(1) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to improve and maintain the state’s highways, and establishes various programs to fund the development, construction, and repair of local roads, bridges, and other critical transportation infrastructure in the state.
This bill would require all transportation projects funded or overseen by the department to provide comfortable, convenient, and connected complete streets facilities unless an exemption is documented and approved, as specified.
(2) Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the California Transportation Commission, to prepare a robust asset management plan to guide selection of projects for the state highway operation and protection program (SHOPP). Existing law requires the
commission, in connection with the plan, to adopt targets and performance measures reflecting state transportation goals and objectives. Existing law requires the department to develop, in consultation with the commission, a plain language performance report to increase transparency and accountability of the SHOPP.
This bill would require the asset management plan to prioritize the implementation of comfortable, convenient, and connected facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users on all projects in the program, where applicable. The bill would repeal the requirement for the commission to adopt targets and performance measures and instead require the commission to adopt 4-year and 10-year objective targets and performance measures reflecting state transportation goals and objectives, including for complete streets assets that reflect the existence and conditions of bicycle, pedestrian, and transit facilities on the state highway system. The bill would
require the department’s plain language performance report to include a description of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities on each project, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the commission, to update the asset management plan and use it to guide the selection of transit priority projects for the SHOPP, as specified.
(3) Existing law creates transit districts in designated areas throughout the state and authorizes the use of various vehicles for the purpose of public and private transit. Existing law authorizes transit buses and other transit vehicles to operate on state highways.
This bill would define “transit priority project” as a roadway design, operations, and enforcement action, treatment, or project that helps transit buses and other transit vehicles avoid traffic congestion, reduce signal delays, and move more predictably and reliably, as
specified. The bill would require the Director of Transportation to adopt a policy on transit priority projects for state and local highways. The bill would require the department to take certain actions to streamline the approval of transit priority projects, as specified. The bill would require the department to approve, deny, or make a determination on an application for a transit priority project or an encroachment permit for a transit priority project within specified time periods. The bill would prohibit the department from denying or delaying by more than 60 days the implementation of a transit priority project to do a detailed traffic analysis, as specified.
The bill would require the department to establish 4-year and 10-year targets for the fast and reliable movement of transit vehicles on state highways. The bill would require the targets to be designed to measure progress on specified objectives and to encourage a minimum 20% improvement for each
objective for each 4-year cycle. The bill would require the department to incorporate the targets into the State Highway System Management Plan and to account for local plans in identifying transit priority projects, as specified.
The bill would require the department to establish a process to streamline the approval of pedestrian facilities, traffic calming improvements, bicycle facilities, and transit priority projects at locations where a local highway is above, below, or otherwise intersects with, a conventional state highway, as specified.