AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 9, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

95

Introduced by Assembly Member Hadwick

February 20, 2026

An act to add Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 898) to Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to state highways, and making an appropriation therefor. highways.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law establishes the Department of Transportation and vests the department with full possession and control of all state highways and all property and rights in property acquired for state highway purposes. Existing law establishes the Tahoe Transportation District as a special purpose district managed by representatives from the States of California and Nevada to, among other things, operate a public transportation system in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

This bill would authorize the department, within the Tahoe corridor, to contract with a state agency, a local government, or the district relating to safety, access, and parking in the corridor to (1) designate the portions of state highways that constitute the corridor, (2) prevent unsafe parking and pedestrian movement, movement in the corridor, as provided, and (3) enhance public access to the corridor and public recreation sites, by, among other things, developing public parking, establishing and collecting fees for public parking, and developing transit facilities and pedestrian pathways to connect public parking to recreation sites, as specified.

This bill would require all moneys collected from a fee for that public parking to be deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Fund, which the bill would establish, and would continuously appropriate moneys in the fund to would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to use those moneys for purposes of improving transportation facilities on state highways in the Tahoe Basin, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. specified. The bill would require all penalty moneys collected through citations issued for failing to pay parking fees to be deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Penalty Account, which the bill would establish, and would continuously appropriate moneys in the account to would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to use those moneys for enforcement of parking restrictions and prohibitions on state highways in the Tahoe Basin, thereby making an appropriation. Basin.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Lake Tahoe is a national and international resource of unique ecological, recreational, and economic importance. Tahoe’s natural beauty supports a regional economy exceeding $5,000,000,000 annually and provides outdoor recreation for millions of Californians and visitors each year.

(b) Existing law sets forth the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact, an interstate agreement between the States of California and Nevada pursuant to which the bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency regulates land use and transportation within the Lake Tahoe Basin to achieve environmental goals.

(c) Growing visitation and limited roadway capacity have increased safety risks and environmental impacts along state highways in the Lake Tahoe Basin. High-use recreation corridors experience hazardous parking behavior, pedestrian conflicts, and congestion that undermine public safety and environmental protection.

(d) A 2025 safety review documented severe and persistent roadway hazards in the Emerald Bay corridor, including 759 wrong-way drivers recorded over a 40-day period, more than 20,500 pedestrians crossing State Route 89 in locations with no crosswalks or pedestrian facilities, and conditions characterized by illegal shoulder parking, rockfall hazards, no bicycle or pedestrian facilities, and people walking in active travel lanes.

(e) In 2025, the State of Nevada enacted Senate Bill 426, creating the Lake Tahoe Basin Scenic Byway Corridor Recreation Safety Zone on highways serving major recreation destinations. This zone grants enhanced authority for parking management, enforcement, and public access improvements. Because the Lake Tahoe Basin is a bistate region with interconnected travel corridors, consistent authority is needed on the California side to protect public safety and provide uniform expectations for residents and visitors.

(f) California currently lacks equivalent statutory tools needed by the Department of Transportation, local jurisdictions, law enforcement agencies, and the Tahoe Transportation District to safely manage parking, speed limits, pedestrian movement, and recreation access in high-use corridors within the Lake Tahoe Basin.

(g) It is in the interest of the State of California to provide consistent, coordinated, and modernized statutory authority to support safe recreation access, multimodal transportation, environmental protection, and enforcement across the entire Lake Tahoe Basin.

SEC. 2.

Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 898) is added to Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, to read:

Chapter 10. Tahoe Safe Recreation Access

898.

This section chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Safe Tahoe Travel Act of 2026.

898.1.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “District” means the Tahoe Transportation District established by Article IX of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact (Title 7.4 (commencing with Section 66800) of the Government Code).

(b) “Public parking” means a parking space or parking facility, including, but not limited to, a parking deck, parking garage, parking structure, or paved or unpaved parking lot, that members of the public are invited or permitted to enter and use.

(c) “Region” means Lake Tahoe and the adjacent parts of the Counties of El Dorado and Placer lying within the Tahoe Basin in the State of California.

