This conversation aired in the October 27, 2025 episode of Crosscurrents.
Right now, many people are feeling hesitant to be out and about around the Bay. And we live in a region that is much more interconnected than it can sometimes appear.
So today we’re getting an update from KALW’s transportation reporter. We’ll hear about crack downs on people living in RV’s. But first, the saga of new speed cameras in San Francisco.
Click the button above to listen.
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Q&A Transcript
Hana Baba: Thanks again for being here, Zain.
Zain Iqbal: Thanks for having me Hana.
Hana: Alright first, so last month we talked about public transit. And then this month we’re going to find out what’s happening on the roads. So what is going on?
Zain: So first, I want to talk about speed cameras in San Francisco. It was one of the bigger stories earlier in the month, and that’s because the SFMTA posted a bunch of interesting data on the city’s new speed camera pilot.
Hana: Right the speed cameras, we heard about this but I don’t think I’ve seen one yet. Tell us about them.
Zain: Yeah, so the city installed 33 speed cameras as a pilot—essentially a test run—at specific intersections across the city. And this project started in March of last year.
And for those that don’t know, the cameras take a picture of your license plate if you’re going over the posted speed limit. And then the SFMTA can issue you a ticket.
Hana: Ok, so what’s the backstory here?
Zain: The backstory is this law. It’s AB 645, That was passed in 2023, And it allowed for five California cities to test the use of speed safety cameras, and San Francisco was actually the first city to take advantage of the law.
Since March, the SFMTA has had crews out working installing cameras across the what the city calls its “High Injury Network.”
Hana: What’s that?
Zain: Those are streets the SFMTA says make up 70% of accidents that cause severe injuries or fatalities.The law also says cities can use speed cameras in school zones, or—interestingly enough—even on streets with a documented history of sideshows.
So after the cameras went up and were turned on, there was a 60-day period over the summer where drivers got warnings for speeding. And then in August, the SFMTA started issuing fines.
Hana: Ok, so how much are these fines?
Zain: You get a warning if you’re going between 1 and 10 miles an hour over the posted speed limit, but the fines, $50 for example, start if you’re going 11 miles per hour and above—and they go up depending on how much you’re speeding.
Something else that is interesting: you get a discount if you’re considered “low income” or if you are receiving certain public benefits.
Hana: Ok, so the SFMTA has been studying the results. What did they find?
Apparently the cameras are working! People are slowing down.
The study looked at data at 15 speed camera locations out of the 33 in the city before and after the SFMTA installed the cameras. And it showed that speeding decreased by about 70% on average at these locations.
Hana: 70% is huge.
Zain: Yeah, one location that I heard about was a speed camera that was installed on Fulton Street from 2nd Avenue to Arguello Boulevard in the Inner Richmond. So there’s this hill right before the camera where drivers can gain a lot of speed and so people were just flying through that intersection. And before the speed cameras were turned on, they found about 10% cars were speeding. After the cameras were installed, only about 2% of cars were cited for speeding.
Hana: Ok, so Zain, wait, I see cameras at stoplights all the time though. Aren’t they the same?
Zain: These are different. You are seeing red light cameras. But this program is specifically focused on speed cameras alone.
Hana: Ok, so are these speed cameras coming anywhere else in the Bay?
Zain: San Jose is actually kicking off its pilot program this month. And Oakland is installing and testing its cameras, which they say will be turned on by the end of the year.
Hana: All right, so the big takeaway is San Francisco is going to see some slower streets. What else is happening on the roads?
Zain: Well, let me frame it as what isn’t happening, and that is solo drivers who have those Clean Air Vehicle decals on their electric cars or hybrids? As of this past October 1st, they are not allowed to use the HOV lane or carpool lane anymore.
Hana: I know those stickers well. So what do you mean it ended? I didn’t even realize it was temporary? Why did it end?
Zain: Yeah, so they were kind of a badge of honor for low-emission vehicles and EVs. Those colorful, reflective stickers that said ACCESS OK in capital letters.
Hana: Those cars zoomed past us.
Zain: Right? And it allowed folks to drive in the carpool or the HOV lane, even if it was only just the driver in the car. While this was a state program, California had to get permission from the federal government to do it, because the feds manage freeway regulations.
This year the feds decided not to renew it, along with a bunch of other clean air policies. And the 15-year program expired at midnight on September 30th.
So that means those HOV lanes will only be for high-occupancy vehicles—and that means 3 or more people.
But the California Highway Patrol said there will be a 60-day grace period where they plan on educating drivers, although they could still give tickets for certain violations.
