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AB-364 Street furniture data: statewide integrated data platform.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 04/11/2023 09:00 PM
AB364:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 11, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 06, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 364

Introduced by Assembly Member Bryan

February 01, 2023

An act to add Sections 14112 and 14113 to the Government Code, relating to transportation.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 364, as amended, Bryan. Street furniture data: statewide integrated data platform.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to develop, in cooperation with local and regional transportation entities, the full potential of all resources and opportunities that are now, and may become, available to the state and to regional and local agencies for meeting California’s transportation needs. Existing law authorizes the department to do any act necessary, convenient, or proper for the construction, improvement, maintenance, or use of all highways that are under its jurisdiction, possession, or control.
This bill would require the department to develop guidelines for data sharing, documentation, public access, quality control, and promotion of open-source and accessible platforms and decision support tools related to street furniture data, as provided. The bill would define “street furniture” as objects and pieces of equipment installed along a street or road to provide amenities for pedestrians, including, but not limited to, bus shelters, trash receptacles, benches, or public toilets. The bill would require the department to develop the guidelines, in collaboration with specified state and local agencies, and submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2025, and every 3 years thereafter, describing those guidelines. To the extent this imposes duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the department to designate the department’s Interagency Transportation Equity Advisory Committee, Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council, or another entity with expertise and experience working on equity, to review the initial report and advise on the development of the initial and subsequent guidelines, and review the reports related to those guidelines, as provided.
The bill also would require the department, in consultation with the Office of Planning and Research, to use the California Minimum General Transit Feed Specification guidelines to integrate statewide and publicly accessible street furniture data on a statewide integrated data platform on a specified schedule. The bill would require the department to, among other things, publicize those data sharing protocols to allow trip planner applications to use the street data furniture, thereby allowing transit customers to plan trips based on the data, and make available existing street furniture data held by state agencies on the platform. The bill would require the statewide integrated data platform to, at a minimum, integrate existing data from multiple autonomous databases managed by state, local, and academic entities, and integrate specified datasets, as provided. To the extent this imposes duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Lack of shade is an issue of equity and climate justice in disadvantaged communities, in communities of color, and for low-income transit riders, as they are disproportionately exposed to rain, sun, and excessive heat caused by rising temperatures, exacerbated by the heat-island effects of pavement, and borne out by the scarcity of shade in cities and counties throughout California.
(b) A study published in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine found that the rates for emergency department visits for heat-related causes increased by 67 percent for African Americans, 63 percent for Hispanics, 53 percent for Asian Americans, and 27 percent for White people from 2005 to 2015. Additional data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows Indigenous people had the highest rates of heat-related death, followed by Black people, between 2004 and 2018.
(c) Extreme heat is touching every corner of the state. From 1980 to 2000, there were an average of six annual extreme heat days in Los Angeles. By 2050, that number is predicted to be 22 days. In 2020, emergency room visits increased by 10 times the normal number during record-breaking heat as high as 121 degrees in the County of Los Angeles. California’s 2021 heat wave broke records across the state, with Sacramento topping out at 109 degrees and the Coachella Valley having its hottest year ever with temperatures reaching 123 degrees.
(d) The urban heat effect and climate change means that urban areas are much hotter than surrounding areas and will continue to become hotter, leading to more smog, wildfires, poor air quality, respiratory illness, heart-related illness, and hospital visits.
(e) Roofs and pavements can be 50 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the air and in urban areas like Los Angeles, where 40 percent of the total land area is covered in asphalt and only 21 percent is covered by trees, air temperatures are up to 19 degrees Fahrenheit hotter.
(f) An EnviroMetro study survey asked participants what improvements they would like to see at bus stops and the greatest majority (72 percent) indicated shaded structures at stops and a place to sit down as the greatest need. However, analysis conducted by Investing in Place found that less than 25 percent of bus stops in the City of Los Angeles are covered or shaded.
(g) Shade structures can lower the temperature of surfaces beneath them by 25 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
(h) Bus shelters can also provide for the safety, convenience, accessibility, and comfort of bus riders. Emergency call buttons, lighting, and real-time bus schedules are some examples of critical safety features.
(i) For safety and health-related reasons, transit riders seek routes that least expose them to environmental hazards such as extreme heat. There is clear value in transit agencies seeking to provide riders with routes that protect riders, particularly vulnerable populations such as older adults, from the effects of extreme heat. Some transit agencies already provide a similar service to customers who cycle or walk as part of their journey, by providing digital and printed maps, wayfinding directions at bus stops, and other resources that show available bike paths or walking routes.
(j) Knowing where shaded street furniture exists is a critical piece of how transit agencies can communicate to riders where they can best choose the safest, most protected route from extreme heat.

