Chapter 15.5. Vanpool Financing of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 3. >> Chapter 15.5.

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the meanings given in this section:
  (a) "Vanpool operator" means any person who files an application and who is approved for a loan or grant under this chapter.
  (b) "Vanpool vehicle" means, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a motor vehicle designed for carrying more than six but less than 16 persons, including the driver, which is maintained and used primarily for the work-related transportation of adults for the purpose of ridesharing.
  (c) "Useful life," with respect to a vanpool vehicle, means either 100,000 miles and four years old or 200,000 miles without regard to age.

The Ridesharing Vanpool Revolving Loan and Grant Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. The fund shall be administered by the department for purposes of making loans and grants to vanpool operators. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all money in the fund is continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the department to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

Any person may submit an application to the department for a loan from the fund to purchase a vanpool vehicle for operation by the person as a vanpool operator. Title to the vehicle shall be retained by the department until the loan is repaid in full. The loan shall be repaid over a period of time not to exceed the vehicle's useful life. Once the loan is repaid in full, title to the vehicle shall be transferred to the vanpool operator.

The department shall charge a rate of interest for loans made under this chapter reasonably calculated to ultimately keep the fund at a constant level and in addition recover the administrative costs incurred by the department under this chapter.

The vanpool grant program shall be administered by the department. From funds appropriated to the department for the purpose, the department shall make grants to persons approved as vanpool operators for the purchase or lease of vanpool vehicles.

(a) Any person may submit an application to the department for a grant of not more than 70 percent of the cost to purchase or lease a new vanpool vehicle or vehicles.
  (b) A vanpool operator who receives a purchase grant shall operate the vanpool vehicle as a vanpool for the useful life of the vehicle. The vanpool operator's failure to do so shall result in a forfeiture of the grant, the return of the vanpool vehicle to the department, and forfeiture of the operator's contribution toward the purchase price of the vehicle.
  (c) Title to the vanpool vehicle shall be retained by the department until the expiration of the vehicle's useful life. Once the vanpool vehicle's useful life has been reached, title to the vehicle shall be transferred to the vanpool operator.

A vanpool operator who receives a lease grant shall operate the vanpool vehicle as a vanpool for the duration of the lease. The vanpool operator's failure to do so shall result in a forfeiture of all rights under the lease, the return of the vanpool vehicle to the lessor, and forfeiture of the operator's contribution toward the lease of the vehicle.

All money received by the department under this chapter shall be deposited in the Ridesharing Vanpool Revolving Loan and Grant Fund.

(a) The department shall adopt guidelines for the making of loans and for the purchase and lease of vanpool vehicles. The guidelines shall, in the case of loans, include, but not be limited to, a procedure to evaluate the vanpool operator's ability to repay the loan in a timely fashion, as well as the need for the vanpool vehicle and other criteria for selecting applicants. The department shall assign priority in the following descending order:
  (1) Vanpools operating on routes with no alternative public transportation.
  (2) Vanpool operators applying for loans or grants for new vanpool vehicles.
  (3) Applicants having previous successful experience as vanpool operators.
  (4) Vanpool operators applying for loans or grants for replacement vanpool vehicles. For purposes of this paragraph, the vanpool vehicle to be replaced shall be at least four years old or have operated 250,000 or more miles, or both.
  (b) Concurrently with the award of each loan or grant, the department shall require each applicant to comply with subdivision (h) of Section 12804 of the Vehicle Code and Section 34509 of the Vehicle Code, and the insurance coverage requirements of the department. The guidelines shall also set forth the limitations on the nonwork-trip use of the vanpool vehicle, the maximum percentage of the cost of a vanpool vehicle which may be covered by a loan or grant under this chapter, and other requirements determined to be necessary by the department.
  (c) Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to the adoption of the guidelines.

A vanpool operator is not eligible for any California income tax deduction or credit applicable to vanpooling with respect to the amount of any grant under this chapter.

(a) The Department of Transportation may make loans to other state agencies for the purpose of purchasing vanpool vehicles, as defined by subdivision (b) of Section 2570, for state employee vanpooling. The purchased vehicles, to the extent practicable, shall be either "low-emission vehicles," as defined by Section 39037.05 of the Health and Safety Code, or "alternative fuel vehicles," which are either of the following:
  (1) An original equipment manufactured vehicle capable of operating on a nonpetroleum-based alternative fuel such as electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, or natural gas and that has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the State Air Resources Board the ability to meet applicable California emission standards.
  (2) A vehicle that has been converted to use a nonpetroleum-based alternative fuel such as electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, or natural gas through the installation of an alternative fuel retrofit system that has been certified by the State Air Resources Board.
  (b) The department shall establish criteria and adopt guidelines for making the loans and for the purchase of vanpool vehicles, including, but not limited to, requirements on the type of vehicles authorized for purchase, areas within the state eligible for the vehicles' operation, types of routes for the vehicles' operation, and agencies which are authorized to participate in the program. State agencies may submit loan applications to the department for approval. State agencies receiving loans and purchasing vehicles pursuant to this section shall be responsible for all of the following:
  (1) Operational responsibilities for the vehicles, including, but not limited to, vehicle maintenance and repair.
  (2) Administration of departmental rideshare programs, including, but not limited to, ridership development and retention.
  (3) Compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations, including driver and vehicle certification, licenses, and vehicle registration.
  (4) Retaining title to vanpool vehicles purchased.
  (5) Repayment of the loan for the purchase of the vanpool vehicle.
  (c) An agency which receives a loan for the purchase of a vanpool vehicle pursuant to this section shall charge each employee participating in the vanpooling program a monthly fee in an amount determined by the agency. Proceeds of the fees shall be sufficient to fully reimburse the agency for repayment of the loan and for the operational cost of the vanpool vehicle. The operational cost includes, at a minimum, fuel, maintenance, and repairs. The agency shall maintain records to demonstrate that the vanpooling program which it operates is self-supporting.
  (d) Funds for loans for purposes of this section shall be provided in the annual Budget Act.