Article 8. Other Claims For Funds of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 10. >> Part 11. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 8.

Claims may be filed under this article with the transportation planning agency by counties and cities for the following purposes and by transit districts for the purposes specified in subdivisions (c) to (f), inclusive:
  (a) Local streets and roads, and projects which are provided for use by pedestrians and bicycles.
  (b) Passenger rail service operations and capital improvements.
  (c) Payment to any entity which is under contract with a county, city, or transit district for public transportation or for transportation services for any group, as determined by the transportation planning agency, requiring special transportation assistance. If the county, city, or transit district is being served by an operator, the contract entered into by the county, city, or transit district shall specify the level of service to be provided, the operating plan to implement that service, and how that service is to be coordinated with the public transportation service provided by the operator. Prior to approving any claim filed under this section, the transportation planning agency, or the county transportation commission in a county with such a commission, shall make a finding that the transportation services contracted for under subdivision (c) are responding to a transportation need not otherwise being met within the community or jurisdiction of the claimant and that, where appropriate, the services are coordinated with the existing transportation service.
  (d) Payments to counties, cities, and transit districts for their administrative and planning cost with respect to transportation services under subdivision (c).
  (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a claimant for funds pursuant to subdivision (c) may also receive payments for capital expenditures to acquire vehicles and related equipment, bus shelters, bus benches, and communication equipment for the transportation services.
  (f) Acquisition or lease of vans and related equipment for a farmworker vanpool program for purposes of farmworker transportation to and from work, provided the farmworker vanpool program shall use vans or related equipment for a commuter vanpool as defined by Section 37.3 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations and the regional transportation planning agency conforms with the planning requirements of Section 5306 of Title 49 of the United States Code and Part 613 (commencing with Section 613.100) of Chapter VI of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Notwithstanding Section 99232, a county or a city in a county in which there is no countywide transit district may file a claim under this article with the transportation planning agency to finance the construction and maintenance of multimodal transportation terminals. The terminals may be located anywhere in the county or city, as the case may be.

Notwithstanding Section 99232, the County of San Diego may file a claim under this article with the transportation planning agency to provide express bus service or vanpool service for the purpose of serving work commute trips and for providing accessibility between residential areas and major activity centers. The express bus service may be located anywhere in the county, but shall be consistent with the plans of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board and the North San Diego County Transit Development Board, and may be provided by contract with operators, private entities operating under a franchise or license, or nonprofit corporations organized pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 9000) of Title 1 of the Corporations Code. The vanpool service shall be operated by the county with county-owned vans and any claims submitted pursuant to this section for such service shall be approved subject to all of the following conditions:
  (a) The amount of the claim to be limited to the actual cost of acquiring the vans.
  (b) The local transportation fund to be reimbursed for the amount of the claim within the passenger service life of the vans.

Notwithstanding Sections 99232, 99268.3, and 99405, cities within the County of San Diego may file a claim under this article with the transportation planning agency to provide commuter ferry service on San Diego Bay for the purpose of serving peak period commute trips for pedestrians and bicycles. The commuter ferry service may be located anywhere on San Diego Bay, but shall be consistent with the regional transportation plan, shall serve employment centers and high volume activity centers, and may be provided by contract with operators, private entities operating under a franchise or license, or nonprofit corporations organized pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 5000) of Title 1 of the Corporations Code.

(a) The transportation planning agency shall adopt rules and regulations delineating procedures for the submission of claims under Section 99234 and subdivision (a) of Section 99400 and stating criteria by which they will be analyzed and evaluated. Such rules and regulations shall provide for orderly and periodic distributions of moneys.
  (b) The criteria applicable to analyzing and evaluating claims for nonmotorized transportation facilities shall be the general design criteria for such facilities established pursuant to Section 156.4 of the Streets and Highways Code.
  (c) To the extent necessary to perform its duties under this article, the transportation planning agency shall have full access to the books, records, and accounts of the claimant cities and counties.

Prior to making any allocation not directly related to public transportation services, specialized transportation services, or facilities provided for the exclusive use of pedestrians and bicycles, or any allocation for purposes of subdivision (f) of Section 99400, the transportation planning agency shall annually do all of the following:
  (a) Consult with the social services transportation advisory council established pursuant to Section 99238.
  (b) Identify the transit needs of the jurisdiction which have been considered as part of the transportation planning process, including the following:
  (1) An annual assessment of the size and location of identifiable groups likely to be transit dependent or transit disadvantaged, including, but not limited to, the elderly, the disabled, including individuals eligible for paratransit and other special transportation services pursuant to Section 12143 of Title 42 of the United States Code, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.), and persons of limited means, including, but not limited to, recipients under the CalWORKs program.
  (2) An analysis of the adequacy of existing public transportation services and specialized transportation services, including privately and publicly provided services necessary to implement the plan prepared pursuant to Section 12143(c)(7) of Title 42 of the United States Code, in meeting the transit demand identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
  (3) An analysis of the potential alternative public transportation and specialized transportation services and service improvements that would meet all or part of the transit demand.
  (4) An analysis of the need to acquire or lease vans and related equipment for a farmworker vanpool program pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 99400. This analysis is only required, however, upon receipt by the transportation planning agency of a request of an interested party identifying a potential need.
  (c) Identify the unmet transit needs of the jurisdiction and those needs that are reasonable to meet. The transportation planning agency shall hold at least one public hearing pursuant to Section 99238.5 for the purpose of soliciting comments on the unmet transit needs that may exist within the jurisdiction and that might be reasonable to meet by establishing or contracting for new public transportation or specialized transportation services or by expanding existing services. The definition adopted by the transportation planning agency for the terms "unmet transit needs" and "reasonable to meet" shall be documented by resolution or in the minutes of the agency. The fact that an identified transit need cannot be fully met based on available resources shall not be the sole reason for finding that a transit need is not reasonable to meet. An agency's determination of needs that are reasonable to meet shall not be made by comparing unmet transit needs with the need for streets and roads.
  (d) Adopt by resolution a finding for the jurisdiction, after consideration of all available information compiled pursuant to subdivisions (a), (b), and (c). The finding shall be that (1) there are no unmet transit needs, (2) there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet, or (3) there are unmet transit needs, including needs that are reasonable to meet. The resolution shall include information developed pursuant to subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) which provides the basis for the finding.
  (e) If the transportation planning agency adopts a finding that there are unmet transit needs, including needs that are reasonable to meet, then the unmet transit needs shall be funded before any allocation is made for streets and roads within the jurisdiction.
  (f) The transportation planning agency shall not allocate funds for purposes of subdivision (f) of Section 99400 until all of the capital and operating funds necessary to meet unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet are allocated. The transportation planning agency shall not reduce funding to existing public transportation services, specialized transportation services, or facilities for the exclusive use of pedestrians and bicycles in order to allocate funds for purposes of subdivision (f) of Section 99400. The transportation planning agency shall not allocate funds under subdivision (f) of Section 99400 if the allocation replaces other federal, state, or local funds used to fund commuter vanpools by a county, city, transportation planning agency, or transit district.

