BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2729|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2729
Author: Ammiano (D)
Amended: 8/2/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 6-2, 6/29/10
AYES: Lowenthal, DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Huff, Harman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-24, 5/6/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vehicles: automated traffic enforcement system:
City and
County of San Francisco
SOURCE : City and County of San Francisco
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
DIGEST : This bill authorizes, until January 1, 2014, the
City and County of San Francisco to use an automated
traffic enforcement system (i.e., red light cameras) to
enforce a prohibition against turning at a specified
intersection.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes the use of automated
traffic enforcement systems at railroad crossings and
intersections to record violations of unlawful grade
crossings and red light running.
CONTINUED
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Only a governmental agency, in cooperation with a law
enforcement agency, may operate an automated enforcement
system. "Operating" a system means that a governmental
agency does the following:
1. Develops uniform guidelines for screening and issuing
violations, processing and storing confidential
information, and selecting locations where automated
enforcements systems will be utilized.
2. Establishes procedures to ensure compliance with those
guidelines.
3. Certifies that the equipment is properly installed and
calibrated and is operating properly.
4. Ensures that the equipment is regularly inspected.
5. Inspects and maintains signs that warn drivers that an
automated enforcement system is in use. These signs
must be visible to traffic approaching an intersection
where an automated enforcement system operates and
clearly identify the presence of the camera system at
that intersection.
6. Oversees the establishment or change of signal phases
and timing. The yellow light change interval must be
established in accordance with the Manual on Uniform
Traffic Control Devices, which is maintained by the
California Department of Transportation.
7. Maintains controls necessary to assure that only those
citations that law enforcement personnel have reviewed
and approved are delivered to violators.
A governmental agency may contract out its duties to
certify that the equipment is installed and operating
properly and to ensure that the equipment is regularly
inspected, provided the agency maintains overall control
and supervision of the system.
Prior to entering into a contract with a vendor to
implement an automated enforcement system, the legislative
body of the local government (e.g., city council or county
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board of supervisors) must conduct a public hearing on the
proposed use of the system. A contract between a
governmental agency and a vendor of automated enforcement
equipment may not include a provision for payment to the
vendor based on the number of citations issued or the
amount of revenue generated, unless the contract was
entered into prior to January 1, 2004.
Prior to issuing citations, an agency utilizing an
automated traffic enforcement system must make a public
announcement of the system and issue only warning notices
for 30 days. A peace officer or "qualified employee" of a
law enforcement agency reviews the photographs and issues
citations, as appropriate. A citation involves a "notice
to appear," which must use a form approved by the Judicial
Council and contain particular information, including the
name and address of the registered owner of the vehicle
identified in the photograph, the license plate number of
the vehicle, the violation charged, and the time and place
when the person may appear in court. A notice to appear
must be mailed within 15 days of the alleged violation to
the current address of the registered owner of the vehicle.
This bill:
1. Authorizes, until January 1, 2014, the City and County
of San Francisco to use an automated traffic enforcement
system to enforce a prohibition against turning from
Market Street onto the Central Freeway located at
Octavia Boulevard, provided the system meets all of the
requirements established in existing law for red light
cameras.
2. Requires the City and County, if it implements an
automated traffic enforcement system, conduct an
evaluation of the system to assess its effectiveness.
3. Requires the evaluation include the following elements:
A. For 60 days prior to installing the system,
count the total number of right turns that occur
from Market Street onto the Central Freeway, as
specified.
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B. For the period following the 60 days, allows the
City and County to implement the system provided
all the requirements of current law are met.
4. Requires San Francisco to provide a report, as
specified, to the Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee and the Assembly Transportation Committee on
the safety and traffic flow impacts that have resulted
from the use of an automated traffic enforcement system.
Comments
The Market-Octavia-Central Freeway intersection in San
Francisco is located at the juncture of three neighborhoods
with large bicycling and walking populations - the Mission,
Castro, and Hayes Valley. While right turns are prohibited
from Market Street onto the on-ramp for the Central Freeway
due to the high volume of pedestrian and bicycle traffic on
Market Street, the Market-Octavia-Central Freeway
intersection experiences a high rate of collisions due to
vehicles making unlawful right turns at the intersection
and hitting cyclists and pedestrians traveling on Market
Street toward downtown.
From 2002 to 2006, the intersection was listed among the
top five locations with the highest incidence of
automobile-bicycle collisions in the city. These
collisions have continued through 2007 sometimes with
tragic results. Market Street is considered to be San
Francisco's main street, serving as a primary walking,
cycling, driving, and public transit corridor.
In December 2007, the San Francisco Municipal
Transportation Authority (SFMTA) installed a concrete
barrier island and reflective signage to deter the illegal
turns. The intersection nevertheless experienced the
highest total number of injury collisions of any
intersection in San Francisco in 2008 with nine reported
collisions. Since the barrier was installed, the author
believes that drivers violating the law and turning
illegally are doing so willfully and that automated
enforcement is the best way to improve cyclist and
pedestrian safety at this busy intersection.
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Based on data provided by the author's office, after the
opening of Octavia Boulevard on September 9, 2005, SFMTA
observed that while the majority of drivers complied with
the prohibition on turning right onto the Central Freeway,
a sizable minority began to violate it. Traffic counts
conducted during the morning commute hours in September
2005, January 2006, and October 2006 found an average of
29.5 illegal right turns per hour. Based on those
observations, SFMTA took several engineering measures to
reduce right turns, including erecting extensive signage,
painting a white "island" on the roadway, and installing
safe-hit posts separating the bicycle lane and the
right-most vehicle lane as the lanes approach the
intersection.
Traffic counts conducted between February 2007 and May 2007
immediately following these measures revealed an average of
only two illegal right turns during the morning commute
hours, a 93 percent reduction.
Despite the reduction in the number of motorists turning
right illegally, the number of collisions between bicycles
and illegally right-turning vehicles actually increased
during that same time period. Between September 2005 and
January 2007, that intersection saw five collisions
occurring between bicyclists and right-turning vehicles, a
rate of 0.3 per month. After the installation of those
measures, six such collisions occurred between February
2007 and December 2007, an increase in the collision rate
to 0.6 per month.
In December 2007, SFMTA replaced the painted traffic island
with a raised concrete island, installed object markers on
the island, installed new safe-hits and striping
approaching the intersection, and adjusted the lane
extension markings through the intersection. Between
December 2007 and July 31, 2008, SFMTA continued to observe
very few right-turn violations (traffic count data
collected on January 15 and 16, 2008 revealed a total of
one and zero illegal turns, respectively), but collisions
continued to occur at a rate of 0.6 per month.
Related Legislation
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AB 23 (Ma), of 2008, contained nearly identical provisions
as this bill does, but did not include a sunset date or a
reporting requirement. AB 23 failed passage in the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/2/10)
City and County of San Francisco (co-source)
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (co-source)
Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association
North Mission Neighborhood Alliance
Walk San Francisco
Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/2/10)
California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit
Union
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Miller, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Tran, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Hagman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Torrico,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass, Block, Gilmore, Mendoza, Norby,
Torres, Vacancy
JJA:do 8/2/10 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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