BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1287
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1287 (Chiu) - As Amended April 29, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill deletes the January 1, 2016, sunset on the City and
County of San Francisco's transit authority to do automated
enforcement of parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes
and expands the authority to allow automated enforcement of
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other violations. Specifically, this bill:
1)Expands the city's existing authority to use forward-facing
cameras on transit vehicles for recording all parking
violations in transit-only lanes to include violations related
to driving in a transit-only lane and crossing a double-yellow
line to enter or exit a transit-only lane, and violations
related to blocking or obstructing an intersection or a
railroad or rail transit crossing.
2)Requires the city to make a public announcement of the
expansion of the program at least 30 days prior to starting to
issue notices of violation for all violations that were not
previously subject to automated enforcement, and to issue only
warning notices for 30 days for those violations.
3)Subjects recorded violations related to driving in a
transit-only lane and crossing a double-yellow line to enter
or exit a transit-only lane, and violations related to
blocking or obstructing an intersection or a railroad or rail
transit crossing, to a civil penalty of no more than $100.
4)Requires the DMV to refuse to renew the registration of a
vehicle if the registered owner or lessee has received a
notice of delinquent violation and the owner has not paid the
violation penalty and any late payment fees.
5)Requires the city, by January 1, 2019, to report to
legislative policy committees on transportation on the
effectiveness, in reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities,
of automated enforcement of violations related to blocking or
obstructing an intersection.
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FISCAL EFFECT:
One-time special fund costs of around $200,000 to DMV for
programming modifications.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. AB 101 (Ma) Chapter 377, Statutes of 2007,
authorized the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
(SFMTA or Muni), until January 1, 2012, to initiate a pilot
program to equip transit vehicles with forward-facing parking
control devices to record images of vehicles parked in
transit-only lanes and issue parking citations based on that
video evidence. The program was designed to improve the
safety, reliability, and performance of SFMTA transit vehicles
using San Francisco's 26 miles of transit-only lanes.
Based on the results of the initial pilot and an evaluation
report to the Legislature, AB 1041 (Ma), Chapter 325, Statutes
of 2011, extended the sunset on the program through January 1,
2016, and required SFMTA to submit another report by March 1,
2015, on the effectiveness of the program and its impacts on
privacy. SFMTA submitted the report as required, which
indicated that the program has had success, particularly in
terms of reducing the number of repeat violators.
2)Purpose. AB 1287 eliminates the sunset on Muni's Transit-Only
Lane Enforcement (TOLE) program and expands the program to
allow for automated enforcement of all parking violations, not
just those occurring in transit-only lanes. AB 1287
additionally allows cameras on Muni vehicles to be used to
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enforce violations related to driving in a transit-only lane
or crossing a double-yellow line to enter or exit a
transit-only lane and "blocking the box" violations.
According to the author, the intent of AB 1287 is to
"permanently establish and enhance the existing San
Francisco-only pilot program to improve transit service,
safety, and reliability. The TOLE program initially began
with cameras on 30 buses; it has been expanded over the last
six years with TOLE-compatible video cameras installed on all
Muni buses (over 800 vehicles)." The author further states
that AB 1287 will allow an effective program to continue and
also "enable strategic evolution of the program using proven
technology."
3)Opposition. The Automobile Club of Southern California and AAA
of Northern California, Nevada and Utah argue: "Under AB
1287, the violation for 'blocking the box' would no longer be
an infraction (crime), but rather a civil violation subject to
a civil penalty. This is an important distinction since crimes
must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The burden under
this newly established administrative hearing will be
preponderance of the evidence, a significantly lower standard.
In addition, enforcement by camera/video may not capture the
full nature of the circumstances surrounding the alleged
violation. We can envision circumstances where a live officer
would forego enforcement of this section even though a driver
technically violated the section because a vehicle on the
other side of the intersection stopped unexpectedly, perhaps
to back into a parking space or because a person opened their
door to enter/exit their vehicle. A camera may not capture
this on tape, whereas a live officer would be able to
visualize the entire scene when making their decision whether
to cite the driver or not."
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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