Grace Napolitano: “I, too, want to give thanks to both Mr. Shuster and Mr. DeFazio for their great work on this bill. It is absolutely…”

“I, too, want to give thanks to both Mr. Shuster and Mr. DeFazio for their great work on this bill. It is absolutely amazing. Thank you so very much. Mr. Chairman, this is a bipartisan amendment with Mr. Royce and Mr. Calvert and would allow a State or local transportation agency to apply for a waiver from the current HOV degradation standard if the Secretary of Transportation determines that a waiver is in the best interest of the traveling public and that the State or local agency has made a good faith effort to improve the performance of the HOV lane. {time} 2015 The Secretary may require the public authority to take additional actions to improve the HOV lane. The current HOV degradation standard requires HOV lanes to maintain an average speed above 45 miles per hour 90 percent of the time during peak hours. I repeat: during peak hours. This arbitrary standard does not take into consideration or account the specific transportation concerns of each State. Over 60 percent of California's highways are noncompliant by this Federal degradation standard, which means that California will be forced to spend limited resources on transportation projects that do not meet the needs of the general public. California will also have to reduce the amount of energy-efficient vehicles that it allows in the HOV lane.…”