BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1041|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1041
Author: Ma (D)
Amended: 7/12/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/7/11
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Rubio, Simitian
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 2-2 (Fail), 6/28/11
AYES: Blakeslee, Leno
NOES: Evans, Corbett
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 7/5/11
AYES: Harman, Blakeslee, Leno
NOES: Evans, Corbett
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-2, 5/9/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Video enforcement of transit lane parking
violations in
San Francisco
SOURCE : City and County of San Francisco
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
DIGEST : This bill extends the authority of the City and
County of San Francisco to use automated parking control
devices (i.e., video cameras) on public transit vehicles to
CONTINUED
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enforce transit lane parking violations until
January 1, 2016, and expands the program to any transit
lane within the city, and remove the prohibition on
wireless transmission of video images.
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 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:
1. Extends the authorization for San Francisco to use
cameras to enforce parking violations in transit-only
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traffic lanes until January 1, 2016, and requires an
evaluation of the effectiveness and impact on privacy of
the program to be submitted to the transportation and
judiciary committees of the Legislature by March 1,
2015, as specified.
2. Requires the automated parking control devices to record
the date and time of the violation at the same time as
the video images are captured.
3. Redefines "transit-only traffic lane" to mean designated
transit-only lanes on which use is restricted to mass
transit vehicles, or other designated vehicles including
taxis and vanpools, during posted times.
4. Removes the prohibition on the wireless transmission of
video images.
Report on the pilot . On March 24, 2011, 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 percent 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 percent, 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:
"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
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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:
1. 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.
2. Increasing public awareness of transit lane rules and
hours of operation and of the video enforcement program.
3. Addressing identified technical, staffing, and
coordination issues and, to the extent possible,
equipping the entire fleet with video cameras.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/12/11)
City and County of San Francisco (co-source)
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (co-source)
California Public Parking Association
California Transit Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
"As a method to reduce the congestion and accidents
within the City of San Francisco, AB 101 (Chaptered in
2008), implemented a pilot program that enforces parking
violations in transit-only traffic lanes through video
camera evidence.
"In January 2008 the San Francisco Municipal
Transportation Agency (SFMTA) launched the transit Lane
Enforcement Pilot project. This program allows the
placement of forward-facing cameras on Muni vehicles to
detect violations of parking restrictions in transit-only
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lanes, and issue parking citations based on video
evidence. The forward facing cameras are aimed to allow
traffic, including Muni vehicles, to move quickly and
efficiently through the City. Existing law requires that
the video image records be confidential and available
only to public agencies to enforce parking violations.
"As required by AB 101, a study was conducted to
determine the success of the pilot program. Since the
start of the pilot program, results have shown a
significant decrease in the number of transit lane
violations. During the initial three-month phase of the
pilot, the camera-equipped vehicles traveled on Mission
Street between Main Street and 11th Street and on Geary
Street between Market Street and Gough Street during
posted enforcement hours.
"It is evident that this pilot program is working.
According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation
Agency (SFMTA), fewer cars are parking in transit lanes
based on the reduction of tickets issued for transit lane
violations. From 2009 to 2010, there has been a 47%
decrease in bus zone violations, and a 44% decrease for
double parking violations in transit lanes.
"The benefits derived from the pilot project include:
noticeable driver response to approaching transit
vehicles, reduction in potential accidents, and Ý]
reliable and predictable bus travel time on congested
routes.
AB 101 maintains this important program as a permanent
method of reducing traffic, street congestion, and our
carbon footprint."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-2, 5/9/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter,
Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
Jeffries, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
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Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Donnelly, Knight
NO VOTE RECORDED: Butler, Garrick, Gorell, Jones, Mansoor,
Morrell, Smyth, Vacancy
JJA:kc 7/12/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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