SB 1376: Transportation network companies: accessibility for persons with disabilities.

The Passenger Charter-party Carriers Act defines a transportation network company as an organization, whether a corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, or other form, operating in California that provides prearranged transportation services for compensation using an online-enabled platform to connect passengers with drivers using their personal vehicles. The act also defines a participating driver or driver as any person who uses a vehicle in connection with a transportation network companys online-enabled application or platform to connect with passengers. A violation of the act or a rule of the Public Utilities Commission with regard to charter-party carriers is generally a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 3 months, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

Existing rules of the Public Utilities Commission require a transportation network company to allow passengers to indicate whether they require a wheelchair-accessible vehicle or a vehicle otherwise accessible to individuals with disabilities and requires the transportation network company to submit a specified report to the Public Utilities Commission detailing the number and percentage of their customers who requested accessible vehicles and how often the transportation network company was able to comply with requests for accessible vehicles.

This bill would require the commission, as part of its regulation of transportation network companies (TNCs), to establish a program in a new or existing proceeding relating to accessibility for persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users who need a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV). As part of the program, the bill would require the commission, by January 1, 2019, to begin conducting workshops with stakeholders in order to determine community WAV demand and WAV supply and to develop and provide recommendations regarding specified topics for programs for on-demand services and partnerships. The bill would require each TNC, by July 1, 2019, to pay on a quarterly basis to the commission an amount equivalent to, at a minimum, $0.05 for each TNC trip completed using the TNCs online-enabled application or platform that originates in one of the geographic areas selected by the commission for inclusion in the program and would authorize the commission to adjust that fee in each geographic area to different levels based on the cost of providing adequate WAV service within the geographic area. The bill would exempt a TNC from payment of the fee in a geographic area if the TNC meets the level of WAV service designated by the commission for that geographic area, as specified, and would require the commission to reduce the amount of money a TNC is required to pay if it meets certain requirements. The bill would require moneys collected by the commission to be deposited in the TNC Access for All Fund, which the bill would create, and would continuously appropriate moneys deposited in the fund to the commission for purposes of the program. The bill would require the commission to distribute funds from the TNC Access for All Fund on a competitive basis to access providers that establish on-demand transportation programs or partnerships to meet the needs of persons with disabilities in the geographic areas selected by the commission. The bill would require the commission to authorize no more than 2% of existing funds collected from TNCs and deposited in the Public Utilities Commission Transportation Reimbursement Account to be distributed to accessibility advocates who provide a substantial contribution to the proceeding, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the commission to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2024, on the compliance with these provisions and on the effectiveness of the on-demand transportation programs or partnerships funded pursuant to these provisions. The bill would authorize the commission to hire an independent entity to administer the program and to complete the report to the Legislature.

This bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026.

Because a violation of the rules adopted by the commission would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of ²/₃ of the membership of each house of the Legislature.