BILL ANALYSIS AB 101 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 101 (Ma) As Amended September 7, 2007 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |72-0 |(May 14, 2007) |SENATE: | |(September 11, | | | | | | |2007) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- (vote not available) Original Committee Reference: TRANS . SUMMARY : Authorizes the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) to issue citations based on photo-evidence of transit-only lane parking violations. The Senate amendments : 1)Provide that videotaped records are confidential, and that public agencies shall use the records only for law enforcement purposes or for purposes of this bill. 2)Describe the cameras authorized to be mounted on San Francisco city-owned public transit vehicles as "automated forwarding facing parking control devices" and only qualified employees review the video recordings for determining possible parking violations. 3)Require that the notice of parking violation also include the date, time, and location of the violation. 4)Restrict citations to be issued only for violations captured during the posted hours of operation for a transit-only traffic lane. Require he devices to be angled and focused so as to capture video images of parking violations and not unnecessarily capture identifying images of other drivers, vehicles, and pedestrians. 5)Require that proof of mailing to the address of the vehicle's registered owner be maintained by the local agency and establishes that additional fees, assessments, or charges cannot be assessed if the registered owner declares, under penalty of perjury, that the notice of parking violation was not received. AB 101 Page 2 6)Change the submittal date of the assessment from July 1, 2011, to March 1, 2011, and changes the term of the report from an assessment to an evaluation. 7)Require that video image evidence from forward facing automated enforcement devices that does not contain evidence of a parking violation occurring in a transit-only traffic lane to be destroyed within 15 days after the information is first obtained. 8)Make findings and declarations that generally recognize that this bill would impinge upon the privacy rights of individuals depicted in the videotaped records. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires a peace officer or person authorized to enforce parking laws and regulations to securely attach to a vehicle in violation of those laws or regulations a notice of violation, if the vehicle is unattended during the time of the violation. 2)Authorizes local entities to use cameras for the enforcement of violations occurring when drivers do not stop at traffic signals showing a red light. 3)Allows local governments to adopt ordinances restricting the parking of vehicles for the purpose of street sweeping. The restrictions must be clearly posted. 4)Establishes a specific procedure for persons to contest parking citations. 5)Restricts the ability of counties and municipalities to enact or enforce parking ordinances on the matters covered by the Vehicle Code unless expressly authorized as "the provisions in the code are applicable and uniform throughout the state." AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill: 1)Authorized San Francisco to enforce parking violations in transit-only lanes and during street sweep hours through the use of videotaped evidence. 2)Authorized San Francisco to install videotape cameras on AB 101 Page 3 city-owned public transit and street sweeper vehicles for the purposes of videotaping parking violations. A designated employee parking control officer (PCO) would be required to review the videotape for determining whether these parking violations had occurred. 3)Required, prior to issuing notices of parking violations, San Francisco to issue only warning notices for 30 days. Requires public notification of the program 30 days prior to implementation. 4)Required the PCO to issue a notice of a parking violation to the registered owner within 15 days of the violation. 5)Established that a violation of a statute, regulation, or ordinance governing vehicle parking under this bill, under a federal or state statute or regulation, or under an ordinance enacted by San Francisco occurring in a transit-only traffic lane or during posted street sweeping hours observed by the designated employee in the recordings is subject to a civil penalty. 6)Provided that the registered owner of the vehicle shall be permitted to review the videotaped evidence of the alleged violation. 7)Authorized the videotaped evidence to be retained for up to six months from the date the information was first obtained, or until final disposition of the citation, whichever date is later, after which time the information shall be destroyed. 8)Required San Francisco to provide an assessment to the Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees by July 1, 2011. 9)Sunsets this bill's provisions on January 1, 2012. COMMENTS : According to the author, "This legislation would authorize the City and County of San Francisco to issue parking tickets based on photographs from forward facing cameras on transit vehicles and street sweepers that can take a picture of an illegally parked car's license plate. This proposal is aimed at: 1)Improving the reliability and performance of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's vehicles using San AB 101 Page 4 Francisco's 14.8 miles of transit-only lanes. 2)Leveraging automated enforcement to increase available enforcement resources for other critical enforcement duties. "Camera-enforced citations would be used to deter drivers from parking in the designated lanes, a violation which can significantly increase the time it takes to make even a short bus journey, as well as inconveniencing other road users. Only by reducing the amount of illegal traffic in San Francisco's transit-only lanes can the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's service improve sufficiently to meet on-time performance goals and encourage people to leave cars at home and take transit. Any citation revenue generated would be used to further transit system improvements and performance. "In the case of street sweepers, PCOs currently patrol ahead of street sweeper vehicles, ticketing vehicles parked illegally in designated zones. While assigned to this duty, approximately 51 PCOs are unavailable for enforcement of other violations that impede the efficiency of the multi-modal transit system and jeopardize public safety. Clean streets are important, but this parking violation has more resources dedicated to it while transit-critical violations are under-enforced. Camera-enabled street sweepers that automatically ticket street sweeping violations would free up valuable PCO resources for higher-priority parking violations and enforcement demands. "The precedent for camera-enabled enforcement already exists in San Francisco. Since 1996, red light cameras have provided automated enforcement of numerous San Francisco intersections. Photographs issued to red-light runners are reviewed by law enforcement before tickets are issued. This same review procedure would be utilized for automated transit-only lane and street sweeper violations." Automated enforcement program in the City of Richmond: According to the sponsor, the Office of the Mayor, City and County of San Francisco, "In Richmond, a pilot program using street sweeper cameras to photograph cars parked illegally in street sweeper zones was successfully completed. The cameras are now used to monitor road maintenance and illegal waste dumping. Concerns raised by the street sweeper drivers' union prevented the program from moving forward with a full-blown implementation of the street sweeper cameras. The concern was AB 101 Page 5 that the drivers would become targets of abuse by citizens who were angry about receiving a parking ticket. Richmond did not explore the legal implications of the camera enforcement program." Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0003499