BILL NUMBER: AB 338	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Roger Hernández

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2015

   An act to amend Section 130001 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to transportation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 338, as introduced, Roger Hernández. County transportation
commissions: Los Angeles County.
   The County Transportation Commissions Act provides for the
creation of county transportation commissions with specified powers
and duties in the southern California region, including Los Angeles
County. The act makes various legislative findings regarding the
transportation needs of the region.
   The bill would make an additional legislative finding that
transportation resources should be equitably distributed within Los
Angeles County.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 130001 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
   130001.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
   (a) Public demand for an efficient public transportation system in
the southern California region resulting from population sprawl, the
concentration of many transit dependent citizens in the large urban
areas, and increasing mobility requirements indicates a need for
improved, as well as more innovative, policy and decisionmaking
institutions to resolve these problems.
   (b) A basic purpose of transportation policy within the region
should be to avoid undesirable duplication of transportation
services, achieve the operation of a coordinated and integrated
transportation system which will reduce automobile usage and
dependency, reduce the consumption of scarce and expensive energy
fuels, and reduce the levels of automobile-related air pollution.
   (c) Recognizing the scarcity of resources available for all
transportation development, the commissions shall give priority to
low-cost highway and transit improvements, and shall work toward
maximizing the effectiveness of existing resources available to the
commissions.
   (d) Recognizing the importance of the state highway system in the
Los Angeles metropolitan area to bus, automobile, and freight
transportation, it is necessary to maintain this highway system at
least at its present operating standards and to increase the
person-moving capability of this system by such methods as
carpooling, improved traffic operations, exclusive busways, and
fringe parking facilities. 
   (e) Recognizing the geographic diversity and transportation needs
in Los Angeles County, transportation resources should be equitably
distributed within the county.  
   (e) 
    (f)  The transportation system should offer adequate
public transportation to all citizens, including those immobilized by
poverty, age, physical handicaps, or other reasons. 
   (f) 
    (g)  The cities and local communities acting singly or
jointly should be given more responsibilities for designing and
providing local transit services to improve the responsiveness of
public transit to public needs. 
   (g) 
    (h)  The transportation decisionmaking process should be
responsive to public values, and provide for the continuing
involvement of the public in the preparation, revision, and
discussion of transportation plans and services. 
   (h) 
    (i)  Transportation planning should recognize that
transportation systems have significant effect on the physical and
socioeconomic characteristics of the areas served, and emphasis
should be given to the protection and enhancement of the environment
and the restoration of blighted neighborhoods near community centers.
Los Angeles County, in particular, is a multicentered area with
diverse socioeconomic levels and travel patterns, and a majority of
the trips in the county are four miles or less.