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 




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          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: 




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                 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)





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                 SUPPORT:  City & County of San Francisco (sponsor)  
                         San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency 
          (sponsor)
                         California Public Parking Association
                         California Transit Association

          
               OPPOSED:  None received.