Buses: illuminated advertising: University of California, Irvine.

(1) Existing law authorizes a bus operated by a publicly owned transit system on regularly scheduled service to be equipped with illuminated signs that display information directly related to public service and include, among other things, destination signs, route-number signs, run-number signs, public service announcement signs, or a combination of those signs, visible from any direction of the vehicle, that emit any light color, other than the color red emitted from forward-facing signs, pursuant to specified conditions. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2017, a pilot program allowing up to 25 buses operated by the City of Santa Monica's publicly owned transit system for the first 2 years of the pilot program, and up to 30 buses thereafter, to be equipped with illuminated signs that display advertising subject to certain conditions. Existing law also requires the City of Santa Monica to submit a specified report by July 1, 2016, on roadway and pedestrian safety to the Legislature and the Department of the California Highway Patrol. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2018, the University of California, Irvine (university) to operate a pilot program similar to the one operated by the City of Santa Monica. The bill would require the university to submit a report by July 1, 2017, on the viability of advertisement sales relating to illuminated signs on public buses to the Legislature. (2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the University of California, Irvine.