SB 508: Transportation funds: transit operators: pedestrian safety.

(1)Existing law provides various sources of funding to public transit operators. Under the Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act, also known as the Transportation Development Act, revenues from a ¹/₄% sales tax in each county are available, among other things, for allocation by the transportation planning agency to transit operators, subject to certain financial requirements for an operator to meet in order to be eligible to receive funds. Existing law sets forth alternative ways an operator may qualify for funding, including a standard under which the allocated funds do not exceed 50% of the operators total operating costs, as specified, or the maintenance by the operator of a specified farebox ratio of fare revenues to operating costs. Existing law authorizes an operator to satisfy the applicable ratio of fare revenues to operating costs by supplementing its fare revenues with local funds, as defined. Existing law generally establishes the required farebox ratio as 20% in urbanized areas and 10% in nonurbanized areas, except that an operator that exceeded those percentages in the 197879 fiscal year is required to maintain the higher farebox ratios in order to remain eligible for funding. Existing law provides various exceptions to the definition of operating cost for these purposes.

This bill would delete the requirement for transit operators to maintain higher farebox requirements based on the 197879 fiscal year. The bill would exempt additional categories of expenditures from the definition of operating cost used to determine compliance with required farebox ratios, including, among others, certain fuel, insurance, and claims settlement cost increases beyond the change in the Consumer Price Index. The bill would also exempt startup costs for new transit services for up to 2 years. The bill would revise the definition of local funds. The bill would revise the definition of operating cost for performance audit and certain other purposes to exclude principal and interest payments on capital projects funded with certificates of participation.

(2)The Mills-Alquist-Deddeh Act, also known as the Transportation Development Act, also generally requires the allocation of 2% of available funds to cities and counties for facilities for bicycles and pedestrians. Existing law provides that a city or county may expend up to 5% of its bicycle and pedestrian allocation to supplement moneys from other sources to fund bicycle safety education programs, as long as this amount is not used to fully fund the salary of any one person.

This bill would also authorize the funding of pedestrian safety education programs from the 5% amount.

(3)Existing law creates the State Transit Assistance program, under which certain revenues in the Public Transportation Account are allocated by formula for public transportation purposes. Under that program, after the 201516 fiscal year, funds may not be allocated to a transit operator for operating purposes unless the operator meets certain efficiency standards. Compliance with the efficiency standards is based on whether the operators total operating cost per revenue vehicle hour is increasing by no more than the Consumer Price Index, as specified. Existing law imposes no restrictions on allocations of funds for capital purposes. Existing law provides for funds withheld from an operator to be retained by the allocating transportation planning agency for allocation in a later year if the operator can subsequently meet the efficiency standards, and in certain cases, provides for the funds to be reallocated to other transit purposes, or to revert to the Controller.

This bill, commencing July 1, 2016, rather than making an operator ineligible to receive State Transit Assistance program funds for operating purposes for an entire year for failing to meet the efficiency standards, would instead reduce the operators operating allocation by a specified percentage, based on the percentage amount that the operator failed to meet the efficiency standards, as specified. The bill, on that date, would delete provisions related to funds withheld, reallocated, or reverted by the transportation planning agency.