Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Pilot Timeline topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State seeks faster road‑charge pilot; panel debates shortening demonstration period
Summary
California transportation officials told the Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee that the administration and Legislature want to accelerate the pilot from 42 to about 31 months, with a shortened live demonstration; committee members raised concerns and suggested extending the proposed seven‑month demo to nine months.
California transportation officials told the Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee in Fresno on May 29 that the State Transportation Agency has asked the administration to accelerate the California Road Charge Pilot Program and that the Legislature approved funding for an accelerated schedule.
Norma Ortega, Chief Financial Officer for Caltrans, said the previously planned 42‑month schedule was being compressed by overlapping procurement and testing tasks. "The pilot demonstration project is shortened to 7 months. And then the demonstration evaluation and report writing is shortened to 4 months. So our aim is to try and complete the work by July 2017," Ortega said during the meeting.
Ortega and other staff said the technical advisory work — the committee’s 12‑month policy, engagement and design work — would not be shortened. The schedule changes apply to procurement, setup, testing, the live demonstration and the post‑demo evaluation and report phases.
Several committee members urged caution about compressing the schedule. Supervisor Finnegan said the state should allow "as much time as possible to make sure that we're getting this thing right," noting the pilot may involve millions of vehicles and vehicle classes that have not been tested in similar pilots.
Committee members pressed staff about the shortened demonstration length. Staff said the seven‑month demonstration could be extended; one staff member indicated a nine‑month demonstration would be feasible. "I think we can do 9 [months]," a Caltrans official told the panel when asked whether a longer demonstration was possible.
No formal committee vote was recorded on the revised timeline at the May 29 meeting. Staff said they would return with follow‑up materials and that legislators and the governor's office were closely watching the pilot’s progress.
The committee asked staff to return with more detail on operational and procurement implications of a compressed schedule, and several members said they wanted the pilot long enough to capture data on heavy vehicles and fleet operations if those vehicle classes are included.
