BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1051|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1051
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 5/10/16
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 4/19/16
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 5/3/16
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hertzberg
SUBJECT: Vehicles: parking enforcement: video image
evidence
SOURCE: Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
DIGEST: This bill allows, until January 1, 2022, the
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) to enforce
parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes and allows AC
Transit and the City and County of San Francisco to enforce
parking violations in bus stops using video cameras.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Creates AC Transit, which is the third-largest public bus
system in California, serving 13 cities and adjacent
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unincorporated areas in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
2)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.
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. This authority sunsets on January
1, 2022, and requires a report to the Legislature by January 1,
2021.
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.
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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)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
in a bus stop if caught by video will cost $250 and if caught
by a peace officer will cost $1,156.
4)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. Recent
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legislative efforts (e.g., SB 881, Hertzberg) have tried to
mitigate the potentially harsh impact of fines on lower income
individuals for minor offenses.
5)Sunset. The provisions of this bill sunset in five years and
require reports to the Legislature in four years. The reports
require an evaluation of the effectiveness, impact on privacy,
cost to implement, and generation of the revenue of the
programs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/10/16)
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (source)
California Public Parking Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/10/16)
None received
Prepared by:Randy Chinn / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
5/11/16 16:06:33
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