San Francisco has officially launched a first-of-its-kind program in California, allowing traffic fines to be scaled to a driver’s income level.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency kicked off the program on March 20, although Governor Newsom signed a bill into law in October 2023 that created the Speed Safety System Pilot Program. Since then, the agency has installed 33 speed cameras around the city.

Under the new program, speeding fines range from $50 to $500, but people with household incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level can get a 50 percent reduction. The homeless can receive an 80 percent reduction in their fine. “This program ensures that road safety measures don’t disproportionately impact our low-income residents,” an agency representative said, according to Fox News.

For the first 60 days of the program, anyone caught driving more than 11 miles per hour above the speed limit will simply receive warnings, giving residents time to adjust to the new system before fines start getting mailed out.

“No matter how you get around our city, you should be able to do it without fearing for your life,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “Speeding is the number one cause of traffic injuries and fatalities in this city. It is my job as mayor to protect our residents and visitors, and that is what we are doing today.”

While city officials tout the program’s fairness, critics are already asking questions. How will the city verify each driver’s income and apply the discounts in a timely, efficient way? The details of income verification remain unclear, but proponents insist such measures are necessary to avoid punishing vulnerable communities.

A program fact sheet claims efforts have been made to prevent bias in enforcement, noting cameras were deployed “in an equitable fashion.” “The program is intended to benefit all communities and not single out any particular neighborhood,” the document says.

Advocacy groups such as Walk San Francisco have praised the initiative. “Speed cameras address the #1 cause of severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco,” Jodie Medeiros, the group’s director, said in a statement. “San Francisco’s streets will undoubtedly be safer with this technology, and we’re grateful to City leaders for acting quickly.”

San Francisco won’t be the only city implementing this model. Los Angeles is already preparing to roll out a similar speed camera program in 2026. The LA version will take things a step further, allowing low-income violators to perform community service as an alternative to paying fines.

Officials at Oakland and San Jose have also signaled interest in adopting their own versions of the Speed Safety System Pilot Program, marking what could be the start of a statewide trend toward income-based speed enforcement.

The program already exists in other countries, leading to some staggering fines. A Swiss motorist was hit with the largest speeding fine in history, $290,000, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The man, whose net worth was assessed by a court at $23 million, was caught driving his red Ferrari Testarossa 85 mph in a 50 mph zone in 2010.

A businessman in Finland was also hit hard, being fined $129,400 for speeding in 2023, the local paper Nya Åland reported. He was caught driving 19 mph over the limit in Finland, where tickets are calculated as a percentage of the offender’s income.