(a) Subject to subdivision (g), the City and County of San Francisco and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District may install automated forward facing parking control devices on city-owned or district-owned public transit vehicles, as defined by Section 99211 of the Public Utilities Code, for the purpose of video imaging of parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes. Citations shall be issued only for violations captured during the posted hours of operation for a transit-only traffic lane. The devices shall be angled and focused so as to capture video images of parking violations and not unnecessarily capture identifying images of other drivers, vehicles, and pedestrians. The devices shall record the date and time of the violation at the same time as the video images are captured.

(b) Prior to issuing notices of parking violations pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 40241, the City and County of San Francisco and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District shall commence a program to issue only warning notices for 30 days. The City and County of San Francisco and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District shall also make a public announcement of the program at least 30 days prior to commencement of issuing notices of parking violations.

(c) A designated employee of the City and County of San Francisco, or a contracted law enforcement agency for the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, who is qualified by the city and county or the district to issue parking citations, shall review video image recordings for the purpose of determining whether a parking violation occurred in a transit-only traffic lane. A violation of a statute, regulation, or ordinance governing vehicle parking under this code, under a federal or state statute or regulation, or under an ordinance enacted by the City and County of San Francisco or the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District occurring in a transit-only traffic lane observed by the designated employee in the recordings is subject to a civil penalty.

(d) The registered owner shall be permitted to review the video image evidence of the alleged violation during normal business hours at no cost.

(e) (1) Except as it may be included in court records described in Section 68152 of the Government Code, or as provided in paragraph (2), the video image evidence may be retained for up to six months from the date the information was first obtained, or 60 days after final disposition of the citation, whichever date is later, after which time the information shall be destroyed.

(2) Notwithstanding Section 26202.6 of the Government Code, video image evidence from forward facing automated enforcement devices that does not contain evidence of a parking violation occurring in a transit-only traffic lane shall be destroyed within 15 days after the information was first obtained.

(f) Notwithstanding Section 6253 of the Government Code, or any other law, the video image records are confidential. Public agencies shall use and allow access to these records only for the purposes authorized by this article.

(g) The authority for the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District to implement an automated enforcement system to enforce parking violations occurring in transit-only traffic lanes exists only until January 1, 2022.

(h) The following definitions shall apply for purposes of this article:

(1) “Local agency” means the City and County of San Francisco and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.

(2) “Transit-only traffic lane” means any designated transit-only lane on which use is restricted to mass transit vehicles, or other designated vehicles including taxis and vanpools, during posted times.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 427, Sec. 1. (SB 1051) Effective January 1, 2017.)