BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1041| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 AB 1041 Page 2 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 AB 1041 Page 3 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 AB 1041 Page 4 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 AB 1041 Page 5 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, AB 1041 Page 6 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 **** END ****