(a) Notwithstanding Sections 25400 and 25950, except as provided in subdivision (c), a bus operated by the Antelope Valley Transit Authority’s publicly owned transit system, on regularly scheduled service, in addition to the illuminated signs described in Section 25353, may also be equipped with illuminated signs that display advertising and that emit any light color, if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall emit diffused nonglaring light.

(2) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall be limited in size to a display area of not greater than 4,464 square inches.

(3) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall not resemble nor be installed in a position that interferes with the visibility or effectiveness of a required lamp, reflector, or other device upon the vehicle.

(4) Each illuminated sign displaying advertising shall only be placed on one or both sides of the vehicle, and shall not be placed in a forward-facing or rear-facing position, and no more than one sign shall be placed on either side of any single vehicle.

(5) The mixing of individually colored light-emitting diode elements, including red, is allowed in each illuminated sign displaying advertising as long as the emitted color formed by the combination of light-emitting diode elements is not red.

(b) (1) An illuminated sign displaying advertising may be operated as a dynamic message sign in a paging or streaming mode. However, the electronic message sign display shall remain static while a bus is operating on a freeway as defined in Section 257 of the Streets and Highways Code.

(2) The following definitions shall govern the construction of paragraph (1):

(A) “Paging,” meaning character elements or other information presented for a period of time and then disappearing all at once before the same or new elements are presented, is permitted if the display time of each message is between 2.7 and 10 seconds. Blanking times between each message shall be between 0.5 and 25 seconds.

(B) “Streaming,” meaning character elements or other information moving smoothly and continuously across the display, is permitted if the character movement time, from one end of the display to the other, is at least 2.7 seconds, and the movement time of the entire message does not exceed 10 seconds.

(c) (1) On or before March 1, 2015, the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, if it elects to implement a pilot program pursuant to this section, shall determine whether the University of California, Irvine, has at least 12 transit buses equipped with illuminated signs that are operational pursuant to Section 25354. The Antelope Valley Transit Authority may implement the pilot program authorized by this section only if it determines that the University of California, Irvine, has less than 12 transit buses equipped with illuminated signs that are operational pursuant to Section 25354.

(d) If the Antelope Valley Transit Authority implements the pilot program pursuant to this section, it shall, by January 1, 2020, submit to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, and to the department, a report on the incidence of adverse impacts on roadway and pedestrian safety due to the utilization of illuminated signs on transit buses displaying advertising pursuant to this section, if any. The report shall be the product of a collaborative effort by Antelope Valley law enforcement and transit officials, and other local law enforcement officials in whose jurisdictions Antelope Valley transit vehicles operate.

(e) The Antelope Valley Transit Authority’s publicly owned transit system may, pursuant to subdivision (a), operate up to 25 buses with illuminated signs displaying advertising for two years, after which time the authority may increase the number of buses with the signs to up to 30.

(f) This section shall remain in effect only until July 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before July 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.

(Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 100, Sec. 1. (SB 1134) Effective January 1, 2015. Repealed as of July 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)