San Francisco to add dozens of speed cameras to busiest intersections
San Francisco is one of the first cities in the Bay Area to move forward with the speed-camera project as part of a new state law.
Pedestrian safety is top of mind after this past weekend's tragic crash in West Portal that killed three members of a family waiting at a bus stop. The driver's speed is one of the factors police are looking at.
Paul Rivera, his wife, and their two-year-old daughter live on a busy corridor in the Inner Richmond.
"Constantly, we're just, like, watching cars because we're scared we're gonna get hit," said Rivera.
A few blocks away from them on Fulton and Arguello, a speeding car fatally struck a 72-year-old in January. Residents say near misses are too common.
"My wife and I were crossing the street and then I had to jump in front of the car so we wouldn't get hit," said Rivera.
It's been a years-long push by safety advocates to reach this point, with three previous attempts to pass legislation all failing at the state level. Marta Lindsey of Walk San Francisco often checks speeding cars with a handheld radar gun.
"Every mile a driver goes above 25 miles an hour, the risk for pedestrians just goes up so much," said Lindsey.
Some have expressed concern about privacy, and whether facial recognition technology will be used, but the new legislation greenlighting this pilot program bans the use of facial recognition technology.
Unlike the 13 red-light cameras in San Francisco, which can take photos of drivers, the new speed cameras will only be able to identify license plates. The goal of these new cameras to be installed is to slow down drivers. In a 30 mile per hour zone like on Fulton, cameras would initiate fines for only cars going 11 mph over the limit.
"At 40 miles an hour and a person gets hit, we are so vulnerable. There's a 75% chance that you're not going to survive or get very severely injured," said Lindsey.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will determine the 33 locations including near schools, senior centers and at locations on the "high injury network", the 12% percent of city streets that account for nearly 70% of serious injuries and fatalities.
Cities like New York have been deploying more than 2,500 speed cameras for about a decade.
"There have been some amazing results in other cities that have cameras and we've been advocating over and over to try to get them. We're really glad we finally have the chance even if it's just in the limited 5 yr pilot program," said SFMTA Program Manager Shannon Hake.
SFMTA is working together with officials from San Jose and Oakland, the two other Bay Area cities allowed to install speed cameras under AB 645.
"I think any kind of enforcement along with traffic calming measures, and increased awareness for pedestrians safety will definitely help the community," said Rivera.
Los Angeles and Long Beach are the two California cities outside of the Bay Area allowed to install speed cameras.
The SFMTA board held a meeting Tuesday and hope to hire a contractor to install the cameras by early 2025.
More information about the San Francisco speed-cameras project is available at the SFMTA website. Officials also have made a map showing where the cameras will be located.
