August 12, 2014 The Honorable Edmund G. Brown Jr. Governor, State of California State Capitol Sacramento, CA 95814 Dear Governor Brown: The (VTA) supports AB 1720 (Bloom) and respectfully requests that you sign this bill into law. AB 1720 exempts the procurement of new public transit buses from the state s gross weight limit under certain conditions for another year until January 1, 2016. For more than 35 years, state law prohibited the gross weight on any single axle of a public transit bus from exceeding 20,500 pounds. However, because of numerous state and federal mandates that have been imposed since that weight limit was established in the mid-1970s, including federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and mandated emissions reduction equipment, public transit buses may exceed that limit, especially when carrying significant passenger loads. This situation came to a head in 2011 when several public transit agencies in Southern California were ticketed by local police departments for being overweight. In response, the California Transit Association sponsored AB 1706 (Eng), which was enacted in 2012. This measure offered a partial solution to the problem. It permanently exempted the current bus fleets of public transit agencies from the single axle weight limit, as well as any new buses procured through a solicitation issued before January 1, 2013. After January 1, 2013, and until January 1, 2015, AB 1706 allowed public transit agencies to procure new buses that exceeded the single axle weight limit under the following conditions: (1) if the buses were no heavier than the vehicles that were being replaced; or (2) if the buses were being purchased in order to either incorporate a new fleet class into an agency s inventory or expand an existing fleet class. However, beginning January 1, 2015, these buses would fall under the 20,500-pound limit and potentially could be ticketed for being overweight. Therefore, the California Transit Association is sponsoring AB 1720 to extend the grace period for new buses procured after January 1, 2013, for another year. In the meantime, the California Transit Association is seeking to reach a consensus with the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties on a long-term solution to this problem that successfully balances the need for public transit to effectively serve their communities with the interests of cities and counties when it comes to the condition of their local roadway systems. Currently, the Transit Cooperative Research Program is overseeing a national study on public transit bus weight limits because this issue, while urgent in California, does extend beyond the borders of our state.
The Honorable Edmund G. Brown Jr. AB 1720 (Bloom): Support Letter August 12, 2014 Page Two The Association believes this study, when it is completed sometime before the end of this year, will provide the framework for ultimately resolving this issue in California. We respectfully seek your support for AB 1720. Thank you for your consideration of our request. Sincerely,
M E M O R A N D U M TO: FROM: Members of the California State Assembly DATE: August 12, 2014 RE: Support for AB 2090 (Fong) The (VTA) is a co-sponsor of AB 2090 (Fong), along with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), and respectfully requests your support for this bill when it comes before the Assembly for concurrence in Senate amendments. AB 2090 addresses three issues related to VTA s enabling statutes for implementing express lanes along congested highway corridors within Santa Clara County. First, the bill makes the necessary changes to allow VTA to use switchable tags for enforcement purposes should the VTA make a policy decision to move in this direction. This technology did not exist when our enabling statutes were enacted in 2004. Second, the measure eliminates the requirement of maintaining our express lanes at a Level of Service C and, instead, allows for the use of a more flexible approach when it comes to performance measures. Third, the bill provides VTA with more flexibility in terms of how any net revenues generated by our express lanes could be expended. AB 2090 also makes these same three changes to the express lanes enabling statutes for SANDAG. One of the more effective ways to improve enforcement is to require all vehicles using an express lane to carry a transponder known in the industry as a switchable tag. With a switchable tag, when a vehicle is using an express lane with the required number of occupants to qualify as a carpool, the tag is switched to carpool mode, thereby authorizing free access. When the express lane is used by a solo driver, the tag is set to toll mode, authorizing payment. This approach automates enforcement to a much larger degree and enhances a local agency s ability to flag solo drivers who are trying to use its express lanes without paying. It is important for a local agency administering express lanes to be diligent about enforcement. Solo drivers who are cheating take up capacity in the express lanes, thereby eroding the benefits of the lanes for carpoolers, public transit passengers, and toll-paying solo drivers. Switchable tags are currently in use on I-10 and I-110 in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) reports that, by using switchable tags, the violation rate in the I-10 and I-110 express lanes fell from roughly 25 percent to as low as 10 percent. AB 2090 modifies existing law to allow VTA and SANDAG to be able to determine whether this new technology would be appropriate to use for the express lanes in our respective counties. In addition, AB 2090 allows VTA and SANDAG, with the consent of Caltrans, to determine the appropriate performance measures, including speed and travel times, for our express lanes, consistent with federal law. Rather than having to adhere to a one-size-fits-all level of service standard set in state law, this flexible, corridor-by-corridor approach, which was used by LA Metro for I-10 and I-110, would allow VTA and
