BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair 2015-2016 Regular Session AB 1287 (Chiu) Version: June 18, 2015 Hearing Date: July 14, 2015 Fiscal: No Urgency: No TH SUBJECT Vehicles: Parking Violations DESCRIPTION Existing law, until January 1, 2016, authorizes the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) to install automated forward-facing parking control devices on city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of video imaging parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. This bill would repeal the sunset date for San Francisco's authority to install these parking control devices, thereby extending the operation of that authority indefinitely. BACKGROUND While some counties may have installed automated traffic enforcement systems at an earlier date, legislative authorization for automated enforcement procedures relating to traffic violations began in 1994 with SB 1802 (Rosenthal, Ch. 1216, Stats. 1994). That bill authorized the use of "automated rail crossing enforcement systems" to enforce prohibitions on drivers from passing around or under rail crossings while the gates are closed. (Veh. Code Sec. 22451.) Those systems functioned by photographing the front license plate and the driver of vehicles who proceeded around closed rail crossing gates in violation of the Vehicle Code provisions. The drivers of photographed vehicles, in turn, received citations for their violations. AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 2 of ? In 1995, the Legislature authorized a three-year trial red light camera enforcement system program. (SB 833, Kopp, Ch. 922, Stats. 1995.) Using similar technology, that program used sensors connected to cameras to take photographs of the front license plate and driver upon entering an intersection on a red light. That program was permanently extended in 1998 by SB 1136 (Kopp, Ch. 54, Stats. 1998). In 2007, the Legislature authorized a four-year pilot project where the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) was authorized to install video cameras on city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of video imaging parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. (AB 101, Ma, Ch. 377, Stats. 2007.) Three years later, the Legislature authorized a five-year statewide pilot project to allow local public agencies to use automated parking enforcement systems for street sweeping-related violations. (AB 2567, Bradford, Ch. 471, Stats. 2010.) In 2011, the legislature extended San Francisco's automated transit-only lane enforcement program for an additional year, and required the City and County to provide a report to the Transportation and Judiciary Committees of the Legislature no later than March 1, 2015, describing the effectiveness of the pilot program and its impact on privacy. (AB 1041, Ma, Ch. 325, Stats. 2011.) This bill would repeal the January 1, 2016, sunset on San Francisco's automated transit-only lane enforcement program, thus extending the operation of that program indefinitely. This bill would also repeal obsolete provisions relating to the lapsed reporting requirement. CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW Existing law authorizes the use of an automated enforcement system for enforcement of red light violations by a governmental agency, subject to specific requirements and limitations. (Veh. Code Sec. 21455.5.) Existing law provides that a violation of any regulation governing the standing or parking of a vehicle under the Vehicle Code, federal statute or regulation, or local ordinance, is subject to a civil penalty. (Veh. Code Sec. 40200.) Existing law provides that notice of a delinquent parking violation must contain various information, including a notice that unless the parking penalty is paid or contested within 21 AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 3 of ? calendar days from the issuance of a citation, or 14 calendar days from the mailing of a delinquent parking violation, as specified, the renewal of the vehicle registration is contingent upon compliance with the notice. (Veh. Code Sec. 40207.) Existing law authorizes the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) to install automated forward facing parking control devices on city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of video imaging parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. Existing law defines a "transit-only traffic lane" to mean any designated transit-only lane on which use is restricted to mass transit vehicles, or other designated vehicles including taxis and vanpools, during posted times. (Veh. Code Sec. 40240(a), (h).) Existing law states that citations shall only be issued for violations captured during the posted hours of operation for a transit-only traffic lane. Existing law requires designated employees to review video image recordings for the purpose of determining whether a parking violation occurred in a transit-only traffic lane, and permits alleged violators to review the video image evidence of the alleged violation during normal business hours at no cost. (Veh. Code Sec. 40240(a), (c), (d).) Existing law requires automated forward facing parking control devices to be angled and focused so as to capture video images of parking violations and not unnecessarily capture identifying images of other drivers, vehicles, and pedestrians. Existing law requires the devices to record the date and time of the violation at the same time video images are captured, and provides that video image records are confidential and shall not be used or accessed for any purposes not related to the enforcement of parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. (Veh. Code Sec. 40240(a), (f).) Existing law authorizes the retention of video image evidence obtained from an automated forward facing parking control device for up to six months from the date the information was obtained, or 60 days after final disposition of the citation, whichever date is