Smart Cameras Blog

[From City expects $50M. in red-light fines :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State]

An update on red light cameras in Chicago. There are 104 cameras in action with 25 more planned for this year. The city will collect more than $50 million in fines this year. (The sum of the previous four years was $35 million). The cameras are having an effect according to the OEMC.

Second, accidents are down 30 percent in the camera-covered intersections, and red-light running is down 60 percent, according to numbers provided by the city. And since the cameras also stand watch against illegal right turns on red, pedestrian injuries from such turns have also declined, according to Martinez.

The data provided seems to be the same numbers as provided back in March. See here for that update on red light cameras in chicago.

rshah Chicago, Red Light Cameras

[From Views From Both Sides On The Use Of Red Light Cameras] via the Beat The Traffic Blog

Supporters of red light cameras say…

• According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers who run red lights account for 22% of all traffic accidents in the United States.
• An IIHS study in Oxnard, California showed that red light running violations dropped 42% after red light cameras was introduced. A similar study in Fairfax, Virginia showed violations declined 40% after one year after.
• Publicity of red light cameras deters violations.
• Red light cameras don’t have biases and therefore drivers cannot be unfairly profiled.
• Privacy issues are null because of the public setting. Also, only people violating the law are photographed.
• They make lots of money for cities in need of the revenue.

Those who oppose the use of red light cameras say . . .

• The owner might not have been driving the car, yet they are mailed owner the ticket.
• Cameras increase other types of accidents, such as rear ending collisions, when people notice the camera and make hasty decisions to avoid ticketing. A Virginia Transportation Research Council study shows an increase of accidents with the installment of red light cameras.
• Longer yellow lights can make intersections much safer, in an easy and inexpensive way (check out the findings of the Texas Transportation Institute)
• There is no standardization of yellow light duration and several cities have been caught shortening them around a red light camera to increase revenue.
• Insurance companies (including IIHS) support red light cameras because more tickets mean they can raise insurance rates
• The accused receive notification weeks after the violation and there are no human witnesses to analyze the whole situation.
• They are expensive to operate and service the tickets in our court system.
• There are not stands to the fines through the U.S. which range from $50-$400.

Update, Chad Dornsife of Best Highway Safety Practices Institute offers his own analysis that red light cameras are not needed, see the top story at Highway Safety Group.

rshah Policy, Red Light Cameras

[From theNewspaper.com New York: Lobbyist Sparks U-Turns on Cameras] [Buffalo News]

An article on red light cameras gave me some pause on the role of government in using camera systems. Apparently in New York, legislation was introduced favors certain technologies (i.e. vendors) for red light cameras. The article notes the following about the bill:

AB 10948 states red light cameras must use “radar-based down-the-road speed measurement methods in which a photograph is taken coincident to, or as near as possible to, the location of, recorded speed measurements.” This is the description of the technology by Sensys Traffic.

The bill further states “Such demonstration program shall not utilize vehicle sensors of the following types: video, virtual loops, laser-based, across-the-road radar, in-the-road embedded or surface mount or additional road markings . . .” This eliminates laser sensors used by Lasercraft, video technology used by Nestor, and in road sensors used by Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). The leading vendors of red light cameras, American Traffic Systems and Australia’s Redflex, also rely on some of the banned technologies.

While this bill has been pulled at this point, the article points out that “2005, the Pennsylvania legislature likewise adopted legislation mandating “wet film” be used for ticketing so that ACS would be favored over rivals like Redflex that use digital cameras”.

I didn’t realize this type of behavior was happening for surveillance cameras. I am not naive, I understand that lobbyists push for this type of language in bills and its not too difficult to get someone to introduce these bills. I think this type of favoritism is wrong and something all vendors should despise. If anyone knows of other examples, please pass them on. (You can read a defense of the bill in the Buffalo News article, the defense is flimsy).

rshah Policy, Red Light Cameras

[From More red-light cameras coming to Chicago -- chicagotribune.com]

A very informative article on red-light cameras in Chicago. Here is a summary of many of the facts in the article:

69 intersections with red light cameras in Chicago, resulting in 800,000 tickets over the last four years, the tickets cost $90 each, the city has collected $19.8 million in 2006 and expects to collect $50 million this year. By my calculations, this means over the last four years, violators have paid $72 million in fines.

