Bill Text: TX HB2327 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the establishment and operation of a motor-bus-only lane pilot program in certain counties.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Vetoed) 2011-06-17 - Vetoed by the Governor [HB2327 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB2327-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 2327 |
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relating to the establishment and operation of a motor-bus-only | ||
lane pilot program in certain counties. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 455, Transportation Code, is amended by | ||
adding Section 455.006 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 455.006. MOTOR-BUS-ONLY LANE PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The | ||
department, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety | ||
and in conjunction with and with the elective participation of the | ||
appropriate metropolitan rapid transit authorities, county | ||
transportation authorities, municipal transit departments, and | ||
regional transportation authorities and the municipalities served | ||
by those mass transit entities, shall establish and operate a | ||
motor-bus-only lane pilot program for highways in Bexar, El Paso, | ||
Tarrant, and Travis Counties that are part of the state highway | ||
system and have shoulders of sufficient width and structural | ||
integrity. | ||
(b) The program shall: | ||
(1) provide for the use by motor buses of highway | ||
shoulders as a low-speed bypass of congested highway lanes when the | ||
speed of vehicles being operated on the main traveled part of the | ||
adjacent highways is 35 miles per hour or less; | ||
(2) limit the maximum speed of a motor bus being | ||
operated on a motor-bus-only lane to the lower of: | ||
(A) 15 miles per hour greater than the speed of | ||
vehicles being operated on the main traveled part of the adjacent | ||
highway; or | ||
(B) 35 miles per hour; | ||
(3) provide for attainment of local operational | ||
experience with the conversion of existing highway shoulders to | ||
motor-bus-only lanes during peak traffic periods; | ||
(4) include consideration of the following: | ||
(A) safety; | ||
(B) travel time and reliability; | ||
(C) driver and passenger perceptions; | ||
(D) level of service and maintenance; and | ||
(E) capital improvements; and | ||
(5) be limited only to public transit motor buses | ||
operated by the mass transit entities in the counties specified by | ||
Subsection (a). | ||
(c) The department shall also include in the program: | ||
(1) bus driver safety training; | ||
(2) public awareness and education; | ||
(3) bus operating rules that require bus drivers to | ||
yield to passenger cars and emergency vehicles; and | ||
(4) roadside signs and pavement markings indicating | ||
that affected lanes are reserved for public transit motor-bus-only | ||
use. | ||
(d) The department, in coordination with the appropriate | ||
mass transit entities under Subsection (a), shall fund the | ||
implementation of the program features under Subsection (c). Mass | ||
transit entities that participate in the program shall reimburse | ||
the department for the funds spent on implementation of the program | ||
features. A metropolitan rapid transit authority that includes an | ||
advanced transportation district may use funds from the district to | ||
pay for expenses associated with the pilot program. | ||
(e) The department shall initiate the motor-bus-only lane | ||
program as soon as practicable but not later than December 31, 2011. | ||
Not later than December 31, 2013, the department shall submit to the | ||
governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of | ||
representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative | ||
standing committee with primary jurisdiction over transportation a | ||
written report that contains: | ||
(1) a description of the results of the program based | ||
on local operational experience described in Subsection (b)(3); | ||
(2) any recommendations for changes to the program; | ||
and | ||
(3) a plan on how the department will convert the | ||
program into a permanent program. | ||
(f) The department may cancel the program if the department | ||
finds evidence of a trend of increasing vehicle accidents | ||
attributable to operation of buses under the program. | ||
(g) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the department may not | ||
establish or operate a motor-bus-only lane on a highway or toll | ||
facility maintained by a regional tollway authority established | ||
under Chapter 366 without the authority's consent. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 542.002, Transportation Code, is amended | ||
to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 542.002. GOVERNMENT VEHICLES. A provision of this | ||
subtitle applicable to an operator of a vehicle applies to the | ||
operator of a vehicle owned or operated by the United States, this | ||
state, or a political subdivision of this state, except as | ||
specifically provided otherwise by this subtitle [ |
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SECTION 3. Section 545.058(c), Transportation Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(c) A limitation in this section on driving on an improved | ||
shoulder does not apply to: | ||
(1) an authorized emergency vehicle responding to a | ||
call; | ||
(2) a police patrol; [ |
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(3) a bicycle; or | ||
(4) a motor bus of a mass transit entity described by | ||
Section 455.006 operating on a shoulder designated by the Texas | ||
Department of Transportation under that section. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2011. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 2327 was passed by the House on April | ||
26, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 102, Nays 46, 2 present, not | ||
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to | ||
H.B. No. 2327 on May 27, 2011, and requested the appointment of a | ||
conference committee to consider the differences between the two | ||
houses; and that the House adopted the conference comm | ||
ittee report | ||
on H.B. No. 2327 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 114, | ||
Nays 30, 1 present, not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 2327 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
amendments, on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 21, Nays | ||
10; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference | ||
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and | ||
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No. | ||
2327 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 22, Nays 9. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |