BILL NUMBER: AB 2971	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 22, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 28, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 19, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 4, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 1, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 23, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 24, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member DeSaulnier

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2008

   An act to add Section 14054 to the Government Code, relating to
transportation projects and services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2971, DeSaulnier. Department of Transportation: safety
programs: bicyclists and pedestrians.
   Existing law specifies the various powers and duties of the
Department of Transportation relative to transportation planning and
implementation of transportation projects and services.
   This bill would require the department, on or before January 1,
2010, to establish guidance and criteria to ensure that the needs of
bicyclists and pedestrians are addressed in the development of its
safety programs, and to consider specified factors in that regard.



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

  SECTION 1.  Section 14054 is added to the Government Code, to read:

   14054.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (1) In the state there are two primary sources of dedicated
statewide pedestrian or bicycle transportation funding that currently
exist: the Bicycle Transportation Account (BTA), funded at seven
million two hundred thousand dollars ($7,200,000) a year, and Safe
Routes to School (SRS), funded at twenty-four million two hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($24,250,000) a year.
   (2) The funding contained in the BTA and SRS represents less than
one-half of one percent of the state's overall transportation
dollars.
   (3) The state's traffic fatalities in 2005 totaled 4,304 out of
the nation's 43,443 fatalities, just under 10 percent of the nation's
total which is proportionate to the state's proportion of the nation'
s population. By contrast, bicycle and pedestrian fatality rates are
more than 50 percent higher than the national average.
   (4) According to crash data from the state, more than 20 percent
of all traffic fatalities in the state involve bicyclists and
pedestrians.
   (5) An imbalance exists between the number of pedestrian- and
bicycle-related fatalities and the amount of funding allocated to
address these types of fatalities.
   (6) The department has prepared a Strategic Highway Safety Plan
(SHSP) as a condition of the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act-A Legacy for Users of 2005 (P.L.
109-059; SAFETEA-LU) funding. This plan identifies key areas to focus
attention and resources to improve highway safety.
   (7) The processes by which the department currently funds highway
safety improvements under the State Highway Operation and Protection
Program (SHOPP) may be modified to ensure that the safety needs of
bicyclists and pedestrians, as outlined in the SSP, are adequately
addressed.
   (b) On or before January 1, 2010, the department shall establish
guidance and criteria to ensure that the needs of bicyclists and
pedestrians are addressed in the development of its safety programs.
In developing this guidance, the department shall take into
consideration the following factors:
   (1) The mitigation or amelioration of unsafe conditions that
constitute barriers to reasonably safe and convenient highway use by
bicyclists or pedestrians.
   (2) The land use context of proposed highway safety improvement
projects as evidence of demand for bicycle or pedestrian access.
   (3) The addition of bicycle and pedestrian safety features to a
highway safety project, thereby creating additional benefits to that
project and increasing its priority.
   (4) Input from bicycle and pedestrian interest groups.
   (5) Other factors necessary to evaluate the need for, and benefits
of, bicycle or pedestrian safety projects.