Bill Approved to Ease Bay Area Traffic, Reduce Auto Pollution
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08/15/2008SACRAMENTO – The California State Assembly today approved legislation authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) to reduce traffic congestion and auto pollution in the Bay Area. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Los Angeles) will have until September 30 to sign or veto the measure.
Senate Bill 1731 will institute an additional $1 vehicle license fee for residents of the nine Bay Area counties to offer a Freeway Performance Initiative. Specifically, the $1 fee would provide funding to expand the popular and cost effective roving tow trucks that operate on Bay Area freeways, complete the detection system needed to monitor freeway conditions, expand ramp metering on the Bay Area freeway system, and implement other operational strategies to improve existing freeways.
“The Freeway Performance Initiative is the most cost-effective strategy to reduce traffic congestion, improve our air quality, and reduce the region’s carbon footprint,” said Yee. “For a very small cost, we can ensure that wrecks and objects that fall on our freeways are quickly cleared away, allowing for improved traffic flow and fewer cars sitting idle.”
Since 1986, Bay Area automobile owners have paid a $1 fee for the establishment of 2,000 solar-powered emergency roadside call boxes and an 83-vehicle fleet of Freeway Service Patrol tow trucks that patrol busy highways during peak travel times. The network partners the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and California Highway Patrol (CHP) to provide toll-free, 24-hour service on more than 1,100 miles of highways in urban, suburban and rural parts of the region.
However, since the fee was established, the value has lost more than 45 percent due to inflation and the costs associated with providing the service. Transportation and environmental leaders say the additional $1 fee, which totals $6 million per year, is necessary to sustain current activities and improve services.
In 2007, the Bay Area Freeway Service Patrol responded to more than 127,000 incidents, 57 percent of which involved motorists in stalled vehicles. Each year, the service reduces millions of hours of delay time for motorists, saves more than 2 million gallons of fuel and trims over 1,000 pounds of tailpipe emissions. The call center receives an average of 2,600 calls each month. More than 95 percent of the motorists who received assistance rated the service as excellent.
According to the MTC, about half of the region’s traffic congestion comes from disable vehicles and other obstacles.
“In addition to SB 1731 being a cost effective solution to reduce congestion and CO2 emissions, it is also a public safety measure for motorists who are vulnerable on very congested freeways,” said MTC Legislative Director Randy Rentschler.
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