BILL NUMBER: AB 2375AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 20, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Knight ( Principal coauthor: Senator Runner ) FEBRUARY 24, 2012 An act to add and repeal Section 25353.2 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2375, as amended, Knight. Vehicles: public transit buses: illuminated signs. Existing law authorizes a bus operated by a publicly owned transit system on regularly scheduled service to be equipped with illuminated signs that display information directly related to public service and include, among other things, destination signs, route-number signs, run-number signs, public service announcement signs, or a combination of those signs, visible from any direction of the vehicle, that emit any light color, other than the color red emitted from forward-facing signs, pursuant to specified conditions. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2017, a pilot program that allows up to 25 buses operated by the City of Santa Monica's publicly owned transit system for the first 2 years of the pilot program, and up to 30 buses thereafter, to be equipped with illuminated signs that display advertising subject to certain conditions, including a display area of not greater than 4,464 square inches. This bill would require the Antelope Valley Transit Authority on or before March 1, 2013, if it elects to implement the pilot program authorized by the bill, to determine whether the City of Santa Monica has at least one transit bus equipped with illuminated signs that is operational pursuant to the pilot program authorized under existing law. If the Antelope Valley Transit Authority determines that the City of Santa Monica does have such a transit bus, the bill would prohibit the Antelope Valley Transit Authority from implementing the bill's pilot program. If the Antelope Valley Transit Authority determines that the City of Santa Monica does not have such a bus, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority would be authorized to implement the bill's pilot program. The bill would authorize, until January 1, 2018, a pilot program that would allow up to 25 buses operated by the Antelope Valley Transit Authority's publicly owned transit system for the first 2 years of the pilot program, and up to 30 buses thereafter, to be equipped with illuminated signs that display advertising subject to certain conditions, including a display area of not greater than 4,464 square inches. The bill would require the authority to submit a specified report to the Legislature and the Department of the California Highway Patrol by July 1, 2017, on the incidence of adverse impacts, if any. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations concerning the need for special legislation. 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 25353.2 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read: 25353.2. (a) Notwithstanding Sections 25400 and 25950, except as provided in subdivision (c), a bus operated by the Antelope Valley Transit Authority's publicly owned transit system, on regularly scheduled service, in addition to the illuminated signs described in Section 25353, may also be equipped with illuminated signs that display advertising and that emit any light color, if all of the following conditions are met: (1) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall emit diffused nonglaring light. (2) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall be limited in size to a display area of not greater than 4,464 square inches. (3) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall not resemble nor be installed in a position that interferes with the visibility or effectiveness of a required lamp, reflector, or other device upon the vehicle. (4) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall only be placed on one or both sides of the vehicle, and shall not be placed in a forward-facing or rear-facing position, and no more than one such sign shall be placed on either side of any single vehicle. (5) The mixing of individually colored light-emitting diode elements, including red, is allowed in each illuminated sign displaying advertising as long as the emitted color formed by the combination of light-emitting diode elements is not red. (b) (1) An illuminated sign displaying advertising may be operated as a dynamic message sign in a paging or streaming mode. However, the electronic message sign display shall remain static while a bus is operating on a freeway as defined in Section 257 of the Streets and Highways Code. (2) The following definitions shall govern the construction of paragraph (1): (A) "Paging," meaning character elements or other information presented for a period of time and then disappearing all at once before the same or new elements are presented, is permitted if the display time of each message is between 2.7 and 10 seconds. Blanking times between each message shall be between 0.5 and 25 seconds. (B) "Streaming," meaning character elements or other information moving smoothly and continuously across the display, is permitted if the character movement time, from one end of the display to the other, is at least 2.7 seconds, and the movement time of the entire message does not exceed 10 seconds. (c) (1) On or before March 1, 2013, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, if it elects to implement a pilot program pursuant to this section, shall determine whether the City of Santa Monica has at least one transit bus equipped with illuminated signs that is operational pursuant to Section 25353.1. (2) If the Antelope Valley Transit Authority determines pursuant to paragraph (1) that the City of Santa Monica has at least one transit bus equipped with illuminated signs that is operational pursuant to Section 25353.1, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority shall not implement the pilot program authorized by this section. (3) If the Antelope Valley Transit Authority determines pursuant to paragraph (1) that the City of Santa Monica does not have at least one transit bus equipped with illuminated signs that is operational pursuant to Section 25353.1, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority may implement the pilot program authorized by this section.(c)(d) On or before July 1, 2017, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority shall submit to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, and to the department a report on the incidence of adverse impacts on roadway and pedestrian safety due to the utilization of illuminated signs on transit buses displaying advertising pursuant to this section, if any. The report shall be the product of a collaborative effort by Antelope Valley law enforcement and transit officials, other local law enforcement officials in whose jurisdictions Antelope Valley transit vehicles operate, and the department.(d)( e) The Antelope Valley Transit Authority's publicly owned transit system may, pursuant to subdivision (a), operate up to 25 buses with illuminated signs displaying advertising for two years, after which time the authority may increase the number of buses with the signs to up to 30.(e)(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because the Antelope Valley Transit Authority is facing an operating revenue deficit in its public transit system and is evaluating several strategies designed to enhance revenue over the next several years, including the use of electronic illuminated signage that displays advertising on local transit buses, which is not authorized under state law. It is, therefore, declared that a statute of general applicability cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution. Therefore, this special statute is necessary.