Brake Early for S.F. Speed Cameras Ahead, Campaign Warns

As San Francisco officials prepare to install speed cameras at 33 streets or intersections in March, they have a message for drivers: Start adjusting your behavior now.

That point resonated from billboards strategically placed throughout the city this week, along with ads broadcast on YouTube and in video games.

More than 50 cameras are set to pop up at San Francisco’s 33 designated locations, with some facing either direction on two-way streets. They will automatically snap photos of rear license plates when drivers are speeding, then send them to Verra Mobility — the city’s contractor to supply and maintain the devices — and issue citations to the registered owner of the vehicle.

Before the big rollout, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is launching an educational campaign — in what officials hope is an ingratiating, non-threatening tone.

In addition to signs, it includes digital ads that feature a Claymation superhero speed camera by artist Ahmad Walker, who stands atop a traffic light, on the lookout for violators. Upbeat funk music plays in the background.

“It’s a little cute, a little playful,” said Shannon Hake, the agency’s livable-streets program manager. She characterized the automated surveillance technology as part of a collaborative effort to boost public safety, rather than a crackdown on reckless drivers.

“We don’t want this to take anyone by surprise,” Hake said. “We want people to know exactly where these cameras are. Honestly, it would be great if we didn’t have to issue any tickets. What we really want is that behavior change.”

With that goal in mind, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency posted eight billboards Monday at intersections in Chinatown, North Beach, the Mission, the Richmond and the Bayview. The Claymation ad specifically targets young people who drive a lot — possibly for ride-hail or delivery gigs.

Ultimately, SFMTA plans to put speed camera warning signs at freeway off-ramps and in bus shelters to “plant the seed that something is changing in San Francisco,” Hake said.

San Francisco is among six California cities testing out speed cameras over a five-year period, aiming to stave off injuries and deaths on city streets — especially near schools and in neighborhoods with high concentrations of children and elderly people, or other vulnerable pedestrians.

Violators will receive citations in the mail, though San Francisco will not impose fines for the first two months after the cameras go up, Hake said.

She and other officials are optimistic about the new enforcement tools, citing data from New York City, which implemented the technology a decade ago. The camera systems there reduced speeding by 73% and traffic injuries by 35%, Hake said, with the number of citations trending downward as drivers adapt.

“It’s not an immediate behavior change,” Hake said, noting that speed cameras are most effective when people are aware of them and get in the habit of slowing down.

©2025 the San Francisco Chronicle. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.