2007 California Public Utilities Code Article 2. Findings And Declarations

CA Codes (puc:99220-99222)

99220.  The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
   (a) Public transportation is an essential component of the
balanced transportation system which must be maintained and developed
so as to permit the efficient and orderly movement of people and
goods in the urban areas of the state.  Because public transportation
systems provide an essential public service, it is desirable that
such systems be designed and operated in such a manner as to
encourage maximum utilization of the efficiencies of the service for
the benefit of the total transportation system of the state and all
the people of the state, including the elderly, the handicapped, the
youth, and the citizens of limited means of the ability to freely
utilize the systems.
   (b) The fostering, continuance, and development of public
transportation systems are a matter of state concern.  Excessive
reliance on the private automobile for transportation has caused air
pollution and traffic congestion in California's urban areas, and
such pollution and congestion are not confined to single incorporated
areas but affect entire regions.  Furthermore, public transportation
systems which are not designed so as to be usable by handicapped
persons foster increased welfare costs and the waste of human
resources.  Thus, the Legislature has elected to deal with the
multiple problems caused by lack of adequate public transportation on
a regional basis through the counties, with coordination of the
programs being the responsibility of the state pursuant to contract
with county governments.
   (c) While providing county assistance to a particular
transportation system may not be of primary interest and benefit to
each and every taxpayer in a county, providing an integrated and
coordinated system to meet the public transportation needs of an
entire county will benefit the county as a whole.  It is the purpose
of this chapter to provide for such systems in those counties where
they are needed.
   (d) The local transportation funds authorized by Article 11
(commencing with Section 29530) of Chapter 2 of Division 3 of Title 3
of the Government Code are made possible by the imposition of the
state's sales and use taxes on motor vehicle fuel, which allows for a
reduction in state taxes without a corresponding loss in revenue.
By authorizing counties to increase their sales and use taxes, an
additional source of revenue has been made available for public
transportation within such counties.  Applicants for a disbursement
from a local transportation fund shall only be eligible for an
allocation from the fund of the county in which such transportation
is provided.



99221.  It is the intent of the Legislature to improve existing
public transportation services and encourage regional public
transportation coordination.  The Legislature recognizes that in the
Southern California Rapid Transit District a unique factual situation
exists where several municipal bus systems are providing essential
local transportation services within the operating territory of the
district, which was created by the Legislature to provide areawide
coordinated public transportation services.  Within the Southern
California Rapid Transit District, as with all transportation service
improvements in the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County
Transportation Commission shall be the governmental entity
responsible to establish a unified or officially coordinated public
transportation system as part of the comprehensively planned
development of the urban area.  Both the Southern California Rapid
Transit District and the included municipalities that operate bus
systems within the jurisdiction of the district are permitted to file
claims pursuant to this chapter upon the local transportation fund
of the County of Los Angeles; provided, however, any approved claim
shall not be allowed for the purpose of the establishment by the
included municipal operator after January 1, 1980, of new
transportation services that do not meet the criteria established by
the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission for the development
of new services.  It is the intent of the Legislature that the
Southern California Rapid Transit District should not be inhibited in
its effort to improve transit services within the region by the
expansion outside the reserved service areas of the several municipal
bus systems of the involved municipalities.  The policy of the
Legislature is that new services to meet public transportation needs
outside of the municipalities presently operating bus systems which
do not compete with, or divert patronage from, an existing operating
bus system of an included municipal applicant under Section 99280,
shall be provided and controlled by the Southern California Rapid
Transit District, in complete cooperation and coordination with the
Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, in its role as the
responsible public agency for providing public transportation systems
and facilities within the region.



99222.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
   (a) It is in the interest of the state that funds available for
transit development be fully expended to meet the transit needs that
exist in California.
   (b) Such funds be expended for physical improvement to improve the
movement of transit vehicles, the comfort of the patrons, and the
exchange of patrons from one transportation mode to another.