SEC. 2.

 Section 14112 is added to the Government Code, immediately following Section 14111, to read:

14112.
 (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Local agency” means a transportation commission or agency, a city transportation agency, including a charter city transportation agency, a county transportation agency, or a county.
(2) “Street furniture” means objects and pieces of equipment installed along a street or road to provide amenities for pedestrians. “Street furniture” includes, but is not limited to, a bus shelter, trash receptacle, bench, or public toilet.
(b) The department shall develop guidelines for data sharing, documentation, public access, quality control, and promotion of open-source and accessible platforms and decision support tools related to street furniture data. These guidelines shall require that street furniture data not include “personal information,” as that term is defined in subdivision (v) of Section 1798.140 of the Civil Code. Notwithstanding Section 10231.5, the department shall develop and submit to the Legislature, by January 1, 2025, and every three years thereafter, a report describing these guidelines. A report required by this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.
(c) The department shall develop the report and guidelines on street furniture data in collaboration with the California Transportation Commission, state-created transportation entities, local agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, the Office of Planning and Research, and the State Department of Public Health.
(d) The department shall designate the department’s Interagency Transportation Equity Advisory Committee, Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council, or another entity with expertise and experience working on equity, to review the initial report and advise on the development of the initial and subsequent guidelines guidelines, and review the reports related to those guidelines described in subdivision (b), through a public process to ensure that the initial and subsequent guidelines address accessibility, equity, and sustainability goals aligned with the department. The committee designated entity shall review and suggest revisions to the guidelines at least every three years after completing the first review.

SEC. 3.

 Section 14113 is added to the Government Code, immediately following Section 14112, to read:

14113.
 (a) For purposes of this section, “street furniture” has the same meaning as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 14112.
(b) (1) The department, in consultation with the Office of Planning and Research, shall use the California Minimum General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) guidelines to integrate statewide and publicly accessible street furniture data on a statewide integrated data platform on the following schedule:
(A) By January 1, 2025, the department shall do both of the following:
(i) Publicize the guidelines described in subdivision (b) of Section 14112 to integrate street furniture data into the GTFS system to allow trip planner applications to use the street furniture data, thereby allowing transit customers to plan trips based on the data.
(ii) Publish a strategic plan for data management to guide the implementation for the trip planner applications functionality described in clause (i).
(B) (i) By September 1, 2025, the department shall make available existing street furniture data held by state agencies on the platform.
(ii) The department shall, on a quarterly basis, add street furniture data not available as of September 1, 2025, that becomes available at a later date.
(2) A state agency may disseminate, manage, or publish street furniture data separately from the platform.
(c) The statewide integrated data platform described in subdivision (b) shall, at a minimum, do both of the following:
(1) Integrate existing data from multiple autonomous databases managed by metropolitan planning organizations, state-created transportation agencies, municipal bus operators, counties, cities, and academic entities, using consistent, standardized, and accessible formats.
(2) Integrate the following datasets, as available:
(A) Any street furniture data available to the department or provided to trip planning services, private mapping services, or companies with public contracts to install and maintain street furniture.
(B) Data on accessibility of street furniture that complies with the requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.).
(C) Data on ridership, where available.
(D) Data on shade and tree cover, where available.
(d) As used in this section, the term “data” shall not include “personal information,” as that term is defined in subdivision (v) of Section 1798.140 of the Civil Code.

SEC. 4.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.