If Lee has his way, San Francisco will join other cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. by employing speed cameras to issue citations to offending motorists in school zones. But first he needs to find a legislator to draft a bill.
- They would operate in much the same way as red-light cameras, using radar to track speed and then snapping a photo of those going over the limit.
- As with red-light cameras, the new speed-trackers would capture the vehicle’s license plate along with the time, date and location
Unlike tickets that result from red light camera photos, the citations would be similar to parking tickets:
- The offending vehicle owner would be issued a $100 fine by Muni. The police would not be involved. And there would be no "add-on" fees that can quadruple the cost of the fine.
- It would not be a moving violation and would not go on the person’s driving record.
- And, as with a parking ticket, the car owner would be responsible for the fine—no matter who was driving.
As for the benefits of these cameras, "(a) 2010 meta-study of dozens of research papers on speed cameras found a uniformly positive effect on street safety, with a 30 to 40 percent reduction in crashes that cause serious injury or death following the rollout of most programs," wrote Aaron Bialick for Streetsblog SF in January.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) spokesman "Paul Rose said none of the city’s legislative representatives has offered to author the change in state law that is needed to make the cameras a reality, but that the mayor would keep pushing no matter what," write Matier and Ross.
Walk SF is supporting, including it in their "safety tool" list, as is the police, notes Batey. “It will slow people down,” SFPD Spokesperson Officer Carlos Manfredi said."
It will also help us as an investigative tool if someone is committing a crime somewhere nearby, and they happened to drive across a speed light camera. It will be able to capture a license plate, take a photo of this individual,” Manfredi said.
Next step: SFMTA will present the proposal to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.
FULL STORY: MATIER AND ROSS S.F. mayor pushing for special cameras to bust speeders
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
Fair Housing Cannot Take a Back Seat to ‘Build, Baby, Build’
If we overlook fair housing principles in the plan to build US housing back better, we risk ending up right back where we started.
LA Metro Board Approves New 710 Freeway Plan
The newest plan for the 710 corridor claims it will not displace any residents.
Austin’s Proposed EV Charging Rules Regulate Station Locations, Size
City planners say the new rules would ensure an efficient distribution of charging infrastructure across the city and prevent an overconcentration in residential areas.
Making California State Parks More Climate-Resilient
A recently released report offers recommendations for keeping state parks healthy and robust, including acquiring additional land for conservation and recreation.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.