Public Works Agency
www.santa-ana.gov/pw
Item # 27
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
August 4, 2026
TOPIC: Resolution Requesting the California State Legislature to Amend Assembly Bill 645 Speed Safety System Pilot Program
AGENDA TITLE
Resolution Requesting the California State Legislature to Amend Assembly Bill 645 to Authorize the City of Santa Ana to Establish a Speed Safety System Pilot Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt a Resolution requesting that the California State Legislature amend Assembly Bill 645 (Friedman) to authorize eligibility for the City of Santa Ana to establish and operate a Speed Safety System Pilot Program pending future Council approval.
RESOLUTION NO. 2026-XXX entitled A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF SANTA ANA REQUESTING THAT THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE AMEND ASSEMBLY BILL 645 (FRIEDMAN) TO AUTHORIZE THE
CITY OF SANTA ANA TO ESTABLISH A SPEED SAFETY SYSTEM PILOT
PROGRAM
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: No
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
At the regular meeting of April 21, 2026, the City Council discussed a Councilmember- Requested Item (Exhibit 1) and directed staff to draft a resolution requesting the California State Legislature to amend Assembly Bill (AB) 645 authorizing and enabling Santa Ana to establish and implement a Speed Safety System Pilot Program. Enacted in 2023, AB 645 (Exhibit 2) authorized six (6) California jurisdictions to establish automated Speed Safety System Pilot Programs through January 1, 2032. In 2024, Senate Bill (SB) 1297 (Exhibit 3) expanded that authority to include the City of Malibu after the State Legislature determined Malibu faced unique roadway safety challenges warranting participation in the pilot program.
Through the City’s adopted policy and implementation framework, including the Vision Zero Action Plan, the General Plan Mobility Element, and the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), the City is investing significantly in street safety education, traffic infrastructure enhancements, and targeted enforcement to curb speeding and unsafe driving behaviors on the City’s roadways. Despite these initiatives, excessive vehicle speed remains the primary factor in fatal and severe injury traffic collisions in Santa
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Ana, a factor similarly experienced by communities throughout California. These factors, as well as several recent high-profile excessive speed-related crashes that resulted in multiple fatalities, prompted the City Council to direct staff to prepared a City Resolution (Exhibit 4) requesting authorization from the State Legislature to enable the City to participate in the pilot program.
BACKGROUND
On October 13, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 645, establishing California's first Automated Speed Safety System Pilot Program. The Legislature found that excessive speed is a major contributing factor in fatal and serious injury collisions and that automated speed enforcement, when combined with engineering improvements and public education, can significantly reduce speeding, improve traffic safety, and prevent traffic-related fatalities and injuries. The Legislature further found that automated enforcement can improve consistency and fairness in traffic enforcement while reducing reliance on discretionary traffic stops. These findings form the policy basis for the pilot program. AB 645 authorizes only the Cities of Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach, and the City and County of San Francisco to establish pilot programs through January 1, 2032.
Following the tragic deaths of four Pepperdine University students on Pacific Coast Highway in October 2023, the City of Malibu sought authority from the Legislature to establish its own automated speed enforcement (ASE) program. In September 2024, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 1297, authorizing Malibu to deploy up to five automated speed safety systems. In approving the legislation, the Legislature recognized Malibu's documented history of fatal and serious injury crashes, unique roadway characteristics, and limitations associated with traditional police enforcement.
SB 1297 establishes a clear legislative precedent that additional California cities with demonstrated safety needs may be added to the pilot program through subsequent legislation.
According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, Santa Ana ranks among California's highest population cities for pedestrian and bicyclist injury collisions. With population of over 310,000 residents, dense urban roadway network, adopted policy framework, and similar traffic safety challenges, Santa Ana is well-positioned to pursue similar legislative authority for a local ASE pilot program.
This need is further intensified as a result of two recent fatal speed-related collisions in the City. In April 2025, five young adults were killed in a single-vehicle crash on Segerstrom Avenue after the vehicle lost control while traveling at excessive speeds (estimated over 70 mph) on a street segment with a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour. Less than four months later, another fatal speed-related collision occurred approximately one-half mile away on Segerstrom Avenue near Bear Street that was Resolution Requesting Legislature to Amend Assembly Bill 645 Speed Safety System Pilot Program
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also attributable to reckless driving and excessive speed on a street segment with a posted speed limit of 40 miles per hour.
These tragedies underscore the continuing fatality risks associated with excessive speeding and reinforce the need for additional speed management strategies beyond traditional enforcement.
AUTOMATED SPEED ENFORCEMENT
Automated Speed Safety Systems utilize radar or laser technology together with high- resolution cameras to detect speeding vehicles and photograph the rear license plate.
Citations issued under AB 645 are civil, not criminal, in nature and include administrative review and appeal rights.
Unlike traditional enforcement, automated systems provide continuous enforcement at locations with documented speeding and crash histories. Operation of the system and enforcement activities are managed by Public Works or Transportation agencies, not law enforcement agencies.
If the City is authorized to establish a pilot program, the number and locations of Speed Safety Systems would be evaluated and recommended based on documented collision history, speeding data, statutory requirements, and engineering analysis. Any proposed camera locations would be presented to the City Council as part of a future implementation plan.
AB 645 also contains robust privacy protections, including:
Capturing of rear license plate images only
Prohibition on facial recognition technology
Strict data retention requirements
Confidentiality of photographs and administrative records Independent oversight and auditing requirements
Restrictions prohibiting data sharing except as required by law.
