Bill Text: TX SB422 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the establishment and operation of a motor-bus-only lane pilot program in certain counties.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-04 - Referred to Transportation [SB422 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB422-Introduced.html

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84R4237 AAF-D
By: Watson S.B. No. 422

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
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 that are part of the
state highway system and have shoulders of sufficient width and
structural integrity.
(b) A highway designated as part of the program must be
located in:
(1) Bexar, El Paso, Tarrant, or Travis County; or
(2) a county adjacent to a county listed in
Subdivision (1) if the highway is an extension of a highway
designated in a county listed in Subdivision (1).
(c) 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 (b).
(d) 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.
(e) The department, in coordination with the appropriate
mass transit entities under Subsection (a), shall fund the
implementation of the program features under Subsection (d). 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.
(f) The department shall initiate the motor-bus-only lane
pilot program as soon as practicable but not later than December 31,
2015. Not later than December 31, 2017, 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 (c)(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.
(g) 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.
(h) 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 [for an authorized
emergency vehicle].
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; [or]
(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, 2015.