BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1287 Hearing Date: 6/30/2015
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|Author: |Chiu |
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|Version: |6/18/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Christine Hochmuth |
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SUBJECT: Vehicles: parking violations
DIGEST: This bill removes the sunset on San Francisco's
Transit-Only Lane Enforcement (TOLE) program.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the City and County of San Francisco to install
automated forward-facing parking control devices on city-owned
public transit vehicles for the purpose of video imaging
violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. Citations
can only be issued for violations captured during the posted
hours of operation for a transit-only traffic lane.
2)Requires a qualified, designated employee of the City and
County of San Francisco to review video images or recordings
and determine whether a parking violation occurred in a
transit-only lane. If a violation of statute, regulation, or
ordinance is observed in the recordings by the designated
employee, the violation is subject to a civil penalty.
3)Places regulations on the retention time of video data
depending on whether or not the video contains evidence of a
violation.
This bill removes the sunset date of January 1, 2016, and
effectively extends the San Francisco Municipal Transportation
AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 2 of ?
Agency (SFMTA) TOLE program indefinitely.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. The author states that TOLE-equipped vehicles help
improve transit service and safety by discouraging illegal
parking along San Francisco's 26 miles of transit-only lanes.
According to SFMTA, transit vehicles on these routes carry more
than 160,000 passengers per day.
Background. In 2007, the legislature approved and the Governor
signed AB 101 (Ma, Chapter 377) establishing the initial
Transit-Only Lane Enforcement (TOLE) pilot through 2011. In
this program, the SFMTA uses cameras on board buses to enforce
transit-only lane parking violations. The program's goal is to
improve transit service by discouraging vehicles from parking or
stopping and therefore obstructing transit-only lanes. With
this program, vehicles illegally parked or stopped within a
dedicated transit lane have their license plates captured by a
video camera on a passing bus and the registered owners receive
a citation in the mail. AB 1041 (Ma, Chapter 325, Statutes of
2011) reauthorized the pilot program through 2015.
San Francisco has 26 miles of transit-only lanes and another 22
miles planned over the next decade. The TOLE program is part of
a multi-tiered approach to keep these lanes moving for buses.
In addition, SFMTA is painting the lanes red to provide a strong
visual reminder to road users to avoid using the transit-only
lanes and has invested in transit signal priority technology to
reduce the amount of time buses spend waiting at traffic lights.
Evaluation of the TOLE program. AB 1041 instructed SFMTA to
submit to the legislature an evaluation of the pilot program's
effectiveness and impact on privacy. The findings in the report
can help to address the fundamental question: At what point is
this pilot program allowed to end and become a fully authorized
program?
In evaluating the TOLE program, SFMTA reviewed the following key
metrics (discussed in more detail below):
1)Bus running times and running time variability on transit-only
lanes
2)Citations issued to repeat offenders
3)Program costs and revenues
AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 3 of ?
4)Privacy complaints
Impact of TOLE on bus reliability. A review of travel-time
information indicates that the TOLE program can help reduce the
instances of major SFMTA delays and improve running times.
According to the report, two routes show running time
improvements while two other routes show no improvement in
travel time. However, the report argues these latter routes did
not degrade as much as they may have without the TOLE program in
light of increased construction activity, traffic delays, and
increasing ridership.
Changing motorist behavior? Over the life of the program, the
proportion of tickets issued to high-frequency offenders
(motorists who already received at least three citations for
parking illegally in a transit-only lane) has declined from 17%
of all citations in 2011 to 1% of all citations in 2014.
According to the report, this reduction shows that the program
can alter the behavior of the most frequent violators.
Is this just a revenue generator? Between 2010 and 2014, the
combined cost of the enforcement and video maintenance averaged
approximately $334,000 per year. This number represents the
ongoing annual operating cost and does not include initial
capital investments which totaled $6.3 million. During the same
time period, the TOLE program fines generated on average
$256,000 per year in paid fine revenue. These numbers support
the program's stated intent to reduce transit delays and improve
transit service, not generate revenue, as the operation of the
program actually costs more than the revenue it raises.
Privacy concerns. The TOLE images and recordings are dedicated
to the TOLE program and can only be used for the TOLE program.
SFMTA maintains that the images and footage are not used for
general surveillance. Video for the TOLE program is recorded
onto a special, dedicated hard drive for professional parking
control officers to review for violations. After reviewing
footage, hard drives are installed back onto the buses where
they are overwritten with new data. Importantly, according to
SFMTA there have been no recorded privacy complaints related to
the TOLE program since the program began.
Supporters. Supporters believe that the existing TOLE program
has successfully enhanced driver compliance in dedicated transit
rights-of-way without resulting in points on the drivers'
licenses. They state that the program enhances safety by
AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 4 of ?
reducing the number of instances that bus operators have to stop
or maneuver into the auto lane to get around parked cars. SFMTA
argues that it has made significant investments in this program,
and it would like to ensure the program's continuation to
improve the safety and reliability of the transportation system.
Double-referred. This bill has also been referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Related Legislation:
AB 1041 (Ma, Chapter 325, Statutes of 2011) - extended the
sunset date on SFMTA's authority to employ video enforcement of
transit lane parking violations and expanded the program to any
designated transit lane within the city.
AB 101 (Ma, Chapter 377, Statutes of 2007) - allowed SFMTA to
install video cameras on city-owned public transit and
city-owned street sweepers for the purpose of videotaping
parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes,
named specifically in this bill, and during posted street
sweeping hours.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 49-29
Floor: 29-36
Appr: 12-5
Trans: 10-4
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 24, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
Mayor of San Francisco
San Francisco County Transportation Authority
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
San Francisco Transit Riders
Walk San Francisco
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OPPOSITION:
None received
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