REPORT
Airport Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) – Ground Transportation Management System (GTMS) Surveillance Impact Report
Committee on Information Technology (COIT)PUBLIC MEETING REVIEW DATES
COIT Meeting Date(s): February 4, 2021
BOS Approval Date: August 4, 2021
As required by San Francisco Administrative Code, Section 19B, departments must submit a Surveillance Impact Report for each surveillance technology to the Committee on Information Technology (“COIT”) and the Board of Supervisors.
The Surveillance Impact Report details the benefits, costs, and potential impacts associated with the Department’s use of Automated License Plate Readers (“ALPR”) – Ground Transportation Management System (“GTMS”).
DESCRIPTION OF THE TECHNOLOGY
The Department’s (“Airport”) mission is to provide an exceptional airport service to our communities. In line with its mission, the Airport has historically used electronic toll readers and other technologies to monitor commercial ground transportation activity at the Airport. The PIPS Technology™ (“PIPS”) ALPR - GTMS solution serves as a secondary source of ensuring commercial ground transportation database information is correct. This is an essential component of a comprehensive and efficient transportation system. Ground transportation activity at the Airport continues to grow in line with air passenger activity. In FY2019, there were over 6,500 (non TNC) vehicles permitted to operate at the Airport, with almost 3,000,000 pickups and drop-offs completed. The primary use for Landside ALPR - GTMS is to capture the activity of permitted commercial ground transportation at the Airport. The ALPR - GTMS acts as a failsafe if the Automated Vehicle Identification (AVI) readers malfunction and fails to read the transponder the Airport affixes to certain types of permitted vehicles. It assists in dispute resolution in the event that the operator challenges the transponder data (i.e., number of trips the operator has made to the Airport) collected from the AVI. Additional uses include tracking permitted operators that are not issued transponders, such as TNC vehicles and long-distance bus carriers; tracking unpermitted operators who solicit passengers for rides; and assisting public safety agencies in investigations.
Airport shall use ALPR - GTMS only for the following authorized purposes: Authorized Use(s):
- Tracking the activity of permitted commercial ground transportation at the Airport. Also used as a secondary method for collecting trip fees in the event an operator’s transponder fails to read.
- To support the Airport and local, state, federal, and regional public safety departments in the identification of vehicles associated with targets of investigations, including locating stolen, wanted, and or other vehicles that are the subject of investigation; and/or locating victims, witnesses, suspects, and others associated with a law enforcement investigation.
Any use(s) not identified in the Authorized Use(s) above are strictly prohibited.
Technology Details
The following a is product description of ALPR - GTMS
The Landside division currently has one (1) P357, side-fire camera and (20) 3M PIPS P392+ Spikelet cameras. P392 Spikelet is a fully-integrated number plate recognition unit incorporating camera (s), illuminator and data and image processing within a single sealed enclosure. The unit comprises a monochrome camera surrounded by two sets of infrared LEDs. PIPS patented filter/flash technique provides suppression of headlights and bright sunlight. Field-by-field control of camera parameters allows the use of patented ‘triple flash’ technique to reduce any problems of plate to plate variability.
A. How It Works
To function, ALPR - GTMS technology automates the processing of vehicle license plate information by transforming license plate images into alphanumeric characters with optical recognition software and storing those images, plate information and related metadata, including time and geo-location information. ALPR - GTMS:
- uses specially designed cameras mounted on gantries at the airport’s entry points to capture digital images of approaching vehicles as they drive into the airport. The database records images and compares them with known operators;
- transforms the images into alphanumeric characters with optical character recognition (OCR) software;
- stores the images, plate information, and related metadata in a restricted-access database;
- compares the transformed license plate characters to databases of AVI reads for billing purposes; and
- archives photo evidence and metadata in support of citations (issued by the Airport’s Ground Transportation Unit for vehicles violating the Airport’s Rules and Regulations) issued (“hits”) according to evidence retention standards consistent with City and State law.
All data collected or processed by ALPR - GTMS will be handled or stored by an outside provider or third-party vendor on an ongoing basis. Specifically, data will be handled by IBI Group, LLC to ensure the Airport may continue to use the technology.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
The impact assessment addresses the conditions for surveillance technology approval, as outlined by the Standards of Approval in San Francisco Administrative Code, Section 19B: A. The benefits of the surveillance technology outweigh the costs.
B. The Airport’s Policy safeguards civil liberties and civil rights.
C. The uses and deployments of the surveillance technology are not based upon discriminatory or viewpoint-based factors and do not have a disparate impact on any community or Protected Class.
The Airport’s use of the surveillance technology is intended to support and benefit the residents of San Francisco while minimizing and mitigating all costs and potential civil rights and liberties impacts of residents.
