BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1051
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 28, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PRIVACY AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
Ed Chau, Chair
SB
1051 (Hancock) - As Amended June 14, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 37-0
SUBJECT: Vehicles: parking enforcement: video image evidence
SUMMARY: Authorizes the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
(AC Transit), until January 1, 2022, to install and operate
forward-facing cameras on public transit vehicles to enforce
parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Authorizes AC Transit to install forward-facing cameras on AC
Transit-owned buses for the purpose of recording and enforcing
parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes
until January 1, 2022.
2)Requires AC Transit, prior to issuing parking violations, to
issue only warning notices for 30 days and make a public
SB 1051
Page 2
announcement of the enforcement program at least 30 days prior
to commencement of issuing parking violations.
3)Requires a contracted law enforcement agency that is by
qualified by AC Transit to issue parking citations, to also
review video image recordings for the purpose of determining
whether a parking violation occurred in a transit-only traffic
lane.
4)Specifies that a contracted law enforcement agency for AC
Transit is required to issue a notice of a parking violation
to the registered owner of a vehicle within 15 calendar days
of the date of the violation.
5)Specifies that a violation of an ordinance enacted by AC
Transit and occurring in a transit-only traffic lane in the
recordings that is observed by a designated employee of AC
Transit is subject to a civil penalty.
6)Requires the notice of violation to include:
a) a statement indicating that payment is required within
21 calendar days from the date of citation issuance, and
the procedure to pay the parking penalty or contest the
SB 1051
Page 3
citation;
b) the date, time, and location of the violation, the
vehicle license number, registration expiration date if
visible, the color of the vehicle, and, if possible, the
make of the vehicle; and
c) information regarding the process for requesting review
of the video image evidence along with the notice of
parking violation.
1)Requires the notice of parking violation, or copy of the
notice, to be considered a record kept in the ordinary course
of business of AC Transit and shall be prima facie evidence of
the facts contained in the notice.
2)Requires the registered owner of the cited vehicle to be
permitted to review the video image evidence of the alleged
violation during normal business hours at no cost.
3)Permits the video image evidence to be retained for up to six
months from the date the information was first obtained, or 60
days after final disposition of the citation, whichever date
is later, after which time the information shall be destroyed,
as specified.
SB 1051
Page 4
4)Specifies that 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 must be destroyed within 15 days after the information
was first obtained.
5)Authorizes the contracted law enforcement agency for AC
Transit to contract with a private vendor for the processing
of notices of parking violations and delinquent violations,
and requires AC Transit to maintain overall control and
supervision of the program.
6)Requires AC Transit to provide to the transportation and
judiciary committees of the Legislature an evaluation of the
enforcement system's effectiveness, impact on privacy, cost to
implement, and generation of revenue, no later than January 1,
2021.
7)Expands the definition of "local agency" to include AC Transit
in addition to the City and County of San Francisco (San
Francisco).
8)Makes legislative findings and declarations related to the
SB 1051
Page 5
necessity of a special statute for AC Transit, and states that
in order to protect the individual privacy rights of those
individuals depicted in video camera footage relating to
parking violations, it is necessary that this act limit the
public's right of access to the images captured by an
automated parking control device installed on AC Transit-owned
public transit vehicles.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes San Francisco to install automated forward-facing
parking control devices on city-owned public transit vehicles
for the purpose of capturing parking violations occurring in
transit-only traffic lanes. (Vehicle Code (VC) Sections 40240
and 40241)
2)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. (VC 40240 (h))
3)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. (VC 40240 (a))
4)Establishes 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. AC
Transit is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors
elected by East Bay voters to four year terms. This Board has
full power to conduct all business of the District including:
SB 1051
Page 6
the right to acquire, construct, own, operate, and control
transit facilities; to fix rates; and to establish routes and
levels of service. (Public Utilities Code Section 24501)
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill has been keyed nonfiscal by
the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill authorizes AC Transit to
adopt as a five-year pilot program an existing parking
enforcement program operating in San Francisco that uses
forward-facing cameras affixed to city-owned buses to issue
parking tickets for vehicles illegally stopped in transit-only
lanes. This measure is sponsored by AC Transit.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "SB 1051 will
give the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit)
authority to use forward facing cameras to enforce parking
violations in the East Bay. In 2007, legislation (AB 101, Ma)
authorized a pilot program in San Francisco to enforce parking
violations in transit-only traffic lanes through the use of
video cameras.
". . . the program has successfully managed to improve bus
reliability and reduce the frequency of illegal parking.
