Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with possession and control of all state highways, and authorizes the department to do any act necessary, convenient, or proper for the construction, improvement, maintenance, or use of all highways that are under its jurisdiction, possession, or control.

This bill would, until January 1, 2032, authorize the Western Riverside Council of Governments, in required coordination with the department, to establish and administer a traffic signal synchronization pilot program for its member local agencies to evaluate a regional model for coordinating traffic signal timing between state highways and local street and road systems, as specified. The bill would require the Western Riverside Council of Governments, in coordination with the department, to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, including assessing its impacts on congestion, travel time reliability, operational efficiency, and vehicle emissions and to submit, on or before January 1, 2028, a specified report to the Legislature relating to the pilot program.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the local agencies that constitute the Western Riverside Council of Governments.