later, and provides that after such time the information shall be destroyed. Existing law requires video image evidence from forward facing automated enforcement devices that does not contain evidence of a parking violation occurring in a transit-only traffic lane to be destroyed within 15 days after AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 4 of ? the information was first obtained. (Veh. Code Sec. 40240(e).) Existing law repeals the authority for San Francisco to install automated forward facing parking control devices on city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of video imaging parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes on January 1, 2016, and requires San Francisco to provide to the transportation and judiciary committees of the Legislature an evaluation of the pilot program's effectiveness and impact on privacy no later than March 1, 2015. (Veh. Code Secs. 40242, 40243.) This bill would strike the above sunset, thus indefinitely extending San Francisco's authority to install automated forward facing parking control devices on city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of video imaging parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. COMMENT 1.Stated need for the bill According to the author: AB 1287 (Chiu) will reauthorize San Francisco's Transit-Only Lane Enforcement (TOLE) program by removing the sunset on the 6-year pilot program that allows San Francisco to issue parking citations to vehicles illegally parked in designated Transit Only Lanes. In 2008, pursuant to [AB 101 (Ma, Ch. 377, Stats. 2007)], the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) initiated a pilot TOLE program to use forward-facing cameras on board buses to protect the City's transit-only lanes and ensure transit priority. The pilot program was reauthorized in 2011 by [AB 1041 (Ma, Ch. 325, Stats. 2011)]. The goal of the program is to improve transit safety and reliability by discouraging vehicles from obstructing transit-only lanes. With this program, vehicles illegally parked or stopped within a dedicated transit lane have their license plate captured by a video camera on a passing bus and the registered owner receives a citation in the mail. This enforcement prevents buses from having to stop or unsafely maneuver around parked cars. AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 5 of ? 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 TOLE equipped vehicles help improve transit service and safety by discouraging illegal parking along San Francisco's 26 miles of transit-only lanes on routes carrying more than 160,000 passengers per day. SFMTA plans to expand transit service by 10 percent over the next two years and implement an additional 22 miles of transit-only lanes within the next 10 years. The TOLE program is a key tool to ensure these lanes work to achieve their intended purpose of supporting safe and reliable transit service. The TOLE program also supports the San Francisco-wide Vision Zero program, which aims to eliminate all traffic related fatalities by 2024. The City and County of San Francisco adopted Vision Zero as a policy in 2014, committing to build better and safer streets, educate the public on traffic safety, enforce traffic laws, and adopt policy changes that save lives. The goal is to create a culture that prioritizes traffic safety and to ensure that mistakes on the city's roadways do not result in serious injuries or death. The result of this collaborative, citywide effort will be safer, more livable streets protecting the one million people who move about the city every day. Privacy Protection: The TOLE images and recordings are dedicated to the TOLE program and can only be used for the issuance of TOLE citations. 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 footage is reviewed, hard drives are installed back onto Muni buses where they are overwritten with new data. Each hard drive holds approximately 72 hours of video footage. There have been no recorded privacy complaints related to the TOLE program since its initiation in 2008. 2.Results of Pilot Program This bill would conclude a pilot program authorizing the City and County of San Francisco to use video cameras on public transit vehicles to enforce parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes, and allow this automated enforcement program to continue indefinitely. Prior reports submitted by the San AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 6 of ? Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) evaluating the efficacy of this automated enforcement program revealed "no statistically significant change in run-time" of transit vehicles for routes included within the plot program, leading this Committee to question whether the risks attendant with automating traffic enforcement outweighed potential benefits to traffic throughput and roadway user safety. However, the latest report from SFMTA indicates that this pilot program (denominated as the "TOLE program") has measurably improved transit vehicle travel time and reliability. According to SFMTA: This program is a strong success and has improved safety and reliability for Muni customers and other roadway users. A review of travel time information indicates that the TOLE program has helped to reduce Muni delays and has improved running time reliability. Results on Sutter Street, for example, show travel time variability improvements of up to 15 percent . . . Travel time reliability has improved on several transit corridors as a result of the TOLE pilot, including Sutter and Geary. Additionally, the impacts of construction have been reduced for other corridors including Post and Mission Streets. SFMTA reports that the TOLE program is also having a beneficial impact on modifying motorist behavior in designated transit-only corridors. The agency states that the automated enforcement program "is a deterrent to obstructing San Francisco's transit-only lanes. Over the last five years