AB 645 recognizes that traditional traffic enforcement has historically produced disparate impacts in some communities and identifies automated speed enforcement as a means of providing more consistent, objective, and predictable enforcement.
The legislation also requires:
Public outreach
Public review of system policies
Civil liberties assessments
Privacy protections
Low-income fine reductions
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Diversion programs for qualifying individuals
Annual reporting regarding program effectiveness and equity.
If authorized, participation in the pilot program would provide Santa Ana with an additional evidence-based safety tool that complements ongoing investments in roadway improvements.
Early results from cities whose automated speed enforcement programs are either fully operational (San Francisco, 33 cameras) or actively enforcing (Oakland, 35 cameras) have shown approximately a 73% and 72% reduction, respectively, in excessive speeding (10 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit) at camera locations.
NEXT STEPS IF APPROVED
If the City Council adopts the proposed Resolution, the next steps are:
1. Transmit the Resolution to Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, Senator Tom Umberg, the Governor's Office, the League of California Cities, and other appropriate legislative representatives requesting legislation to authorize Santa Ana's participation in the Speed Safety System Pilot Program.
2. Coordinate with the City's legislative advocates to support the introduction and advancement of legislation during the 2027 legislative session.
3. Monitor the progress of the legislation and provide periodic updates to the City Council regarding significant milestones.
4. If legislation is enacted, return to the City Council with a comprehensive implementation plan that includes:
oA proposed Speed Safety System Use Policy;
oA Speed Safety System Impact Report;
oPublic outreach and community engagement plan;
oRecommended camera locations based on collision and speed data; oProcurement strategy and vendor selection;
oDetailed capital, operating cost estimates and funding strategy, oEnforcement strategy; and
oAn implementation schedule consistent with AB 645 requirements.
5. Following City Council approval of the implementation plan, complete procurement, conduct the required public information campaign, install the systems, and begin the statutory 60-day warning period before issuing citations, as required by AB 645.
If the Legislature adds Santa Ana to the Automated Speed Safety System Pilot Program, the City Council would still have full discretion to decide whether, and how, to implement a program through future approvals.
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, Section 15061(b)(3), the proposed pilot program is exempt from further review. Adoption of a Resolution requesting the California State Legislature to amend AB 645 to authorize the City of Santa Ana to establish a Speed Safety System Pilot Program has no potential to result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change to the environment.
Any future implementation of an automated Speed Safety System would be subject to separate environmental review, as appropriate, prior to approval.
ANTICIPATED FUTURE FISCAL IMPACT
There is no immediate fiscal impact associated with this action. If the State Legislature amends Assembly Bill 645, adding Santa Ana to the Automated Speed Safety System Pilot Program, then staff will have to perform additional due diligence and develop comprehensive plans to implement a fully compliant program. Other cities participating in the pilot program identified the following costs:
Long Beach Glendale Los Angeles Malibu
Proposed Deployment 36 Cameras 18 Cameras 125 Cameras 5 Cameras Year 1 Start-up Costs $835,000 $900,000 $500,000 $2,086,895 Annual Operating Costs $1,630,000 $1,000,000 $7,950,000 $1,010,000 San
Francisco San Jose Oakland
Proposed Deployment 56 Cameras 66 Cameras 36 Cameras
Year 1 Start-up Costs n/a n/a $450,000
Annual Operating Costs $3,100,000 $3,400,000 $2,500,000 Furthermore, staff would have to fully assess and determine staff impacts and enforcement costs.
Staff has reviewed implementation efforts currently underway in participating peer cities to provide an initial assessment of implementation considerations for Santa Ana. Among the current California pilot jurisdictions, Long Beach and Glendale (both in the deployment phase) provide the strongest and most comparable implementation models for Santa Ana. Malibu provides the most current example of implementation costs.
Both Long Beach and Glendale administer their programs through their Public Works/Traffic Engineering departments using a turnkey vendor model that includes camera equipment, maintenance, software, and enforcement processing. Based on information provided by these agencies, staff estimates that a future Santa Ana program, assuming six initial enforcement locations (12 cameras) as prioritized in the Vision Zero Plan, would have an initial start-up cost of approximately $2 million and Resolution Requesting Legislature to Amend Assembly Bill 645 Speed Safety System Pilot Program
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estimated annual operating costs of approximately $1.5 to $2.0 million, including vendor services, staffing, and administrative expenses.
While these cities provide the most comparable implementation models for estimating program costs, neither city has available data for citation revenue but have indicated that citation revenue is expected to offset operating costs. San Francisco is currently the only California pilot jurisdiction reporting revenue from paid enforcement. The City of San Francisco has reported citation revenue of $1.2M in the first month of paid enforcement with a 56 camera system.
Based on San Francisco's first month of paid enforcement, a six-location (12 camera) program in Santa Ana has the potential to generate $257,000 in the first month of enforcement if violation rates and collection rates were comparable. Actual revenues would depend on local traffic volumes, speeding behavior, payment rates, program maturity, and the effectiveness of the program in reducing speeding over time. The program’s efficacy, if successful, will likely limits the City’s ability to offset the on-going expenditures associated with the program.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Councilmember Bacerra Requested Item
2. Assembly Bill 645 Text
3. Senate Bill 1297 Text
4. Resolution No. 2026-XXX
Submitted By: Rodolfo Rosas, P.E., Acting Executive Director of Public Works Agency Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager