The state bills Walk SF is supporting this legislative session
This blog was originally published on May 8, 2025, and has been updated to reflect the status of each bill as of June 20, 2025.
Every day, with the support of our members, Walk SF works in every way possible to win the changes needed to make our streets safe for everyone who walks in our city.
This includes working on state legislation, which can support leaps of progress locally and beyond. Our multiyear campaign to pass a state law allowing speed cameras in six California cities including San Francisco is a great example.
This legislative session, Walk SF is supporting several bills that support the kinds of street design, transit-oriented development, and traffic enforcement needed for a more pedestrian-friendly San Francisco (and beyond). Get all the details on these bills below.
AB 981: Using Intelligent Speed Assistance for the Most Reckless Speeders
Speeding is the #1 cause of severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco and statewide. In California, more than 1,000 people are killed in speeding-related traffic crashes every year and tens of thousands more are injured. And the threat is growing, with the automobile industry making bigger, heavier, more powerful vehicles than ever – with many accelerating to 60 MPH in just seconds.
That’s why in 2024, Walk SF coauthored an ‘Intelligent Speed Assistance’ bill that would require new California vehicles to alert drivers when they’re going more than 10 MPH above the speed limit. (This bill, SB 961, made it all the way to Governor Newsom, but he sadly vetoed it.)
This year, we’re supporting AB 981 (Gipson), which would use Intelligent Speed Assistance to keep incredibly dangerous drivers in check. This bill would allow ‘active’ Intelligent Speed Assistance to be installed in the vehicles of drivers who have been charged for reckless driving and speeding multiple times, preventing these drivers from speeding by having their vehicle automatically slow down when operated in excess of the speed limit.
Washington, Virginia, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. have recently passed similar bills to protect people from some of the most egregiously dangerous drivers. This would be important progress in harnessing vehicle safety technology to prevent deadly speeding. Unlike license suspensions, which often fail to deter behavior and have low compliance, speed-limiting technology directly addresses the behavior of high-risk drivers.
Status: AB 981 made it over its first hurdle and passed out of the Assembly Transportation Committee in April, but was designated as a two-year bill in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and will not be heard until 2026.
SB 720: Reforming How Red Light Cameras Work
One of the top five most dangerous driving behaviors in San Francisco is red light running, which has become even more prolific in recent years posing a threat to everyone on our streets. Red light cameras are a proven tool to reduce red light running and prevent crashes, and Walk SF has urged San Francisco to expand its use of this technology for years.
SB 720 would reform the current red light camera legislation to model how California is now implementing speed cameras.
SB 720 (Ashby) would make the state’s red light camera approach more equitable and protect driver privacy by: (1) capping fines at $100, (2) requiring reduced fines for low-income drivers, and (3) introducing new data privacy and purging requirements. The bill will also mandate that any revenue generated from the program must be used for safe streets infrastructure.
Status: Passed the Senate, now in the Assembly.
AB 1085: Cracking Down on Illegal License Plate Covers
Extreme reckless driving is incredibly dangerous – and holding drivers accountable becomes a lot harder when they’re using license plate covers. Assemblymember Catherine Stefani has seen how this is affecting San Francisco and authored AB 1085 to help prevent this by raising penalties for manufacturers or retailers of illegal license plate covers to $10,000 per day.
The bill also clarifies what is considered a license plate cover to include tinted, shaded, and flipper-style plate covers.
Status: Passed the Assembly, now in the Senate.
AB 382: Setting Speed Limits in All School Zones to 20 MPH
It may surprise you that we had to fight for this, but back in 2011, Walk SF’s led a successful campaign for San Francisco to create 15 MPH zones around all K-12 public and private schools citywide for schools on non-arterial streets (note: arterial streets near schools are exempt from this law, which is something on Walk SF’s radar).
Sadly, too many school zones in California have dangerously high speed limits, leaving kids at risk every day. AB 382 (Berman) will lower the speed limit around all school zones to 20 MPH. The bill will also allow schools to specify hours for school zone speed limits, as opposed to lower speed limits that only apply “when children are present,” which is up to driver discretion. Even though this legislation will not apply to San Francisco for the most part, we are proud to support it in solidarity for safe streets everywhere!
Status: Passed the Assembly, now in the Senate.
SB 71: Streamlining Approvals for Pedestrian, Bike, and Transit Projects
Back in 2020, Senator Wiener passed SB 288, an important bill that expedited safe streets improvements by making pedestrian, bike, and transit projects exempt from CEQA review. Since then, crucial safety projects have moved forward significantly faster thanks to these exemptions, including over two dozen projects in San Francisco. This includes the city’s Vision Zero ‘Quick Build’ program, which uses paint, posts, signage, and signals to redesign streets for greater safety in months, not years. Without SB 288, projects like JFK Promenade would today likely still be stuck in legal limbo instead of with thousands of people enjoying it every day.
SB 71 (Wiener) would make these exemptions permanent, ensuring that pedestrian, bike, and transit projects are built as quickly as possible – which is when we need them!
Status: Passed the Senate, now in the Assembly.
Walk SF is also supporting SB 79 (Wiener) and SB 445 (Wiener).
- SB 79 will increase the allowable density and height of housing near specific transit stations so more people can live near and access good public transit service. (Status: Passed the Senate, now in the Assembly.)
- SB 445 will streamline approvals of major public transportation projects that require construction on property owned by another jurisdiction so these happen faster (the bill is especially pertinent to California’s High Speed Rail project). (Status: Passed the Senate, now in the Assembly.)
We’ll keep you posted on these bills and opportunities to help them become law. Be sure you get Walk SF’s newsletter to get updates over the coming months.
