85R21447 AAF-D By: Israel, Workman, Rodriguez of Travis, H.B. No. 1656 et al. Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1656: By: Morrison C.S.H.B. No. 1656 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the operation of a public transit motor bus by certain mass transit entities on an improved shoulder. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 545.058(c), 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 mass transit entity operating under Subtitle K, Title 6, if the motor bus is: (A) operating within the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization in which: (i) at least five counties are located; and (ii) the two counties with the largest populations are part of a regional mobility authority governed by Chapter 370; and (B) bypassing traffic by operating on the shoulder of a highway designated by the Texas Department of Transportation that is under construction. SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.