http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=14001-15000&file=14030-14052
14035.55. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Intercity passenger bus service provided by intercity bus
companies on a regular-route basis is the only public mass
transportation service in the state to provide surface transportation
without public subsidy.
(2) The long-term maintenance of private sector intercity
passenger service is of vital importance to the state.
(3) Intercity bus companies serve many communities throughout
California, providing a network of connection points without equal by
any other mode of public or private transportation.
(b) To the extent permitted by federal law, the department shall
encourage Amtrak and motor carriers of passengers to do both of the
following:
(1) Combine or package their respective services and facilities to
the public as a means of improving services to the public.
(2) Coordinate schedules, routes, rates, reservations, and
ticketing to provide for enhanced intermodal surface transportation.
© Except as authorized under subdivisions (e) and (f), the
department may provide funding to Amtrak for the purpose of entering
into a contract with a motor carrier of passengers for the intercity
transportation of passengers by motor carrier over regular routes
only if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The motor carrier is not a public recipient of governmental
assistance, as defined in Section 13902(b)(8)(A) of Title 49 of the
United States Code, other than a recipient of funds under Section
5311(f) of that title and code. This paragraph does not apply if a
local public motor carrier proposes to serve passengers only within
its service area.
(2) Service is provided only for passengers on trips where the
passengers have had prior movement by rail or will have subsequent
movement by rail, evidenced by a combination rail and bus one-way or
roundtrip ticket, or service is also provided on State Highway Route
50 between the City of Sacramento and the City of South Lake Tahoe
and intermediate points or on State Highway Route 5 between the
community of Lebec in Kern County and the City of Santa Clarita for
passengers solely by bus if no other bus service is provided by a
private intercity bus company.
(3) Vehicles of the motor carrier, when used to transport
passengers pursuant to paragraph (2), are used exclusively for that
purpose.
(4) The motor carrier is registered with the United States
Department of Transportation (DOT) and operates in compliance with
the federal motor carrier safety regulations, and provides service
that is accessible to persons with disabilities in compliance with
applicable DOT regulations pertaining to Amtrak services, in
accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(Public Law 101-336).
(d) The department shall incorporate the conditions specified in
subdivision © into state-supported passenger rail feeder bus
service agreements between Amtrak and motor carriers of passengers.
The bus service agreements shall also provide that a breach of those
conditions shall be grounds for termination of the agreements.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivisions © and (d), the department may
provide funding to Amtrak for the purpose of entering into a contract
with a motor carrier of passengers to transport Amtrak passengers on
buses operated on a route, if the buses are operated by the motor
carrier as part of a regularly scheduled, daily bus service that has
been operating consecutively without an Amtrak contract for 12 months
immediately prior to contracting with Amtrak.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivisions © and (d), or any other
provision of law, the department may enter into a contract, either
directly with a public motor carrier in the County of Monterey, or
indirectly with that carrier through a contract with Amtrak, to
provide mixed-mode feeder bus service on the San Jose-Gilroy-Monterey
route. The contract with a public motor carrier may only be entered
into if the department determines that there is no private motor
carrier providing scheduled bus service on the San
Jose-Gilroy-Monterey route. However, the contract shall be
terminated, within 120 days' notice to the public motor carrier, if a
private motor carrier again operates a scheduled service on the San
Jose-Gilroy-Monterey route.
(g) Pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision ©, the department
may amend its contract with Amtrak to add a term to provide bus
service to passengers traveling solely by bus on the Sacramento-South
Lake Tahoe route and between Lebec and Santa Clarita on the
Bakersfield-Santa Clarita route. A contract amendment with Amtrak may
only be entered into if the department determines that there is no
private motor carrier providing scheduled bus service on the route
that is the subject of the contract amendment. However, the
applicable contract amendment shall be terminated, within 120 days'
notice to Amtrak, if a private carrier again operates a scheduled bus
service on the Sacramento-South Lake Tahoe route, or within 60 days'
notice to Amtrak, if a private carrier again operates a scheduled
bus service between Lebec and Santa Clarita on the Bakersfield-Santa
Clarita route.
(h) The department shall undertake a two-year study of patronage
on the bus service operated between the City of Sacramento and the
City of South Lake Tahoe and intermediate points pursuant to
subdivision (g), identifying the number of passengers who are
transferring to an Amtrak rail service and those who are traveling
solely on the bus service. The study shall identify the revenue from
each category of passengers and include other pertinent ridership
information. The report shall be submitted to the transportation
policy committees of the Legislature no later than March 1, 2010.
(i) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Amtrak" means the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.
(2) "Department" means the Department of Transportation or the
department's successor with respect to providing funds to subsidize
Amtrak service.
(3) "Motor carrier of passengers" means a person or entity
providing motor vehicle transportation of passengers for
compensation.
(4) "Mixed-mode feeder bus service" means bus service carrying
both passengers connecting to or from a rail service and passengers
only using the bus service.
