Safety advocates rejoiced today as the Washington State House passed House Bill 1793, which permits Seattle to use camera enforcement to dissuade motorists from blocking crosswalks and clogging bus lanes–a frequent problem. The House vote was along party lines with Republican members in lockstep against safety and transit reliability.
On Sunday, the Washington State Senate voted 27 to 22 to move their amended version of HB 1793. Senators Lisa Wellman (Mercer Island) and Kevin Van De Wege (Sequim) were the only Democrats to vote against the bill, while Senator Sharon Brown (Kennewick) was the sole Republican to join the Democratic majority in backing the bill.
Seattle–including the Mayor, City Council, and members of the Move All Seattle Sustainably coalition–had made camera enforcement legislation a priority the last two years. Nonetheless, the bill stalled out last session due to opposition in the senate, where apparently some Senators feared they’d be paying the tickets themselves given their less than lawful driving habits.
The lack of camera enforcement has meant that the Seattle Squeeze has been worse than it needs to be since would-be bus lanes are often clogged by scofflaw motorists, as are crosswalks. In such a world, more people choose to drive and people who can’t drive, such as disabled folks, seniors, and kids, are left as second-class street users treated to daily indignity and danger of weaving between bumper-to-bumper traffic to cross the street.
After clearing the crucial hurdle in the Senate, HB 1793 returned to the House for concurrence so that the House could approve the changes. With House approval at around 3:30 this afternoon, the bill is now headed to the Governor’s desk. Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien), who authored the bill, thanked supporters for seeing the bill through before the vote. Presumably, Governor Jay Inslee will sign the bill–especially given that speeding up transit and promoting walking, rolling, and biking has a very positive climate impact.
While the two-and-a-half-year pilot program is not as broad as some safety advocates would hope, it will allow the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to install traffic cameras at intersections within a half-mile of Downtown Seattle and four miles on some street, and give $75 tickets for “blocking the box” (as obstructing crosswalks and intersections is referred to) at up to 20 intersections starting on January 1, 2021. Until then tickets would be warnings, as will the first infraction. The pilot program will expire on June 30, 2023.
Camera enforcement of bus lanes would be permitted on non-interstate highways within four miles of Downtown Seattle. This means the West Seattle Bridge and Aurora Avenue as far north as Phinney Ridge would be included for possible camera enforcement of bus lanes.
King County Metro has indicated Third Avenue would be its priority for enforcement as the busiest bus corridor in the city with more than 100,000 daily riders affected. The agency has hinted at mounting cameras on its buses as a means to implement enforcement, although we don’t yet know exactly exactly how SDOT and Metro will put their new enforcement authority into action (which is separate from the 20 intersections to get don’t block the box treatment).
