Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1102 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1102
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed March 2, 2011; March 16, 2011, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and Homeland
4	4	Security; April 20, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
5	5	Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1;
6	6	April 20, 2011, sent to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1102 By: Wentworth
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to the establishment and operation of a motor-bus-only
13	13	lane pilot program in certain counties.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Chapter 455, Transportation Code, is amended by
16	16	adding Section 455.006 to read as follows:
17	17	Sec. 455.006. MOTOR-BUS-ONLY LANE PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The
18	18	department, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety
19	19	and in conjunction with the appropriate metropolitan rapid transit
20	20	authorities, county transportation authorities, municipal transit
21	21	departments, and regional transportation authorities and the
22	22	municipalities served by those mass transit entities, shall
23	23	establish and operate a motor-bus-only lane pilot program for
24	24	highways in Bexar, Denton, El Paso, Tarrant, and Travis Counties
25	25	that are part of the state highway system and have shoulders of
26	26	sufficient width and structural integrity.
27	27	(b) The program shall:
28	28	(1) provide for the use by motor buses of highway
29	29	shoulders as a low-speed bypass of congested highway lanes when the
30	30	speed of vehicles being operated on the main traveled part of the
31	31	adjacent highways is 35 miles per hour or less;
32	32	(2) limit the maximum speed of a motor bus being
33	33	operated on a motor-bus-only lane to the lower of:
34	34	(A) 15 miles per hour greater than the speed of
35	35	vehicles being operated on the main traveled part of the adjacent
36	36	highway; or
37	37	(B) 35 miles per hour;
38	38	(3) provide for attainment of local operational
39	39	experience with the conversion of existing highway shoulders to
40	40	motor-bus-only lanes during peak traffic periods;
41	41	(4) include consideration of the following:
42	42	(A) safety;
43	43	(B) travel time and reliability;
44	44	(C) driver and passenger perceptions;
45	45	(D) level of service and maintenance; and
46	46	(E) capital improvements; and
47	47	(5) be limited only to public transit motor buses
48	48	operated by the mass transit entities in the counties specified by
49	49	Subsection (a).
50	50	(c) The department shall also include in the program:
51	51	(1) bus driver safety training;
52	52	(2) public awareness and education;
53	53	(3) bus operating rules that require bus drivers to
54	54	yield to passenger cars and emergency vehicles; and
55	55	(4) roadside signs and pavement markings indicating
56	56	that affected lanes are reserved for public transit motor-bus-only
57	57	use.
58	58	(d) The department, in coordination with the appropriate
59	59	mass transit entities under Subsection (a), shall fund the
60	60	implementation of the program features under Subsection (c). Mass
61	61	transit entities that participate in the program shall reimburse
62	62	the department for the funds spent on implementation of the program
63	63	features. A metropolitan rapid transit authority that includes an
64	64	advanced transportation district may use funds from the district to
65	65	pay for expenses associated with the pilot program.
66	66	(e) The department shall initiate the motor-bus-only lane
67	67	program as soon as practicable but not later than December 31, 2011.
68	68	Not later than December 31, 2013, the department shall submit to the
69	69	governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
70	70	representatives, and the presiding officer of each legislative
71	71	standing committee with primary jurisdiction over transportation a
72	72	written report that contains:
73	73	(1) a description of the results of the program based
74	74	on local operational experience described in Subsection (b)(3);
75	75	(2) any recommendations for changes to the program;
76	76	and
77	77	(3) a plan on how the department will convert the
78	78	program into a permanent program.
79	79	(f) The department may cancel the program if the department
80	80	finds evidence of a trend of increasing vehicle accidents
81	81	attributable to operation of buses under the program.
82	82	(g) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the department may not
83	83	establish or operate a motor-bus-only lane on a highway or toll
84	84	facility maintained by a regional tollway authority established
85	85	under Chapter 366 without the authority's consent.
86	86	SECTION 2. Section 542.002, Transportation Code, is amended
87	87	to read as follows:
88	88	Sec. 542.002. GOVERNMENT VEHICLES. A provision of this
89	89	subtitle applicable to an operator of a vehicle applies to the
90	90	operator of a vehicle owned or operated by the United States, this
91	91	state, or a political subdivision of this state, except as
92	92	specifically provided otherwise by this subtitle [for an authorized
93	93	emergency vehicle].
94	94	SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 545.058, Transportation
95	95	Code, is amended to read as follows:
96	96	(c) A limitation in this section on driving on an improved
97	97	shoulder does not apply to:
98	98	(1) an authorized emergency vehicle responding to a
99	99	call;
100	100	(2) a police patrol; [or]
101	101	(3) a bicycle; or
102	102	(4) a motor bus of a mass transit entity described by
103	103	Section 455.006 operating on a shoulder designated by the Texas
104	104	Department of Transportation under that section.
105	105	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
106	106	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
107	107	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
108	108	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
109	109	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
110	110	* * * * *