BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1287 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 1287 (Chiu) - As Amended April 29, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Transportation |Vote:|10 - 4 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill deletes the January 1, 2016, sunset on the City and County of San Francisco's transit authority to do automated enforcement of parking violations in transit-only traffic lanes and expands the authority to allow automated enforcement of AB 1287 Page 2 other violations. Specifically, this bill: 1)Expands the city's existing authority to use forward-facing cameras on transit vehicles for recording all parking violations in transit-only lanes to include violations related to driving in a transit-only lane and crossing a double-yellow line to enter or exit a transit-only lane, and violations related to blocking or obstructing an intersection or a railroad or rail transit crossing. 2)Requires the city to make a public announcement of the expansion of the program at least 30 days prior to starting to issue notices of violation for all violations that were not previously subject to automated enforcement, and to issue only warning notices for 30 days for those violations. 3)Subjects recorded violations related to driving in a transit-only lane and crossing a double-yellow line to enter or exit a transit-only lane, and violations related to blocking or obstructing an intersection or a railroad or rail transit crossing, to a civil penalty of no more than $100. 4)Requires the DMV to refuse to renew the registration of a vehicle if the registered owner or lessee has received a notice of delinquent violation and the owner has not paid the violation penalty and any late payment fees. 5)Requires the city, by January 1, 2019, to report to legislative policy committees on transportation on the effectiveness, in reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities, of automated enforcement of violations related to blocking or obstructing an intersection. AB 1287 Page 3 FISCAL EFFECT: One-time special fund costs of around $200,000 to DMV for programming modifications. COMMENTS: 1)Background. AB 101 (Ma) Chapter 377, Statutes of 2007, authorized the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA or Muni), until January 1, 2012, to initiate a pilot program to equip transit vehicles with forward-facing parking control devices to record images of vehicles parked in transit-only lanes and issue parking citations based on that video evidence. The program was designed to improve the safety, reliability, and performance of SFMTA transit vehicles using San Francisco's 26 miles of transit-only lanes. Based on the results of the initial pilot and an evaluation report to the Legislature, AB 1041 (Ma), Chapter 325, Statutes of 2011, extended the sunset on the program through January 1, 2016, and required SFMTA to submit another report by March 1, 2015, on the effectiveness of the program and its impacts on privacy. SFMTA submitted the report as required, which indicated that the program has had success, particularly in terms of reducing the number of repeat violators. 2)Purpose. AB 1287 eliminates the sunset on Muni's Transit-Only Lane Enforcement (TOLE) program and expands the program to allow for automated enforcement of all parking violations, not just those occurring in transit-only lanes. AB 1287 additionally allows cameras on Muni vehicles to be used to AB 1287 Page 4 enforce violations related to driving in a transit-only lane or crossing a double-yellow line to enter or exit a transit-only lane and "blocking the box" violations. According to the author, the intent of AB 1287 is to "permanently establish and enhance the existing San Francisco-only pilot program to improve transit service, safety, and reliability. 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 author further states that AB 1287 will allow an effective program to continue and also "enable strategic evolution of the program using proven technology." 3)Opposition. The Automobile Club of Southern California and AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah argue: "Under AB 1287, the violation for 'blocking the box' would no longer be an infraction (crime), but rather a civil violation subject to a civil penalty. This is an important distinction since crimes must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The burden under this newly established administrative hearing will be preponderance of the evidence, a significantly lower standard. In addition, enforcement by camera/video may not capture the full nature of the circumstances surrounding the alleged violation. We can envision circumstances where a live officer would forego enforcement of this section even though a driver technically violated the section because a vehicle on the other side of the intersection stopped unexpectedly, perhaps to back into a parking space or because a person opened their door to enter/exit their vehicle. A camera may not capture this on tape, whereas a live officer would be able to visualize the entire scene when making their decision whether to cite the driver or not." Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 1287 Page 5