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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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