Park in a transit or bike lane and you could get busted by a bus

Parking enforcement: It’s may not be just for cops and meter monitors anymore.

Transit buses could get in on the enforcement action.

Sponsored by Rep. Katie Jones (DFL-Mpls), HF3966 would authorize equipping transit buses with camera systems that can identify vehicles in violation of stopping or parking requirements. Then the vehicle’s owner or lessee would receive a parking-related citation.

The idea is that cameras on transit buses would be used to catch vehicles parked or stopped at a bus stop, in a transit vehicle lane or in a bike lane.

On Tuesday, the bill, as amended, stalled in the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee via voice vote.

Rep. Katie Jones

“We need to free the buses,” Jones said. “This bill empowers transit operators and local governments to work together to enforce the existing rules of transit and bike lanes.”

Steve Huser, senior government relations representative for the City of Minneapolis, said the technology would be a welcome way to speed up transit.

“We have 52 Metro Transit buses that are regularly blocked at Seventh Street and Nicollet Mall pretty much every day,” he said. “On average, bus lane blockages last two minutes. Seventh and Nicollet and Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue have blockages that reach 10 minutes three times every day.”

Ann Shikany is director of legislative and regulatory affairs for Hayden AI, a company that has created this enforcement technology.

“We’ve seen this be successful in all sorts of transit systems,” she said. For example, in New York City its use has resulted in a 40% reduction in bus stop violations, 20% fewer collisions on enforced routes, and 91% of violators receiving only one ticket.

“That indicates that this technology effectively changes driver behavior,” she said.

Rep. Jim Joy (R-Hawley) expressed concern that no specific appropriation is included in the bill, but Jones said the bill is oriented toward authorizing transit services to use the technology, not necessarily to fund it with state dollars.

“I really like this bill,” said the committee’s co-chair, Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee). “It’s a traffic and pedestrian safety issue. It’s a transit safety issue.”

But the committee’s other co-chair, Rep. Jon Koznick (R-Lakeville), is uncomfortable that there had been no testimony from transit operators about the need for the technology and about additional mandates on them.

The bill would also place limitations upon information that can be collected and retained by transit obstruction camera systems — including prohibiting data retention that makes an individual personally identifiable — and require destruction of data within 30 days if no parking-related citation or criminal investigation takes place.