Members of the California State Assembly Support for AB 2090 (Fong) August 12, 2014 Page Two SANDAG to maximize the effectiveness of our express lanes and better manage traffic flow along congested highway corridors within our respective counties. Finally, under our enabling statutes, any net revenues generated from an express lane must be invested in the highway corridor where the lane is located, but can only be used for improvements to the express lane facilities and for public transit service in the corridor. AB 2090 provides a little more flexibility by allowing VTA and SANDAG to also use these net revenues for transportation corridor improvements that are not directly linked to the express lane facilities, such as ingress/egress modifications, intelligent transportation systems and other improvements that would result in better traffic operations along the highway corridor where the express lane is located. LA Metro is pursing the same change to its enabling statutes in SB 1298 (Hernandez). We respectfully seek your support for AB 2090. Thank you for your consideration of our request.
August 12, 2014 The Honorable Mike Gatto, Chairperson Assembly Appropriations Committee State Capitol, Room 2114 Sacramento, CA 95814 Dear Chairperson Gatto: The (VTA) respectfully requests your support for SB 983 (Hernandez) when this bill comes before the Assembly Appropriations Committee for a vote during consideration of the committee s Suspense File. SB 983 calls for reinstating a process that would allow VTA and other regional transportation agencies, as defined, to submit applications for constructing and operating express lanes on state highway facilities within their respective jurisdictions to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) for approval. This process was initially established on a temporary basis through the enactment of legislation in 2006, but it expired at the end of 2011. As you know, an express lane is a carpool lane that permits solo drivers to use the carpool lane for a fee, which typically fluctuates by time of day and level of congestion. The fee is set at a level to ensure that the lane never becomes too congested in order to provide a time-savings benefit to carpoolers, public transit passengers and toll-paying solo drivers. Carpoolers continue to use the lanes for free. The revenues generated by the fee are typically used to operate, maintain and provide enforcement for the express lanes, improve the express lane corridor, and increase public transit service in the corridor. Experience with express lanes in Santa Clara County, in other parts of California and across the country has shown that these lanes can provide more air quality and congestion relief benefits than a simple carpool lane. In California, a number of agencies, including VTA, have the statutory authority to implement express lanes, but the number of corridors that we can pursue is capped. Given the success of the express lanes that are currently in operation in California and the growing interest on the part of our communities to build out full express lane networks, it makes sense to put in place a way for these agencies to pursue express lanes without having to seek specific authorization through the Legislature on a corridor-bycorridor basis. Therefore, we respectfully seek your support for SB 983. Thank you for your consideration of our request. Sincerely,
M E M O R A N D U M TO: FROM: Members of the California State Assembly DATE: August 14, 2014 RE: Support for SB 785 (Wolk) The (VTA) requests your support for SB 785 (Wolk) when this bill comes before the Assembly for a vote. SB 785 provides general authorization for all cities and counties, and for most special districts to use design-build contracting for most public works projects that cost in excess of $1 million. As you may know, current state law concerning the use of design-build contracting is somewhat bewildering. There are separate design-build statutes that apply to cities, counties, agencies that operate wastewater facilities, school districts, community college districts, and public transit agencies. By consolidating this myriad of existing local agency design-build statutes into one uniform law, SB 785 would be a vast improvement. This measure would eliminate numerous inconsistencies in current state law by establishing a standardized, three-step, design-build procurement process, under which a local agency generally would: (1) prequalify firms based on specified criteria; (2) develop a request for proposals (RFP) inviting the prequalified firms to submit competitive bids; and (3) award the design-build contract by using either low bid or best value. One uniform design-build contracting law makes much more sense than the confusing mix of multiple statutes that we have now. Therefore, we respectfully seek your support for SB 785. Thank you for your consideration of our request.