S.B. No. 434
AN ACT
relating to the establishment and operation of a public transit
motor-bus-only lane pilot program in certain counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 455, Transportation Code, is amended by
adding Section 455.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 455.006. PUBLIC TRANSIT MOTOR-BUS-ONLY LANE PILOT
PROGRAM. (a) The department, in consultation with the Department
of Public Safety and in conjunction with the appropriate mass
transit authorities and the municipalities served by those
authorities and with any municipality that has a mass transit
department, shall establish and operate a public transit
motor-bus-only lane pilot program for highways in Bexar, Denton, El
Paso, and Travis Counties that are part of the state highway system
and have shoulders of sufficient width and structural integrity.
(b) The public transit motor-bus-only lane pilot program
shall:
(1) provide for the use by public transit motor buses
of highway shoulders as a low-speed bypass of congested highway
lanes when the speed of vehicles being operated on the main traveled
part of the adjacent highways is 35 miles per hour or less;
(2) limit the maximum speed of a public transit motor
bus being operated on a public transit motor-bus-only lane to not
more than 15 miles per hour greater than the speed of vehicles being
operated on the main traveled part of the adjacent highway;
(3) gain local operational experience with the
conversion of existing highway shoulders to public transit
motor-bus-only lanes during peak traffic periods;
(4) take into consideration the following:
(A) safety;
(B) travel time and reliability;
(C) driver and passenger perceptions;
(D) level of service and maintenance; and
(E) capital improvements; and
(5) be limited only to public transit motor buses
operated by the mass transit authorities or municipal mass transit
departments in the counties specified by Subsection (a).
(c) The department shall initiate the public transit
motor-bus-only lane pilot program as soon as practicable but not
later than December 31, 2009.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the department may not
establish or operate a public transit motor-bus-only lane on a
highway or toll facility maintained by a regional tollway authority
established under Chapter 366 without the authority's consent.
SECTION 2. Section 542.002, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 542.002. GOVERNMENT VEHICLES. A provision of this
subtitle applicable to an operator of a vehicle applies to the
operator of a vehicle owned or operated by the United States, this
state, or a political subdivision of this state, except as
specifically provided otherwise by this subtitle [for an authorized
emergency vehicle].
SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 545.058, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) A limitation in this section on driving on an improved
shoulder does not apply to:
(1) an authorized emergency vehicle responding to a
call;
(2) a police patrol; [or]
(3) a bicycle; or
(4) a public transit motor bus of a transportation
entity described by Section 455.006 operating on a shoulder
designated by the Texas Department of Transportation under that
section.
SECTION 4. Section 545.352, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) The maximum speed limit for a public transit motor bus
of a transportation entity described by Section 455.006 that is
operating on the shoulder of a highway designated as a public
transit motor-bus-only lane by the Texas Department of
Transportation under that section is 35 miles per hour.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 434 passed the Senate on
March 19, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0;
May 18, 2009, Senate refused to concur in House amendment and
requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 20, 2009, House
granted request of the Senate; May 31, 2009, Senate adopted
Conference Committee Report by the following vote: Yeas 31,
Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 434 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 12, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 149,
Nays 0, one present not voting; May 20, 2009, House granted request
of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
May 23, 2009, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, three present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor