described above. The bill would require the working group to submit its recommendations to further these principles to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2021. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.

Digest Key

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

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Bill 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 autonomous vehicle technology, as it has the potential to provide safety, environmental, economic, and social equity benefits.

(b) Automobile crashes are a leading cause of death and 94% of serious automobile crashes are linked to human choices. Autonomous vehicle technology may help to avoid human-error crashes and significantly improve vehicle safety.

(c) California leads the nation in the number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed by motor vehicles, and ranks sixth highest in such deaths per capita. Deaths of pedestrians and bicyclists from motor vehicles are increasing nationwide. Making the roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists could help to increase the use of active transportation, which is an affordable, low-impact alternative to driving that supports California’s clean transportation goals and equity goals.

(b)Automated

(d) Autonomous 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 autonomous 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)

(e) Research funded through the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 20-102, Impacts of Connected Vehicles and Automated Autonomous Vehicles on State and Local Transportation Agencies, confirmed that automated autonomous 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)

(f) According to research conducted by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Davis, automated autonomous 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)

(g) 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 autonomous vehicles could be used to justify reduced public support for public transportation services, exacerbating current inequities.

(f)Negative

(h) Potential negative impacts resulting from automated vehicles autonomous vehicles that are not zero-emission or shared 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 developed to encourage autonomous vehicles, maximizing autonomous vehicle deployment in shared fleets, encouraging pooled rides, and expanding high-quality public transportation and infrastructure and programs for active transportation.

(g)

(i) 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)

(j) 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 autonomous vehicles to ensure shared policy goals in achieving safe, energy efficient, and low carbon autonomous vehicle deployment that also contribute to VMT reductions.

(i)

(k) 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 Autonomous Passenger 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.

65054.65053.

 (a) The Office of Planning and Research, in coordination with the State Air Resources Board, shall convene an automated autonomous vehicle interagency working group to guide policy development for automated autonomous passenger vehicle technology consistent with the policies principles described in Section 65053. 65054.

(b) The following entities shall participate in the interagency working group:

(1)The California Environmental Protection Agency.

(2)

(1) The Transportation Agency.

(3)

(2) 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)

(3) The Department of Motor Vehicles.

(8)

(4) The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.

(9)

(5) The Strategic Growth Council.

(6) Representatives of local government as determined by the Office of Planning and Research.

(c) The Office of Planning and Research may invite other organizations to participate, as well as create advisory groups.

(d) On or before January 1, 2021, the working group shall submit to the Legislature recommendations to further the principles described in Section 65054. In developing these recommendations, the working group shall do all of the following:

(1) Examine specific policy options and identify actions that require further statutory authority.

(2) Identify additional research and data needs.

(3) Provide an opportunity for input by the general public.

65054.

 To ensure autonomous passenger vehicles support the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and criteria air pollutants, reduce traffic congestion and vehicle miles traveled, encourage efficient land use, and improve safety and access to mobility and economic opportunities for all Californians, the following shall be the principles guiding the working group established in Section 65053:

(a) Maximize ridesharing and shared use of autonomous vehicles by encouraging pooling and prioritizing pooled vehicles’ mobility.

(b) Encourage a rapid shift toward the use of zero-emission autonomous passenger vehicles.

(c) Encourage deployment of autonomous passenger vehicles in ways that reduce overall emissions from all vehicles on the road consistent with the state’s climate and environmental goals.

(d) Encourage strategies to ensure vehicles are sufficiently sized, but not oversized, for the trip purpose.

(e) Encourage autonomous passenger vehicle integration as part of, and complementary to, a multimodal transportation system, including public transit, walking, and biking, that moves people and goods to destinations quickly and efficiently and that is, taken as a whole, energy efficient, space efficient, environmentally benign, and beneficial to human health.

(f) Encourage the deployment of autonomous passenger vehicles to support compact infill development rather than accelerating sprawl, and to further the implementation of robust policies that support the state planning priorities described in Section 65041.1.

(g) Encourage the deployment of autonomous passenger vehicles in ways that increase the availability of affordable mobility options, particularly for low-income and disadvantaged communities and individuals with physical impairments.

(h) The deployment of autonomous passenger vehicles should consider the transportation needs of rural residents and communities in a manner that improves access to destinations and goods without increasing sprawl.

65054.5.

 For the purposes of this article, “autonomous passenger vehicle” means a “passenger vehicle” as defined in Section 465 of the Vehicle Code that is also an “autonomous vehicle” as defined in Section 38750 of the Vehicle Code.