BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 1041 SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: ma VERSION: 4/27/11 Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: no Hearing date: June 7, 2011 SUBJECT: Video enforcement of transit lane parking violations in San Francisco DESCRIPTION: This bill deletes the sunset on San Francisco's authority to employ video enforcement of transit lane parking violations and expands the program to any transit lane within the city. ANALYSIS: AB 101 (Ma), Chapter 377, Statutes of 2007 allows San Francisco, until January 1, 2012, to install video cameras on city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of videotaping parking violations occurring in specified transit-only traffic lanes. Under current law, a designated city employee qualified to issue parking citations must review the videotaped recordings to determine if a parking violation has occurred in a transit-only traffic lane. The employee may issue a citation within 15 days of the violation by depositing the notice in the mail to the registered owner's last known address listed with the Department of Motor Vehicles. The citation must identify the vehicle and include the violation, the payment due date, the process of paying or contesting the citation, and information on how to review the video image evidence. The registered owner may review the video image evidence during normal business hours at no cost. Consistent with current law for regular parking violations, the owner may request an initial review of the citation and may contest the citation in an administrative hearing and, ultimately, in court. San Francisco may retain video image evidence for up to six months or 60 days after final disposition of the citation, whichever is later. The city must destroy video image evidence that does not contain evidence of a parking violation within 15 days. Video image records are confidential, and public agencies AB 1041 (MA) Page 2 may use and allow access to these records only for the purpose of enforcing transit-lane parking prohibitions. The city may not wirelessly transmit video images from this program. Current law also required San Francisco to report to the transportation committees of the Legislature by March 1, 2011 on the program's effectiveness. This bill deletes the sunset on San Francisco's authority to employ video enforcement of transit lane parking violations and expands the program from the specific streets named in statute to any designated transit-only lanes in San Francisco on which use is restricted to mass transit vehicles or other designated vehicles, including taxis and vanpools, during posted times. The bill also deletes the prohibition on wireless transmissions. COMMENTS: 1.Purpose of the bill . According to the author, San Francisco's 14.8 miles of transit-only lanes are essential to the timeliness of the city's Muni public transportation system. Parking in these lanes can significantly increase the time it takes to make even a short bus journey and inconvenience other road users. Only by reducing the amount of illegal parking in San Francisco's transit-only lanes can Muni service improve sufficiently to meet its on-time performance goals and encourage people to leave cars at home and take transit. Video enforcement allows for increased enforcement in a cost-effective manner. 2.Report on the pilot . On March 24 of this year, Muni provided the Legislature with the statutorily required report on results of the transit lane video enforcement project to date. Muni began implementation of the project on January 1, 2009. As a result of the project, transit lane citations have risen from 16 per month in 2008 to 175 per month in 2010. Over time, however, the types of cited violations have changed. In 2009, the city issued 77% of citations for parking in a bus zone and double parking in a transit lane. In 2010, the number of citations for these two offenses declined to 26%, and the city issued the large majority of citations for parking in a tow away zone (i.e., a space where parking is allowed during non-peak hours but prohibited during peak hours to clear an additional lane for transit use). According to the report: AB 1041 (MA) Page 3 After the first year the reviewers observed cars moving as they saw buses approaching to avoid risking a citation in case the bus had a camera?.With the tow away zones, the reverse seems to be true. The public seems to forget the approaching buses are likely to have a camera and remain in the tow away zone well after the camera has recorded a violation. While reviewers observed driver behaviors change, the report found no statistically significant change in average bus run times in the second year of the project. With respect to lessons learned, the report found that until processes are automated, citation issuance will remain highly labor-intensive, that assigning camera-equipped buses to routes with transit-only lanes is essential, and that on-going public awareness is critical to achieve behavior changes. The report recommended: Pursuing legislation to allow for secure automatic wireless uploads of video evidence and to allow video enforcement on future transit-only lanes, not just those in place when AB 101 took effect. Increasing public awareness of transit lane rules and hours of operation and of the video enforcement program. Addressing identified technical, staffing, and coordination issues and, to the extent possible, equipping the entire fleet with video cameras. 1.Technical amendments . This bill repeals the incorrect version of a related section, which needs to be corrected. In addition, current law requires San Francisco to report on the program, which it has done. This requirement should therefore be repealed. 2.Double referral . The Senate Rules Committee has referred this bill to both this committee and the Judiciary Committee. Assembly Votes: Floor: 70-2 Trans: 11-0 POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on Wednesday, June 1, 2011) AB 1041 (MA) Page 4 SUPPORT: City & County of San Francisco (sponsor) San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (sponsor) California Public Parking Association California Transit Association OPPOSED: None received.