Sacramento, CA – Early this morning on the Assembly Floor, legislation was passed to improve the efficiency of San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). The legislation, Assembly Bill 101, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 67-2.   AB 101, which was authored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and sponsored by Mayor Gavin Newsom, will allow San Francisco to issue parking tickets to vehicles double-parked in the city’s designated transit-only lanes based on video evidence provided from forward facing parking control cameras installed on buses.

“Its clear that improvements to Muni are desperately needed and that’s why I introduced the bill,” Assemblywoman Ma said. “My hope is that this tool can be used to clear transit lanes of cars that senselessly block buses and prevent them from running on time.”

“San Francisco is a transit first city,” said Mayor Newsom. “We maintain nearly 15 miles of transit only lanes.  Without the capacity to constantly monitor every one of these transit routes, we must rely on innovative technologies like forward facing cameras to assist with enforcement and improve on-time performance. We are appreciative of Assemblyperson Ma’s leadership on this issue.”

San Francisco’s transit lanes have been senselessly clogged by people parking their vehicles illegally.  Muni services 700,000 people per day, which is the second highest ridership in the state.  Enabling San Francisco to use cameras to issue citations will save the City resources, help the buses run on schedule, and free up transit lanes for their intended uses.  The current fine for parking in a transit lane is $100.

Amendments were taken in the Senate to address any privacy concerns that would result in the use of the cameras. The Governor now has until October 14 to sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action (in which case the bill becomes law).