Information collected by cameras used to enforce new rules around the use of “flex lanes” authorized in a bill recently passed by the House of Representatives would be exempt from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure. It also prohibits officials from selling or disclosing personal information captured by the cameras.
Under language in HB 5464 passed out of committee, and included in a strike all amendment approved by the House, personally identifiable information collected by cameras monitoring flex lane use would not be considered public records under FOIA.
The bill defines public information as “information created or maintained by the department, a municipality or a vendor that identifies or describes an owner and includes, but need not be limited to, the owner’s address, telephone number, number plate, photograph, bank account information, credit card number, debit card number or the date, time, location or direction of travel on a highway.” The Department of Transportation (DOT), vendors, and municipalities are also restricted from selling or disclosing personally identifiable information collected by cameras enforcing the use of flex lanes in most circumstances.
Under the bill, the Office of the State Traffic Information within the DOT would be able to designate lanes, such as breakdown lanes, and the shoulder of public highways as a “dynamic part-time lane” or flex lane to be used as a high occupancy vehicle lane, a dedicated lane for buses or emergency vehicles, to redirect oncoming highway traffic into a one-way lane, or as part of construction being done on highways.
Massachusetts already has a similar practice in place, allowing vehicle travel in the breakdown lanes during certain hours when commuter traffic is heavy.
The bill also authorizes the use of cameras to monitor flex lanes, both to monitor traffic patterns to determine when the flex lane is needed, and to enforce violations of their use.
Cameras would take pictures of vehicles believed to be violating use of the flex lane, which would be reviewed by law enforcement or municipal traffic authorities to determine whether an actual violation occurred. Violators face a $75 fine for a first offense and would receive notice of a violation through the mail.
According to Transportation Committee co-chair Rep. Aimee Berger-Girvalo, D-Ridgefield, some level of enforcement is required for the state to qualify for federal funding, but there are safeguards in place to protect the privacy of individuals whose data is collected.
Berger-Girvalo said during debate over the bill that the qualifications for use of the cameras are in line with those that apply to cameras used in highway work zones and are the most stringent the state applies. Data collected by the cameras is deleted 30 days after a fine is imposed or a trial related to a violation is concluded and the cameras only capture a photo of a vehicle’s license plate.
In addition to prohibiting data collected from those cameras from being disclosed through FOIA, the bill also prohibits DOT, municipalities, and vendors from selling or disclosing personally identifiable information unless doing so is required to enforce flex lane rules, to comply with state or federal law, or to comply with a judicial order, such as a warrant.
It also prohibits the collection and storage of personal information outside of what is necessary to enforce rules surrounding use of the flex lanes.
DOT, municipalities, and vendors may disclose aggregate data that does not identify individuals for research authorized by DOT.
A version of the bill approved by the Transportation Committee allowed DOT to establish a pilot program to install speed cameras on highways. Vehicles traveling more than 15 miles per hour over the posted speed limit would have received a $75 fine for a first offense. The bill contained similar limits on how data could be sold and accessed on the sections of the bill governing flex lanes.
However, provisions relating to speed cameras were removed from the strike all amendment approved by the House.
Berger-Girvalo said during debate over the bill that the cameras the bill authorizes to monitor flex lanes would not monitor speed on highways.
The House also adopted an amendment that changed a proposed increase in the fine for modifying a muffler to $1,000. Under current law, the fine is $150. A friendly amendment changed the fine to $300 for each offense on the grounds that the increase to $1,000 was too steep.
The House temporarily passed HB 5464 on April 27 and again debated and passed the bill on April 29 by a vote of 99 to 51. It now awaits final passage in the Senate.
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