Hana: All right, so what does that mean for drivers who still have those stickers?
Zain: Well, they're kinda of nothing more than bumper stickers. The California DMV is now encouraging drivers to carpool if they want to go in the HOV lane.
But, if you are worried about more traffic, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission says they don’t believe they will see any impacts by those cars joining the regular lanes again.
And of course, because the stickers are expiring means the toll discounts those drivers benefited from are also going away.
And incidentally, all of this comes on the heels of several other incentives that the feds are eliminating. So, remember the Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed over the summer?
So that bill eliminated a $7,500 dollar tax credit for people who want to buy an EV.
Hana: Ok, that sounds like an expected thing from that bill.
Zain: But the other thing drivers can do if they want to drive in that lane is join the Casual Carpool. And it’s a quirky Bay Area program that’s actually been around for a long time.
It took a pause during the pandemic and in the years after. But recently a group of volunteers decided to bring it back. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the clean air decal program ending, but it sure is timely.
Hana: Right, it’s just where people line up in a specific spot and they just agree to ride together.
Zain: Yeah, it’s a community effort. It came about in San Francisco and Washington DC too, in the 1970s. And the idea is that if a driver and two passengers can meet up at a specific location in the East Bay during carpool lane hours, then they can easily form that “casual carpool” and use the HOV lane to get into the city.
And so the SFMTA for example doesn’t support the Casual Carpool, but they do support the program by providing curb space for pick-up and drop off downtown.
Hana: All right so Zain, any other ongoing car or driver’s stories or stories that our listeners should be keeping their eye on?
Zain: Yes, and this has to do with parking, specifically RV parking in San Francisco. So starting November 1, RVs and other large vehicles parked for over 2 hours throughout the city may be ticketed or towed. Even in a residential neighborhood.
And that’s unless you have something the SFMTA is issuing called the Large Vehicle Refuge Permit. And the idea is the city will eventually work with permitted RV residents to find housing and services.
Hana: That sounds like a big policy change and sounds like it may have something to do with homelessness?
Zain: Well, the idea is to end folks using RVs as permanent homes on the city streets.
Back in July, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie signed legislation that seeks to address the issue of families and individuals living in vehicles.
The city is calling it “vehicular homelessness” and the mayor’s office feels these people are taking up public space throughout the city. Mayor Lurie found some $13 million in the city budget that will fund a few programs, including getting RV residents into housing and a vehicle buyback program.
To qualify, someone must have lived in an RV in San Francisco before May 31st of this year and have evidence to support that claim.
So, for most, that means being one of 437 license plates that are already registered in what the city calls its “large vehicle database.”
Hana: And what kind of reaction have you seen to this plan?
Zain: There’s been significant pushback from housing advocates as well as RV residents. They’re showing up with a lot to say at SFMTA meetings.
They say RV residents already have homes. Their homes just happen to be on wheels, often because they can’t afford an apartment or home, or any shelter, in San Francisco. Advocates have said these residents are much safer than people experiencing chronic homelessness such as “sleeping hard” on the streets or in tents.
They also claim the mayor’s plan to promise rapid supportive or transitional housing to these folks is unrealistic.
In fact there could be people who started parking their RVs in San Francisco after May 31, and they wouldn’t be eligible for this program.
Also, I found that some residents who have lived in their RVs in San Francisco for years discovered they weren’t even in the city's database in the first place. And that means, they will have to go through an appeals process to even get a permit.
Hana: So it sounds like the city still needs to fine tune this plan, right?
Zain: Yeah, and so the permits are temporary: they will last for six months, until the city finds shelter for residents or until RV residents find shelter themselves. There is a provision for extending the permit for another six months if residents can’t get into temporary or permanent housing.
Hana: So how are other Bay Area cities tackling this program?
Zain: Well, San Jose has taken a different approach. While they have also banned RV street parking, they have a couple of large safe parking sites for RVs.
But it strikes me that San Francisco Mayor Lurie is washing his hands of the debate surrounding RVs, as neither city nor the SFMTA have any plans to create a safe parking site for residents who live in their RVs.
And so people using their RV as shelter might be forced to look further out in the Bay Area for parking, unless a city has an RV parking restriction, and many cities near SF, like Daly City and South San Francisco, for example, already have those laws on the books.
Hana: Ok, lots of stuff to keep our eye on, that’s our transportation beat reporter Zain Iqbal, thanks Zain.
ZAIN: Thank you, Hana.