(SACRAMENTO, CA) –Local communities will receive new powers to protect their streets from tour bus accidents following Governor Jerry Brown’s signature of legislation authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).
“Communities deserve a say in keeping their people safe. They can now take a more active role in preventing tragedies caused by tour buses by ensuring that more are inspected,” said Ting. “Tourism is a vital part of our local economies but we must share the road safely.”
Last November, 19 people were injured when a tour bus crashed in Union Square in San Francisco. The incident inspired Ting’s introduction of Assembly Bill (AB) 1677, which will give communities a choice to have a higher inspection rate of local tour bus fleets that operate locally.
Currently, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) inspects about 30 percent of all tour buses every 13 months. Ting’s bill enables communities to contract with CHP to increase the number of buses inspected consistent with existing safety standards required for charter tour bus company licensure by the state.
“Permitting California cities to enact their own reforms specific to their communities' needs is a real win in San Francisco, where tour buses clog the streets in certain neighborhoods,” said Brian Wiedenmeier, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. “We're grateful to our friends in Sacramento for giving city leaders a new tool to help reform this under-regulated industry.”
“We're thrilled that the Governor supported this common sense bill to expand regulation of the tour bus industry,” said Nicole Ferrara, Executive Director of Walk San Francisco. “Dozens of people have been injured or killed from poorly maintained and operated tour buses in the last three years alone in San Francisco, and while this bill cannot reverse the pain and suffering of families who lost loved ones, or survivors who still suffer the emotional and physical tolls of traffic crashes, it can prevent future brothers, sisters, parents, and grandchildren from experiencing these preventable tragedies.”
Ting’s AB 1677 is part of a tour bus safety reform package authored by Bay Area lawmakers. SB 812 by Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) was also signed by Governor Brown today. It reforms tour bus safety standards by focusing CHP inspections on tour bus companies with safety violations.
Every year in San Francisco, about 30 people lose their lives and over 200 more are seriously injured while on traveling in city streets, which is why in 2014 the city adopted Vision Zero as a policy goal to prioritize traffic safety and eliminate traffic fatalities by 2024.