Upon adoption of a finding, pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 99401.5 that there are no unmet transit needs or that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet, the transportation planning agency may allocate funds for local streets and roads. The allocation shall not become effective until 20 days after acknowledgment of receipt by the Department of Transportation of documents of the agency's finding. The transportation planning agency shall, in any case, submit the documentation before August 15 of the fiscal year of the allocation or within 10 days after the adoption of the finding, whichever is later. The documentation shall include all of the following:
  (a) A copy of the notice of hearing and proof of publication and a description of the actions taken to solicit citizen participation pursuant to Section 99238. 5.
  (b) A copy of the resolution or minutes documenting the transportation planning agency's definitions of "unmet transit needs" and "reasonable to meet," as determined pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 99401.5.
  (c) A copy of the resolution adopting the unmet needs finding described in subdivision (d) of Section 99401.5.

Claims for streets and roads may include those purposes necessary and convenient to the development, construction, and maintenance of the city or county's streets and highways network, including planning and contributions to the transportation planning process, acquisition of real property, and construction of facilities and buildings.

In the County of Tuolumne, claims by the county or by a city within the county for streets and roads may also include contributions to the state for the construction and development of State Highway Route 108 from Lime Kiln Road to Phoenix Lake Road, if the county transportation commission determines that it is in the best interest of the county or the city and serves the public interest of the county or city to contribute local transportation funds for the construction and development of that portion of Route 108. The Legislature recognizes that under Section 73 of the Streets and Highways Code that portion of Route 108 is required to be relinquished to local control upon completion of the Sonora Bypass and bypass extension.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the allocation for any purpose specified in Section 99400 may in no year exceed 50 percent of the amount required to meet the city's or county' s total proposed expenditures for that purpose.
  (b) With respect to budgeted capital requirements for major new facilities, the transportation planning agency, notwithstanding the 50-percent limitation, may allocate up to the amount so budgeted, if the construction of the facilities has been found to be not inconsistent with the transportation planning agency's regional transportation plan.
  (c) The 50-percent limitation shall not apply to the allocation to a city, county, or transit district for services under contract pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 99400. The city, county, or transit district shall be subject to Section 99268.3, 99268.4, 99268.5, or 99268.9, as the case may be, and shall be deemed an operator for purposes of those sections, or shall be subject to regional, countywide, or county subarea performance criteria, local match requirements, or fare recovery ratios adopted by resolution of the transportation planning agency or the county transportation commission for those services.
  (1) In adopting the performance criteria, local match requirements, or fare recovery ratios, the transportation planning agency or the county transportation commission may adopt the criteria of Section 99268.3, 99268.4, 99268.5, or 99268.9, or any combination or all of them.
  (2) If a transportation planning agency or county transportation commission has adopted performance criteria, local match requirements, or fare recovery ratios, the rules and regulations of the agency or commission shall apply, and Sections 99205.7 and 99241, subdivision (a) of Section 99247, and Section 99268.8 shall not apply.
  (d) The 50-percent limitation shall not apply to funds allocated under this article to a city or county with a population of less than 5,000, and, notwithstanding Section 99400, the city or county may claim funds under this article for transportation services, including associated capital, planning, and administrative costs, without contracting with another entity.
  (e) The 50-percent limitation shall not apply to funds allocated under this article for local street and road purposes.

Expenditures of moneys received for streets and highways purposes under this article shall be reported to the Controller by way of inclusion of information regarding those expenditures in the report prepared pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 2150) of Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code. The Controller shall also prepare a summary of those expenditures, which shall include a list of the jurisdictions for which funds have been allocated for streets and roads under this article, the amount of the allocations, and the total funds made available to each jurisdiction pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 99230). The Controller shall submit the report annually to the Legislature commencing January 1, 1989.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the transportation planning agency may approve claims filed by a city for the construction of facilities for the exclusive use of pedestrians and bicycles, if the city is not expected to be served by public transportation within three years of the filing of the claims.

Any action to review, set aside, void, or annul the decision of a transportation planning agency made pursuant to Section 99401.5 shall be filed within 30 days after the agency makes its decision, or after the secretary has reviewed the decision pursuant to Section 99242, whichever is later. However, the action need not be filed until September 15 if the action is with respect to a decision made prior to August 15 for the fiscal year which commenced on the July 1 immediately preceding such August 15.