High-occupancy vehicle lanes.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to designate certain lanes for the exclusive or preferential use of high-occupancy vehicles. When those exclusive or preferential use lanes are established and double parallel solid lines are in place to the right thereof, existing law prohibits any person driving a vehicle from crossing over those double lines to enter into or exit from the lanes, and entrance or exit from those lanes is authorized only in areas designated for these purposes or where a single broken line is in place to the right of the lanes, except as specified. This bill would prohibit, commencing July 1, 2017, a high-occupancy vehicle lane from being established on a state highway in southern California, unless that lane is established as a high-occupancy vehicle lane only during the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as determined by the department. The bill would require any existing high-occupancy vehicle lane in southern California to be modified to conform with those requirements. The bill would authorize the department, on or after May 1, 2018, to reinstate 24-hour high-occupancy vehicle lanes in southern California if the department makes a specified determination, and would require the department to report to the Legislature on the impact on traffic of limiting the use of high-occupancy lanes only during the hours of heavy commuter traffic, as provided in the bill.