BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1051 Hearing Date: 4/19/2016
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|Author: |Hancock |
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|Version: |4/6/2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Randy Chinn |
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SUBJECT: Vehicles: parking enforcement: video image evidence
DIGEST: This bill allows the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit
District to enforce parking violations in transit-only traffic
lanes and bus stops using video cameras.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the City and County of San Francisco to enforce
parking violations in specified transit-only traffic lanes
using video cameras. A designated employee shall review the
video image recordings to determine whether a parking
violation occurred. Violations are civil penalties and do not
impact a driver's record. These video images are confidential
and available only to public agencies to enforce parking
violations.
2)Creates the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit)
which is the third-largest public bus system in California,
serving 13 cities and adjacent unincorporated areas in Alameda
and Contra Costa counties.
This bill extends these provisions to the AC Transit and
broadens the use of video enforcement from transit-only traffic
lanes to also include bus stops for both AC Transit and the City
and County of San Francisco.
SB 1051 (Hancock) Page 2 of ?
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, AC Transit is currently
building a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor that will utilize
dedicated bus-only lanes to improve service reliability and
frequency. Given the issues experienced in San Francisco with
vehicles illegally stopped in bus-only lanes, AC Transit is
sponsoring this bill to have this authority in place before
service begins. San Francisco's transit-only lane enforcement
program, according to the author, has reduced parking
violations and transit delays.
The author states that blocking access to bus stops is a
growing problem, raising significant safety issues for
passengers, particularly the disabled, who have to board or
exit without the bus pulling up to the curb. This also
creates unnecessary congestion as the bus cannot pull out of
the traffic lane when an illegally parked vehicle prevents
access to the bus stop. By allowing video enforcement, the
author intends to reduce illegal parking in bus stops.
2)San Francisco experience. In removing the sunset from San
Francisco's pilot program last year, the Legislature took note
of the general success of that program: Bus reliability was
marginally improved, motorists were parking illegally less
frequently, privacy concerns did not emerge, and the program
did not function as a revenue raiser.
3)Phase-in period. Like San Francisco, AC Transit is required
to make a public announcement of this program at least 30 days
prior to commencement. For the first 30 days only warning
notices may be issued.
4)Fines. Current law specifies that violations are infractions
subject to a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $1,000.
Fine revenues will go to AC Transit. Violations can be
appealed to Superior Court. Car registration cannot be
renewed if there is an outstanding fine. As an infraction,
additional surcharges, penalties and assessments are added,
which are adopted by the state Judicial Council. With those
additions, the $250 base fine will really be $1,156.
This bill specifies that violations are civil penalties, not
infractions. That means that there are no additions to the
fine. However, this also means that the penalty for parking
SB 1051 (Hancock) Page 3 of ?
in a bus stop if caught by video will cost $250 and if caught
by a peace officer will cost $1,156.
By way of comparison, in this hearing the committee will
consider SB 998 (Wieckowski), which creates an infraction for
driving in a BRT corridor of $100. After the adders the $100
fine will really be $541.
5)Expanded bus stop parking enforcement. This bill allows video
enforcement for stopping or parking at a bus stop, a practice
already prohibited under existing law. Before a ticket is
issued, the violation must first be reviewed by a designated
employee of the City and County of San Francisco or a
contracted law enforcement agency for AC Transit.
This is a significant expansion of the video enforcement
program. Depending on how the program is administered, it
could lead to unreasonably inflexible enforcement. For
example, should a $250 ticket be issued if a car pulled away
from the bus stop before the bus was impaired, or the car was
stopped at a bus stop in a way which did not endanger the bus
or its passengers? In theory, the review by a law enforcement
agency should mitigate unreasonable enforcement, but the video
evidence with its limited field of view cannot capture all the
relevant factors that a peace officer would consider. This
committee passed legislation last year which would have
stopped automated enforcement by stop-sign cameras, in part
because of evidence that unjustified tickets were issued even
though the video evidence was reviewed by park rangers (SB
218, Huff). Moreover, recent legislative efforts have tried
to mitigate the potentially harsh impact of fines on lower
income individuals for minor offenses.
6)Double-referral. This bill has also been referred to the
Senate Judiciary Committee.
Related Legislation:
SB 998 (Wieckowski) - creates an infraction for parking in a
transit-only traffic lane. This bill will also be heard today
in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
AB 218 (Huff) - would have prohibited the use of stop-sign
cameras by the Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority.
This bill passed the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee
SB 1051 (Hancock) Page 4 of ?
but failed in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
AB 1287 (Chiu, Chapter 485, Statutes of 2015) - removed the
sunset on the authority of the City and County of San
Francisco's pilot program for video enforcement of parking
violations in transit-only traffic lanes.
AB 1041 (Ma, Chapter 325, Statutes of 2011) - extended the
sunset on the authority of the City and County of San
Francisco's pilot program for video enforcement of parking
violations in transit-only traffic lanes to January 1, 2016.
AB 101 (Ma, Chapter 377, Statutes of 2007) - authorized the City
and County of San Francisco to establish a pilot program for
video enforcement of parking violations in transit-only traffic
lanes which expired January 1, 2012.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 13, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (sponsor)
OPPOSITION:
None received
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