BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 62
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 22, 2001

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                     SB 62 (Morrow) - As Amended:  June 19, 2001 

          Policy Committee:                              
          TransportationVote:17-0 (Consent)

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill modifies a Public Utilities Commission (PUC) pilot  
          program for automated warning devices at rail crossings and  
          allows the PUC to expand program participation to two more  
          cities.  Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires the automated warning devise to sound a warning at a  
            railroad crossing at least 20 seconds before the train reaches  
            the crossing instead of the current minimum distance of 1,320  
            feet (1/4 mile).

          2)Allows the PUC to expand the pilot program to the Cities of  
            Fremont and Newark (Alameda County).

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor costs, if any, to the PUC to oversee the pilot project on  
          automated warning devices at a small number of rail crossings in  
          two additional cities. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author believes the current pilot program  
            should be expanded to provide a slightly larger number of rail  
            crossings at which to test these automated warning devices.   
            In addition, the author wants to replace the  
            distance-triggered warning devise with a time-triggered  
            warning device to cut down on instances where the device is  
            triggered by a slow-moving train and remains on for several  
            minutes.
           








                                                                 SB 62
                                                                  Page  2

          2)Time-Triggered Devices .  The automated warning devices are  
            sounded at the rail crossing instead of the train's engineer  
            sounding the train's horn several hundred feet before the  
            crossing.  These devices may reduce noise pollution in  
            neighborhoods adjacent to tracks and their sound is more  
            directed to highway traffic approaching the tracks.  Modern  
            motion and speed sensing devices are able to accurate  
            determine when a train will be within 20 seconds of a crossing  
            and should reduce the amount of time they are activated  
            without compromising safety. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Steve Archibald / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081