(d) “Tahoe corridor” means the portions of State Routes 28, 50, and 89 that are within the region. region where traffic calming measures or parking facilities are needed to improve safety and provide more equitable access to public lands, as designated pursuant to the contract described in Section 898.2.

(e) (1)“Traffic calming” means a combination of measures and techniques intended to do any of the following:

(1) Reduce vehicle speeds.

(2) Promote safe and pleasant conditions for motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and residents.

(3) Improve the environment and usability of roadways.

(4) Improve real and perceived safety for nonmotorized traffic.

898.2.

(a) Within the Tahoe corridor, the department may contract with a state agency, a local government with jurisdiction in the region, or the district, relating to safety, access, and parking in the Tahoe corridor for both all of the following:

(2) Preventing unsafe parking and pedestrian movement on a state highway, including, but not limited to, by doing any of the following:

(A) Placing a traffic control device on a portion of a state highway.

(B) Implementing a traffic calming measure on a portion of a state highway.

(C) Prohibiting or restricting parking on the shoulder of a state highway.

(D) Prohibiting or restricting a person from stopping, leaving standing, or parking a vehicle anywhere on a state highway if the department or a local law enforcement agency determines that doing so is dangerous to other persons or would duly interfere with the free movement of traffic.

(3) Enhancing public access to the Tahoe corridor and public recreation sites, including, but not limited to, by doing any of the following: following in a right-of-way or other land owned by the state:

(A) Developing public parking in a right-of-way or other land owned by the state. parking.

(B) Establishing and collecting fees for public parking in a right-of-way or other land owned by the state. parking.

(C) Developing transit facilities and pedestrian pathways to connect public parking to recreation sites for residents and visitors.

(b) A contract authorized by subdivision (a) shall comply with all of the following:

(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the contract may authorize a state agency, local government, or the district to appoint employees who are directly employed by the state agency, local government, or the district, as applicable, to issue a citation, manually or electronically, for a violation of a requirement to pay a fee for parking established pursuant to paragraph (2) (3) of subdivision (a). A citation issued pursuant to this subdivision shall have the same force and effect as a citation or notice issued by a peace officer.

(2) The contract shall prohibit the issuance of a citation in any area within the Tahoe corridor where there is no access to a recreation destination from the public parking using public transit or pedestrian pathways. outside of the Tahoe corridor.

(3) For an employee appointed pursuant to paragraph (1), the contract shall require the state agency, local government, or district, as applicable, to do all of the following:

(A) Establish minimum qualifications.

(B) Provide training to the employee before the employee issues a citation.

(C) Provide appropriate equipment, including, but not limited to, a uniform or identifying attire attire, vehicle, and books or an electronic device for issuing citations.

898.3.

(a) (1) All moneys collected pursuant to this chapter from a fee for public parking shall be deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Fund, which is hereby created.

(2) (A) Moneys in deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Fund are hereby continuously appropriated, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code and without regard to fiscal year, to pursuant to paragraph (1), shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used by the department for purposes of improving transportation facilities in the Tahoe corridor, including, but not limited to, for the following purposes:

(i) The operation development, construction, operation, and maintenance of public parking, public transit, and pedestrian pathways.

(ii) The installation of adequate technology and signage to support safety and provide information to people using the public parking.

(iii) The development, construction, operation, and maintenance of amenities for people using the public parking, including, but not limited to, restrooms and trash cans.

(b) (1) All penalty moneys collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Penalty Account, which is hereby created in the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Fund.

(2) Moneys in deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Penalty Account are hereby continuously appropriated, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code and without regard to fiscal year, to pursuant to paragraph (1), shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used by the department for enforcement of parking restrictions and prohibitions in the Tahoe corridor, pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, by way of contract pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 898.2.

SEC. 3.

The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique aspect of the Lake Tahoe Basin being a premier tourist destination that receives elevated levels of vehicle and pedestrian traffic that need to be regulated to protect the natural wonder that is the Lake Tahoe Basin.