Bill Text: CA SB595 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Metropolitan Transportation Commission: toll bridge revenues: BART Inspector General: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority: high-occupancy toll lanes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 650, Statutes of 2017. [SB595 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB595-Amended.html
Bill Title: Metropolitan Transportation Commission: toll bridge revenues: BART Inspector General: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority: high-occupancy toll lanes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 650, Statutes of 2017. [SB595 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB595-Amended.html
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Amended
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Senate
May 26, 2017 |
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Amended
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Senate
April 18, 2017 |
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Amended
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Senate
April 05, 2017 |
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Amended
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Senate
April 03, 2017 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Bill | No. 595 |
| Introduced by Senator Beall |
February 17, 2017 |
An act to add Section 30923 to the Streets and Highways Code, relating to transportation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 595, as amended, Beall.
Metropolitan Transportation Commission: toll bridge revenues.
Existing law creates the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as a regional agency in the 9-county San Francisco Bay area with comprehensive regional transportation planning and other related responsibilities. Existing law creates the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) as a separate entity governed by the same governing board as the MTC and makes the BATA responsible for the programming, administration, and allocation of toll revenues from the state-owned toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay area. Existing law authorizes the BATA to increase the toll rates for certain purposes, including to meet its bond obligations, provide funding for certain costs associated with the bay area state-owned toll bridges, including for the seismic retrofit of those bridges, and provide funding to meet the requirements of certain voter-approved regional measures. Existing law provided for submission of
2 regional measures to the voters of 7 bay area counties in 1988 and 2004 relative to specified increases in bridge auto tolls on the bay area state-owned toll bridges, subject to approval by a majority of the voters.
The bill would require the City and County of San Francisco and the other 8 counties in the San Francisco Bay area to conduct a special election on a proposed unspecified increase in the amount of the toll rate charged on the state-owned toll bridges in that area to be used for unspecified projects and programs. By requiring this election, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the BATA to reimburse from toll revenues, as specified, the counties and the City and County of San Francisco for the cost of submitting the measure to the voters.
The
California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) The San Francisco Bay area’s strong economy and growing population are placing a tremendous burden on its aging transportation infrastructure. Between 2010 and 2040, the population is forecast forecasted to grow by 2.3 million, while the number of jobs are projected to grow by 1.3 million.
(b) Traffic congestion on the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges degrades the bay area’s quality of life, impairs its economy, and
shows no signs of abating. Between 2010 and 2015, combined volumes on the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges grew by 11 percent, while volumes on just the Dumbarton Bridge, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge grew by 20 percent.
(c) In 2015, five of the region’s top 10 worst congested roadways were in the South Bay (San Mateo or Santa Clara Counties).
(d) In the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge corridor from Hercules to San Francisco, weekday traffic speeds average less than 35 mph from 5:35 a.m. until 7:50 p.m.
(e) Weekday congestion on the west approach to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the eastbound direction typically begins before 1 p.m. and continues until 9:30 p.m.
(f) Weekday northbound traffic
congestion on State Highway Route 101 from Novato to Petaluma begins by 3 p.m. and typically lasts over three hours.
(g) Daily peak-hour traffic on State Highway Route 37 between Marin and Solano Counties jumped over 40 percent from 2010 to 2015.
(h) The region’s only rail link across San Francisco Bay, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), is 44 years old and faces multibillion-dollar capital funding shortfalls to accommodate growing ridership and achieve a state of good repair. Meanwhile, BART ridership is at record levels, exceeding 128 million in fiscal year 2016, a 27-percent increase from fiscal year 2010.
(i) Annual ridership on ferries from Alameda, Oakland, and Vallejo to San Francisco and South San Francisco more than doubled between 2010 and 2016, from 1.1 million to 2.5 million.
(j) Ridership on the weekday transbay bus service provided by the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District rose 33 percent between 2012 and 2016.
(k) Truck traffic in and out of the Port of Oakland grew by 33 percent since 2000 and contributes to worsening congestion on the region’s bridges and roadways. An estimated 99 percent of the containerized goods moving through northern California are loaded or discharged at the port.
(l) The last time bay area voters had the opportunity to approve new funding for improvements in the bridge corridors was in 2004, when voters approved Regional Measure 2, a $1 toll increase.
(m) To improve the quality of life and sustain the economy of the San Francisco Bay area, it is the intent of the Legislature to require the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission to place on the ballot a measure authorizing the voters to approve an expenditure plan to improve mobility and enhance travel options on the bridges and bridge corridors to be paid for by an increase in the toll rate on the seven state-owned bridges within its jurisdiction.
SEC. 2.
Section 30923 is added to the Streets and Highways Code, to read:30923.
(a) The toll rate for vehicles crossing the bridges described in Section 30910 shall not be increased to the ____ rate prior to the availability of the results of a special election to be held in the City and County of San Francisco and the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma to determine whether the residents of those counties and of the City and County of San Francisco approve the toll increase.(b) The revenue derived from the toll increase shall be used to meet all funding obligations associated with ____ projects and programs. To the extent additional toll funds are available from the toll increase, the authority may use them for bridge rehabilitation and for projects and programs aimed
at reducing congestion and improving travel options in the bridge corridors.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of the Elections Code, the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco and of each of the counties described in subdivision (a) shall call a special election to be conducted in the City and County of San Francisco and in each of the counties that shall be consolidated with the November ____, general election.
(d) The ballot pamphlet for the special election shall include a detailed description of the expenditure plan detailing the projects to be funded.
(e) The county clerks shall report the results of the special election to the authority. If a majority of all voters voting on the question at the special election vote affirmatively, the authority shall adopt the increased toll schedule to
be effective ____.
(f) The authority shall reimburse each county and city and county participating in the election for the incremental cost of submitting the measure to the voters. These costs shall be reimbursed from revenues derived from the tolls if the measure is approved by the voters, or, if the measure is not approved, from any bridge toll revenues administered by the authority.