A. Benefits
The Airport’s use of ALPR - GTMS has the following benefits for the residents of the City and County of San Francisco:
| Yes or No | Benefit | Description |
|---|---|---|
N | Education | N/A |
N | Community Development | N/A |
N | Health | N/A |
Y | Environment | Traffic congestion studies: ALPR - GTMS can be used to conduct studies on traffic volumes and patterns, with the potential to mitigate environmental impacts of traffic congestion on residents. |
Y | Criminal Justice | ALPR - GTMS can be used to support identification of vehicles as a part of law enforcement investigations. |
N | Jobs | N/A |
N | Housing | N/A |
Y | Public Safety | ALPR - GTMS can be used to locate stolen, wanted, and or other vehicles that are the subject of investigation, and can improve overall roadway safety for residents using Airport roadways. |
Y | Other | Trip fees by permitted operators: ALPR - GTMS can be used to track vehicles and collect trip fees to offset impacts of commercial vehicles on Airport roadways and to improve roadway conditions for residents accessing the Airport. |
B. Civil Rights Impacts and Safeguards
The Department has considered the potential impacts and has identified the technical, administrative, and physical protections as mitigating measures:
Administrative
- Commercial ground transportation operators acknowledge notice of GTMS policies and procedures, which include the Airport’s use of ALPR and Electronic Toll Readers, by signing the Airport permit. In addition, in compliance with California Civil Code § 1798.90.5, the Airport shall notify the public of the ALPR – GTMS surveillance technology operation by posting the ALPR – GTMS privacy and usage policy on FLYSFO.
- Policies and procedures applicable to all Airport employees.
- SFO ITT team has documented polices regarding cybersecurity, networks and servers, and computer and software usage.
- Training provided to all Airport software users, including in-person or virtual training session that includes system overview and use of reporting modules.
Technical
- All network equipment and servers containing sensitive data are maintained in a secured location and accessible only to Airport badged, authorized personnel.
- Servers and network equipment are continuously monitored.
- ITT maintains a log of successful and unsuccessful logon attempts, changes in user accounts, whether user logs have been modified, network threats, and resource access.
- All SFO workstations and servers are patched regularly.
- All data stored on the servers are backed up regularly and a copy saved offsite.
- SFO’s network is protected behind a firewall and data transmitted outside SFO’s network to SFO cloud-based partners are encrypted via SSL/TLS. Data at rest offsite are also encrypted.
Physical
All Electronic Toll Readers and ALPRs are installed within locked equipment enclosures. Access to the enclosures is limited to Airport badged, authorized service technicians with SFO’s ITT Tech Shop or TransCore, LP.
C. Fiscal Analysis of Costs and Benefits
The Department’s use of surveillance cameras yields the following business and operations benefits:
| Yes or No | Benefit | Description |
|---|---|---|
N | Financial Savings | N/A |
Y | Time Savings | Without the ALPR - GTMS technology, the Airport would need to deploy a manually staffed ground transportation operation. This alternative has not been thoroughly explored for feasibility. At minimum however, team members would be required to be assigned to all entry lanes, exit lanes, curbside zones, and staging lots during 24/7 operations. Team members would conduct manual verification of registration through visual observance of permits and decals, and conduct traffic counts. The ALPR - GTMS removes the necessity of staffing for this purpose. |
N | Staff Safety | N/A |
Y | Data Quality | The ALPR - GTMS technology is verified against the AVI technology to verify that all permitted vehicles’ trips have been documented for tracking and fee assessment purposes, in case the AVI malfunctions and fails to read the airport affixed transponder. The ALPR - GTMS is also used in concert with AVI to confirm whether a commercial vehicle on Airport roadways is a permitted operator. |
Y | Other | The ALPR - GTMS technology enables the Airport to assess trip fees on permitted Commercial ground transportation operators. In 2019, the Airport collected a total of $64,815,649 in trip fees from ground transportation operators. |
| Expense Category | Annual Cost | Years | One-Time Cost |
Total Salary & Fringe | $17,286 | 1 | - |
Software | - | - | - |
Hardware/Equipment | $0 Break/Fix included in the GTMS Support contract | - | $241,560 (15 PIPS Technology™ cameras, power supply, and enclosures) |
Professional Services | $340,000 (GTMS Support, includes ALPRGTMS) | 1 | $8,261,227 (One-time cost to implement GTMS, includes ALPR- GTMS) |
Training | - | - | - |
Other | $250,000 | 1 | $250,000 |
Subtotals | $607,286 | - | $19,846,051 |
Total Cost | $20,453,337 with 1 Year Recurring Cost | - | - |
Number of Budgeted FTE (new & existing) & Classification
| # of employees (per Job Classification) | Job Classification Number | Job Title |
|---|---|---|
0.10 Existing | 7318 | Electronic Maintenance Technician (Support) |
2.1 Please disclose any current or potential sources of funding (e.g. potential sources = prospective grant recipients, etc.). SIR, ASR
- Ongoing Support = Annual Airport Opex Budget
- Future Lifecycle Refresh = Airport Capex Budget
The Airport funds its use and maintenance of the surveillance technology through: Ongoing Support = Annual Airport Opex Budget Future Lifecycle Refresh = Airport Capex Budget.
COMPARISON TO OTHER JURISDICTIONS
ALPR - GTMS are currently utilized by other governmental entities for similar purposes.
APPENDIX A: Mapped Crime Statistics
The general location(s) it may be deployed and crime statistics for any location(s):
The technology is deployed at various airport roadways and inspection areas, six (6) locations, including:
- Domestic and International Terminals, inbound roadways, departures, and arrivals level
- North Access Road
- Ground Transportation Unit inspection area