§ 98.3. SAN FRANCISCO STREET LIGHT POLICY.

(a) The San Francisco Board of Supervisors finds that:

(1) Quality street lighting helps define a positive urban character and supports nighttime activities.

(2) Nighttime lighting is critical for both traffic safety and pedestrian safety and security.

(3) Functioning street lights are essential for maintaining high quality of life, public safety, and economic activity in San Francisco.

(4) Roadway and pedestrian level lighting are both important aspects of street lighting responsibilities.

(5) Pursuant to the Charter, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has jurisdiction over the provision of City-owned street lighting.

(6) Ownership and maintenance responsibility of the City's streetlights is currently divided primarily between the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and a private utility.

(7) The current division of ownership and maintenance responsibility of the City's street lights between the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and a private utility does not best advance the interests of San Francisco residents.

(8) The ultimate development of a single, municipally-managed street light program would benefit all San Francisco residents and the City shall strive to unify streetlight management under a municipal program. As an initial step, the Board of Supervisors urges the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to perform a study of the costs, benefits and methods of a single, unified municipal program.

(b) In furtherance of the Street Light Policy, it shall be the policy of the City

(1) That lighting should be designed not only for vehicular traffic on the roadways, but also for pedestrians on sidewalks and pedestrian paths;

(2) That whenever at least 50% of the lighting along an existing street block is upgraded, or lighting along a new street block is added, adequate pedestrian level lighting should be evaluated and included, consistent with the Better Streets Policy and Plan, as funds are available;

(3) That management of street lights and coordination with the private utility to more effectively provide, maintain, and repair the City's street lights should include:

(A) Transitioning to light-emitting diode (LED) technology, with the exception of those lights deemed inappropriate or not conducive to LED transition, as described in the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's Guide to San Francisco Street Lights;

(B) Further integrating the private utility's street light maintenance operations into the City 311 system, and including more detailed and timely reporting of completed repairs;

(C) Integrating up to date street light infrastructure information into the existing City GIS database by December 1, 2014, and developing pedestrian lighting standards by December 1, 2014;

(D) Establishing a uniform, shared standard for levels of service for the repairs of all street lights, such that simple outages should be corrected within 48 hours of being reported; and

(E) Whenever a street light is repaired or replaced, repairing or replacing such street light should be in accordance with the Street Light Policy.

(4) That the City shall strive to unify streetlight management under a municipal program.

(c) All public and private entities operating and maintaining street lights in the City shall provide an annual report to the Board of Supervisors documenting their efforts to manage street lighting in a manner consistent with the Street Light Policy.

(Added by Ord. , File No. 140981, App. 12/4/2014, Eff. 1/3/2015)