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Board moves to expand vehicle telematics across city fleet as part of Vision Zero; ordinance passes as amended
Summary
The Board approved an ordinance requiring telematics (vehicle-tracking) systems in city fleets covering the majority of roughly 7,800 vehicles to improve safety and accountability under the Vision Zero initiative; the measure passed unanimously as amended on first reading.
An ordinance requiring installation and reporting of telematic vehicle‑tracking systems across most of the city’s fleet passed the Board of Supervisors on June 7, 2016, as an amendment championed by Supervisor Norman Yee (referred to in the transcript as Supervisor Yee). The ordinance extends telematics into the majority of the city’s fleets — which Yee described as “more than 7,800 vehicles” — while excluding law enforcement vehicles for now to allow further discussions on details.
“I directed the budget legislative analyst to produce a report and held a hearing on this report,” Supervisor Yee said in explaining the measure’s safety, environmental and litigation‑cost benefits. He cited litigation-and-settlement costs tied to the city fleet over the prior five years and said telematics pilots had reduced collisions in comparable efforts.
The board approved two minor language amendments proposed by Yee to align the ordinance with Vision Zero goals (changing references such as “accident” to “collision”), and the ordinance passed unanimously as amended on first reading.
Why it matters: Telematics systems collect GPS and vehicle‑operation data such as speed and braking; proponents said the technology can be used for driver training, to reduce collisions and to improve environmental outcomes. The measure affects the way city departments monitor and report vehicle usage and will produce a city administrator report on vehicle use derived from telematics data.
Next steps: Departments will implement telematics installations per the ordinance timetable; the board referenced a future report to include possible inclusion of law enforcement vehicles after further work by the city administrator.
