San Francisco launches transit lane pilot

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) launched a pilot project to enforce parking restrictions in transit-only lanes.  

On Jan. 4, the Transit Lane Enforcement Project placed forward-facing cameras on San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) vehicles to detect violations of parking restrictions in transit-only lanes and issue parking citations based on video evidence. The cameras are intended to allow traffic, including Muni vehicles, to move more quickly and efficiently through the city.  

The pilot will have an initial three-month phase, with the camera-equipped vehicles only traveling on selected streets. If the first 90 days are successful, the SFMTA will inform the state legislature and continue the pilot by proceeding to install cameras on other buses operating in transit only lanes.  

During the first 30 days of the pilot, the SFMTA will issue warnings before citations. After that, citations will be sent to the owner of the vehicle. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma introduced Assembly Bill 101, allowing for the placement of cameras on Muni vehicles to deter double parking in transit-only traffic lanes. The legislation passed in fall 2007.