of the program, the proportion of tickets issued to high frequency offenders (vehicles receiving three or more TOLE citations for parking illegally in a transit-only lane) has declined from 17 [percent] in 2011 to 1 [percent] in 2014." Additionally, the Legislature has previously expressed concern over the use of automated traffic enforcement programs not as means to promote roadway safety but as a mechanism for revenue generation. However, it appears that San Francisco's automated enforcement program for transit-only lanes actually operates at a sustained loss. According to SFMTA, The purpose of the TOLE program is to protect transit priority and ensure safety. Over time, we expect revenues to continue to decline as motorists continue to learn not to obstruct transit-only lanes. As a result, the program costs and revenues are relatively low. The two main cost drivers of the AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 7 of ? program are staff time to review TOLE videos and to maintain the TOLE equipment on the vehicles. Between 2010 and 2014, the combined cost of the enforcement and video maintenance averaged approximately $334,000 per year. During the same time period, the TOLE program fines generated on average $256,000 per year in paid fine revenue. These results emphasize the program goal - to protect transit priority in San Francisco, not generate revenue. If transit-only parking violations continue to decline in targeted corridors, it is likely that San Francisco's automated enforcement program will continue to operate at a loss. However, as noted in Comment 1, San Francisco intends to almost double the length of transit-only corridors in the city over the next ten years. It is unclear whether this increase will have a positive impact on the TOLE program's ability to generate revenue. 3.Right to Privacy The California Constitution provides that all people have inalienable rights, including the right to pursue and obtain privacy. (Cal. Const., art. I, Sec. 1.) This "right of privacy is vitally important. It derives, in this state, not only from the protections against unreasonable searches and seizures guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 13, but also from article I, section 1, of our State Constitution. Homage to personhood is the foundation for individual rights protected by our state and national Constitutions." (In re William G. (1985) 40 Cal.3d 550, 563.) This Committee has previously expressed concern about the privacy implications of equipping large numbers of transit vehicles with forward-facing video cameras that record not only other vehicles, but individuals on sidewalks and commercial and residential property adjacent to the roadway. When this pilot program was reauthorized in 2011, the Legislature directed San Francisco to evaluate the privacy impacts of this program as part of a larger report on the automated traffic enforcement program. Responding to that direction, SFMTA's report on the program states: The TOLE images and recordings are dedicated to the TOLE program and can only be used for the TOLE program. 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 AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 8 of ? violations. After reviewing footage, hard drives are installed back onto Muni buses where they are overwritten with new data. Each hard drive can hold approximately 72 hours of video footage. There have been no recorded privacy complaints related to the TOLE program since the program began. The lack of privacy-related complaints concerning this program may be attributable to specific requirements built in to the statute authorizing San Francisco's automation of transit-only lane parking enforcement. Pursuant to this statute, San Francisco's automated forward facing parking control devices must be angled and focused so as to capture video images of parking violations and not unnecessarily capture identifying images of other drivers, vehicles, and pedestrians. Existing law specifies that these video records are confidential and may not be used or accessed for any purposes not related to the enforcement of parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. Video recordings collected by the automated enforcement system must be destroyed no later than six months after the date of collection, or 60 days after the final disposition of a citation issued on the basis of a recorded image, whichever is later. Video recordings not containing evidence of a parking violation in a transit-only traffic lane must destroyed within 15 days after collection. Together, these statutory restrictions and the experience gained through the pilot program suggest that this automated enforcement program is not having a negative impact on Californian's fundamental right to privacy. However, as with future revenue performance described in Comment 2, it is unclear whether the proposed expansion of transit-only corridors to other areas of the city over the next ten years will have a negative impact on privacy interests, particularly if this expansion reaches into residential districts or other areas where individuals have a heightened expectation of privacy. Support : California Public Parking Association Opposition : None Known HISTORY Source : San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency AB 1287 (Chiu) Page 9 of ? Related Pending Legislation : None Known Prior Legislation : AB 1041 (Ma, Ch. 325, Stats. 2011) See Background. AB 2567 (Bradford, Ch. 471, Stats. 2010) See Background. AB 101 (Ma, Ch. 377, Stats. 2007) See Background. SB 1136 (Kopp, Ch. 54, Stats. 1998) See Background. SB 833 (Kopp, Ch. 922, Stats. 1995) See Background. SB 1802 (Rosenthal, Ch. 1216, Stats. 1994) See Background. Prior Vote : Senate Transportation and Housing Committee (Ayes 10, Noes 0) Assembly Floor (Ayes 49, Noes 29) Assembly Floor (Ayes 29, Noes 36) Assembly Appropriations Committee (Ayes 12, Noes 5) Assembly Transportation Committee (Ayes 10, Noes 4) **************