There were no privacy concerns that emerged from the use of
video cameras and the program did not function as a revenue
raiser for the City. . . This is a particularly acute safety
and access issue for those individuals who have disabilities
SB 1051
Page 7
or need extra assistance with the boarding process, like
children or the elderly. . .
". . . SB 1051 does not add a major responsibility to any
state agency. It simply expands existing law to allow AC
Transit to implement a program that has been demonstrated to
work."
3)AC Transit . AC Transit operates an extensive network of
public transit routes that cover 13 cities in Alameda and
Contra Costa Counties. According to AC Transit's website, the
total area served by AC Transit is approximately 390 square
miles, with a population of about 1.4 million.
AC Transit is currently building a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line
along a corridor from Berkeley to San Leandro that aims to
increase reliability and reduce travel times by utilizing a
transit-only lane for most of the 9.5 mile route with stops at
raised station platforms. Service is expected to begin in
November 2017. This bill is intended to maximize the utility
of the forthcoming BRT by authorizing a TOLE program to deter
parking violations in the new transit-only lane.
4)Transit-Only Lane Enforcement (TOLE) program . AB 101 (Ma),
Chapter 377, Statutes of 2007, established the initial TOLE
pilot program through 2011, which authorized San Francisco to
install automated forward-facing parking control devices on
city-owned public transit vehicles for the purpose of taking
video images of parking violations occurring in designated
transit-only lanes. Using TOLE, vehicles illegally parked or
stopped within a dedicated transit lane can have their license
plate captured by a video camera on a passing bus and a
citation mailed to the registered owner. TOLE cameras were
originally installed in 2009 on 30 city-owned buses that
operated in San Francisco's network of transit-only lanes.
SB 1051
Page 8
Four years later, AB 1041 (Ma), Chapter 325, Statutes of 2011,
expanded the program to authorize photo enforcement on any
lanes designated as transit-only as opposed to a pre-defined
list of specific streets in anticipation of the planned
expansion of the transit-only lane network. As of 2014, the
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), states
that they have installed TOLE cameras on their entire fleet of
over 800 vehicles.
In a March 2015 TOLE Pilot Program Evaluation report submitted
to the Legislature by SFMTA, they state that the program has
been a deterrent to drivers who might otherwise obstruct San
Francisco's transit-only lanes. The report states that "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% in 2011 to 1% in 2014. . . this
program is a strong success and has improved safety and
reliability for Muni customers and other roadway users." In
2014, 5% of all parking citations issued in 2014 in San
Francisco were TOLE citations.
5)Privacy-related elements of the TOLE program . According to
SFMTA, the TOLE camera data is limited to transit-only lane
parking enforcement. Recorded footage is kept on a dedicated
solid state hard drive for the TOLE program. The authorizing
statute requires that the video footage only be used to
determine whether or not a parking violation occurred in a
transit-only lane, and that the registered owner of the car
cited for a violation has a statutory right to view the
footage. Video footage may be retained for up to six months,
although footage that does not contain evidence of a parking
violation in a transit-only traffic lane must be destroyed
within 15 days of collect. SFMTA states that they have
received zero privacy complaints to-date about the TOLE
SB 1051
Page 9
program.
6)Arguments in support . According to the bill's sponsor, AC
Transit: "given the issues experienced in San Francisco with
vehicles illegally stopped in bus only lanes, AC Transit is
sponsoring SB 1051 in order to have this authority in place
before [BRT] service begins."
7)Related legislation . SB 998 (Wieckowski) would create an
infraction for parking in a transit-only traffic lane. SB 998
is scheduled for hearing in the Assembly Transportation
Committee on June 27, 2016.
SB 218 (Huff) would have prohibited the use of stop-sign cameras
by the Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority. SB 218
failed passage in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
8)Previous legislation . AB 1287 (Chiu), Chapter 485, Statutes of
2015, removed the sunset on the authority 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 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 San
Francisco to establish a pilot program for video enforcement
of parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes which
expired January 1, 2012.
SB 1051
Page 10
9)Suggested Committee amendment . Because this bill creates a
pilot program and requires AC Transit to submit a report to
the transportation and judiciary committees of the Legislature
evaluating the effectiveness of the program - including its
impact on privacy - the Committee and author may wish to
consider amending this bill to include this Committee in the
list of report recipients.
Page 5, line 4, after the word "transportation" add ",
privacy"
10)Double-referral . This bill was double-referred to the
Assembly Transportation Committee, where it was heard on June
21, 2016, and passed out 16-0.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) (sponsor)
Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC)
SB 1051
Page 11
California Public Parking Association (CPPA)
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by: Jessica Langtry & Hank Dempsey / P. & C.P.
/ (916) 319-2200