Transportation

Photo speed monitoring devices; placement and operation; summons. Requires a second summons for a vehicle speed violation captured by a photo speed monitoring device to be mailed if a summoned person fails to appear on the date of return set out in the first summons mailed. If the summoned person fails to appear after the second summons, the bill requires the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to refuse to issue or renew the vehicle registration certificate or the license plate issued for such vehicle until the required civil penalties and any administrative fees have been paid and any applicable reinstatement processes required by the Department of Motor Vehicles have been completed. The bill directs the Supreme Court of Virginia to develop a summons for vehicle speed violations captured by photo speed monitoring devices and requires summonses issued for such vehicle speed violations to be such summons. The bill makes various changes to the requirements for the use of photo speed monitoring devices, including the use of funds from collected civil penalties, signage, data retention and storage, photo speed monitoring device calibration, making certain information available to the public, requirements for private vendors, and reporting. The bill establishes civil penalties for violations of requirements and provides that, for any summons issued, failure to comply with the requirements for the operation of photo speed monitoring devices renders such summons invalid and requires courts to dismiss such summons. The bill provides that any person against whom an enforcement action is carried out by a locality or law-enforcement agency, pursuant to the authority granted for the use of photo speed monitoring devices, where the enforcement action was based upon a willful disregard for applicable law, shall be entitled to an award of compensatory damages and to an order remanding the matter to the locality with a direction to carry out any further enforcement in a manner consistent with the law and may be entitled to reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The bill also provides that if a locality fails to comply with such an order, the court may order that the locality shall be ineligible to receive any funds collected from enforcement using photo speed monitoring devices, in excess of those used for its photo speed monitoring device program, and that the court shall order that any such excess funds be deposited in the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program until the locality comes into compliance with such order. The bill also limits the use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones to when workers are present, as defined in the bill, and provides that a certificate sworn to or affirmed by a law-enforcement officer or a retired sworn law-enforcement officer is not prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein for a photo speed monitoring device placed in a highway work zone unless the operator of the photo speed monitoring device provides a sworn certification verifying that workers were present at the time of the vehicle speed violation. The bill contains delayed effective dates for certain provisions.

Department of Transportation; autonomous truck-mounted attenuators; pilot program authorized. Authorizes the Department of Transportation to establish a pilot program for the implementation and deployment of autonomous truck-mounted attenuators within mobile work zones, defined in the bill. The bill has an expiration date of December 31, 2031. This bill is identical to HB 582.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 33.2-359, 33.2-371, 33.2-1526, 33.2-1526.1, 33.2-3102, 33.2-3401, 33.2-3402, 33.2-3403, 33.2-3502, 46.2-774, and 46.2-2099.48 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 2 of Chapter 19 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-1904.1, by adding in Article 11 of Chapter 19 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-1937, by adding in Chapter 24 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-2402, by adding in Chapter 7 of Title 46.2 a section numbered 46.2-775, by adding a section numbered 58.1-603.3, and by adding in Chapter 17 of Title 58.1 articles numbered 13, 14, and 15, consisting of sections numbered 58.1-1749, 58.1-1750, and 58.1-1751; and to repeal § 33.2-3100.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to transportation funding.

Sales and use tax on taxable services and digital personal property; taxes levied in certain transportation districts; funding for transportation. Decreases the retail sales and use tax from 4.3 percent to four percent and expands such tax to taxable services, defined in the bill, and digital personal property, also defined in the bill, beginning on January 1, 2027. Additionally, the bill imposes (i) an additional retail sales and use tax in any county or city that is a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission at the rate of 0.385 percent; any county or city that is embraced by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority but that is not a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission at the rate of 0.615 percent; and any county or city that is a member of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission at the rate of 0.2 percent; (ii) a retail delivery fee in the amount of 20 cents upon each retail delivery, defined in the bill, made in any county or city located within the Northern Virginia Transportation District or the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission; and (iii) a regional highway use fee on all vehicles in the Commonwealth that are subject to the existing highway use fee.

Railroad safety; minimum train crew; movement of freight. Requires a crew of at least two qualified individuals on all trains, locomotives, or light engines used in connection with moving freight except in use for hostler or utility service. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission to include in an existing report the number of probable violations of federal regulations related to railroad safety investigated by the Commission's Division of Utility and Railroad Safety and reported to the Federal Railroad Administration for enforcement. This bill is identical to HB 25.

Live streaming while driving; prohibited; penalty. Prohibits any person, while driving a moving motor vehicle on the highways in the Commonwealth, from (i) initiating, participating in, or interacting with any live stream, as that term is defined in the bill, and (ii) manipulating any electronic device to enable or maintain the functions of a live stream on or with such electronic device. The bill establishes penalties for violations, in addition to any other penalties available under current law, including periods of license suspension and a fine of not more than $500 if a person who commits such a violation is involved in an accident at the time of such violation.

Certain transit entities; funding and administration. Changes the purposes and geographic applicability of the Transit Ridership Incentive Program, removes various other requirements related to the program's administration and use of funds, and specifies a November 1 deadline for the annual report on the program. The bill removes the requirement for the Secretary of Transportation to coordinate with certain other entities for the purpose of revising the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact of 1966 and implementing other reforms necessary to ensure the near-term and long-term viability of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The bill also extends from July 1, 2027, to July 1, 2028, the sunset on provisions delegating to local building officials the enforcement of the Uniform Statewide Building Code for bus shelters to be constructed for transit agencies receiving state funds from the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund.

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 25.1-108, 25.1-109, 28.2-628, 33.2-291, and 33.2-293 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia Passenger Rail Authority; eminent domain.

Photo speed monitoring devices; placement and operation. Directs the Supreme Court of Virginia to develop a summons for vehicle speed violations captured by photo speed monitoring devices and requires summonses issued for such vehicle speed violations to be such summons. The bill makes various changes to the requirements for the use of photo speed monitoring devices, including the use of funds from collected civil penalties, signage, data retention and storage, photo speed monitoring device calibration, making certain information available to the public, requirements for private vendors, and reporting. The bill establishes civil penalties for violations of requirements and provides that for any summons issued, failure to comply with the requirements for the operation of photo speed monitoring devices renders such summons invalid. The bill also limits the use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones to when workers are present, as defined in the bill, and provides that a certificate sworn to or affirmed by a law-enforcement officer or a retired sworn law-enforcement officer is not prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein for a photo speed monitoring device placed in a highway work zone unless the operator of the photo speed monitoring device provides a sworn certification verifying that workers were present at the time of the vehicle speed violation.The bill contains delayed effective dates for certain provisions.

Study; joint subcommittee; public transit in Hampton Roads; report. Creates a 13-member joint subcommittee for a two-year study on options for providing long-term, sustainable, and dedicated operations and capital funding with cost-containment controls to ensure that the public transit systems that serve Hampton Roads, including all modes of Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) service, local and express bus, light rail, passenger ferry, paratransit, on-demand microtransit, and seasonal trolley and shuttle services, other ridesharing and commuter programs, and any future modes of public transportation or mobility services that may be developed to serve the Hampton Roads region, meet the growing public transit needs of the region.