Meeting: February 11, 2025
1 16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBERS DAN HALL AND NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA 2 Request of Councilmembers Hall and Zernitskaya that in order to reaffirm our 3 commitment to efficient and safe public transit, safe streets, and efforts to 4 increase BBB ridership and reduce unnecessary delays, the Council direct the 5 City Manager and Department of Transportation to explore implementing Yield 6 Right-of-Way Signage for Big Blue Bus as authorized pursuant to Assembly Bill 7 1904 and direct the City Attorney to draft a resolution as required by Assembly 8 Bill 1904 to implement such yield right-of-way signage program for BBB. 9 Assembly Bill 1904, passed by the state legislature and signed into law in 2024, 10 authorizes local transit agencies to implement yield right-of-way signage to the back of 11 transit buses.
12 According to the bill author and Senate Floor Analysis, “AB 1904 would allow all 13 transit agencies to exercise the authority to affix flashing LED yield right-of-way signs to 14 the left rear of their buses, reducing dwell times and facilitating reentry into traffic, 15 provided the transit agency’s governing board approves a resolution on the matter. This 16 authority would reduce traffic delays experienced by transit buses when attempting to 17 reenter traffic and facilitate safer reentry, allowing operators to provide more timely 18 services.
19 Transit vehicles often are slowed down in traffic because of the time it takes for 20 them to re-enter traffic lanes. This reentry can also be a safety concern if other drivers 21 are not being attentive. AB 1218 (Keeley, Chapter 482, Statutes of 1999), created a three22 year pilot project in which all non-emergency vehicles had to, by law, yield to transit buses 23 reentering the active traffic lane from a designated bus stop when the transit bus 24 displayed a lighted yield right-of-way sign located on the left rear of the transit bus. While 25 other agencies were permitted, ultimately, only the Santa Clara Valley Transportation 26 Authority (VTA) and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD) participated in 27 the pilot program, with all of their transit buses outfitted with a yield sign by April 2001. 28 The California Highway Patrol (CHP) issued a report in 2003 assessing the 29 effectiveness of the pilot. They found that 60% of VTA transit bus operators indicated they 30 felt the yield-to-bus law was at least “somewhat effective” in promoting safe driving 31 conditions. The majority of transit bus operators considered the yield-to-bus law to be 32 effective in promoting safe driving conditions if promoted to the public and enforced by 33 local law enforcement. Meanwhile, SCMTD reported to CHP that the yield-to bus program 34 allowed their transit bus operators greater safety in re-entering traffic, especially at night. 35 VTA and SCMTD received no complaints regarding the program. 36 In a separate, federally sponsored report on the pilot by the Transit Cooperative 37 Research Program (TCRP) bus operators reported significantly lower levels of difficulty 16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBERS DAN HALL AND NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA Implementing Assembly Bill 1904 for Big Blue Bus: Yield Right-of-Way Signage
38 re-entering traffic with flashing yield-right-of-way signs. Specifically bus operators for 39 VTA, indicated a 6% success rate most of the time when attempting to re-enter traffic 40 without yield-right-of-way signs. This number jumped to about 26% following the 41 installation and use of flashing LED signs.
42 Following the pilot and these reports, AB 1492 (Laird, Chapter 451, Statutes of 43 2007), authorized SCMTD and VTA to continue using the yield-right-of-way signs. 44 However, the provision of the bill that would have authorized law enforcement to cite a 45 motorist who failed to yield to a bus was removed. Similarly, AB 1904 does not authorize 46 law enforcement to cite a motorist who fails to yield, rather authorizes all transit agencies 47 in the state to outfit their buses with yield-right-of-way signs if they so choose. 48 It should be noted that failing to yield to a bus is not a crime in the state of 49 California. Under current law, the only time a motorist when in a traffic lane must yield is 50 to emergency vehicles. Despite it not being a crime, VTA and SCMTD already operate 51 transit buses with yield-right-of-way signs as a result of the extension of the pilot. This 52 nuance of what is required of drivers versus what is requested may lead to some 53 confusion among drivers regarding the rules of the road and a driver’s obligation to yield 54 to a bus. Especially given that failing to yield at a typical yield sign on a roadway is a 55 crime. To address some of these concerns AB 1904 does require participating agencies 56 to engage in a public education program regarding yield-right-of-way signs on buses. Also 57 VTA and SCMTD who operate buses with these signs already have not reported 58 increases in fatal accidents or traffic congestion.
59 According to Moving the Bus Safely Back into Traffic Phase II, a report authored 60 by the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida, yield61 right-of-way signs with LED lights placed on the back of a bus resulted in significantly 62 increased instances of motorist yielding to buses trying to get back in the travel lane. Cars 63 yielded to buses 41% of the time when there was only a yield sign, while they yielded 64 78% of the time when the yield-right-of-way sign had LED lights. In Daytona Beach, buses 65 with LED yield-right-of-way signs saw a 50% increase in yielding behavior from motorists. 66 Further, the report found that yield-right-of-way LED signs helped reduce the re-entry time 67 of buses in bus bays on minor urban arterials by as much as 23%. 68 Other research by the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), suggests 69 that reducing the total amount of time it takes a transit rider to go door-to-door by 5-15% 70 can increase peak urban ridership by 2-9%. These findings together with data cited above 71 build a case that LED yield-right-of-way signs reduce bus re-entry times in turn decreasing 72 door-to-door travel times increasing urban ridership.” 73 In Order to reaffirm our commitment to efficient and safe public transit, safe streets, and 74 efforts to increase BBB ridership and reduce unnecessary delays, 16 ITEM BY COUNCILMEMBERS DAN HALL AND NATALYA ZERNITSKAYA Implementing Assembly Bill 1904 for Big Blue Bus: Yield Right-of-Way Signage
75 WE THEREFORE MOVE THAT THE COUNCIL:
76 1. Direct the City Manager and Department of Transportation to explore:
77 1.1. A program of static or flashing LED yield signs for Big Blue Bus (BBB); 78 1.2. A corresponding driver education program as required by AB 1904; 79 1.3. Determine any cross-jurisdictional barriers to implementation; 80 1.4. Provide options for budgeting in the upcoming bi-annual operating budget. 81 Options could include static stickers vs. LEDs, or prioritizing high volume 82 routes.
83 2. Direct the City Attorney to draft a resolution as required by Assembly Bill 1904 to 84 implement such yield right-of-way signage program for BBB. 85 # # #