The city has signed a $52 million contract for 220 more red light cameras by 2012. (Plus there are more red light cameras going up in the suburbs because of a new state law.)

Part of the contract “requires technology that will allow motorists to see evidence of their violation online. Using their computer keyboards to enter a city code, license plate number and citation number, drivers will be able to view 12 seconds of video and still photos that officials expect will show the offending vehicles in the intersection with a visible red light.”

I am still curious about the effectiveness of the cameras. A previous story claimed a 70 reduction in accidents, but this article states that early data indicates a 24 percent decline in accidents. Also the article notes that violations have dropped significantly at the sites where red light cameras are located:

On average, the number of red-light violations at camera-equipped spots so far has declined 59 percent, he said. At Halsted and 111th Streets, where the devices have been particularly effective, violations have dropped from 105 a day to 10, Bills said. At Ashland Avenue and 71st Street, the decline has been from 44 to about four, at LaSalle and Kinzie Streets, from 39 to four.

rshah Chicago, Red Light Cameras

More than 40,000 sets of number plates were stolen in 2006, a rise of almost 25%, according to police estimates.

Acpo wants a central issuing body for the registration numbers, and all cars to have tamper-proof plates fitted.

rshah ALPR, Policy, Red Light Cameras, Traffic Congestion

From the newspaper.com:

Redflex, a major developer of red light cameras, has developed a stop sign camera, read their announcement.

The stop sign devices are based on red light camera platforms, but they differ greatly in use. The more familiar stoplight cameras typically photograph a vehicle entering an intersection if a signal light changes to red as little as 0.1 seconds after the car crosses the stop bar line. In most cases, the resulting ticket photograph will show both the vehicle in the intersection and a visible red light, offering visual documentation of the technical violation. With the new Redflex stop sign cameras, a machine will make calculations to determine whether a vehicle did not come to a complete stop and deserves a ticket.

While I think this isn’t as important as red light cameras from a traffic safety perspective, it does show the growth in this industry. I am sure over the next several years, we will see lots of these ticketing devices. They appear effective at enforcing laws and generating revenue. Moreover, the public outcry over them hasn’t sufficiently coalesced to protest these devices.

rshah Applications, Red Light Cameras, Vendors

From the Washingtonpost.com:

A reminder that all smart camera systems need to be continually maintained.

About half of the 50 red-light enforcement cameras in the District have been out of service in recent months, giving a pass to drivers and potentially depriving the city of millions of dollars in fines, according to a firm that has taken over the system.

Twenty-three of the cameras have not been working at all, and some have been out of service for as long as six months, according to a memorandum written by Phoenix-based American Traffic Solutions, or ATS, which is to officially take over management of the cameras today.

rshah Red Light Cameras

I haven’t written much about red light cameras, so here is big post to cover a number of issues. Two recent articles that provide some nice background are from CBS and USA Today.

Redflex Traffic Systems is a leading provider of red light cameras. They have 40% of the market in the US. They have contracts with 90 cities in the US as well as photo speed programs in 8 states. The Chicago has 60 cameras from Redflex.

How the RedFlex System Works:

Redflex red light cameras will help cities nab about 4,000 red light runners per day or just under 1.5 million in 2006. Here’s how they do it:

1. Road sensors: Road-embedded sensors detect a car moving toward an intersection. Sensors calculate the car’s speed and determine whether it will run the red light.

2. Camera activated: Sensors send a signal to the overhead camera to begin recording images of the car as it nears the intersection.

3. 12 seconds of video shot: The camera records 12 seconds of video — 6 seconds before the car runs the red light and 6 seconds after.

4. Additional images captured: In addition to images of the car in the intersection, the system records a shot of the license plate and — in jurisdictions using driver liability and facial photography — an image of the driver.

5. Citation issued: Redflex checks images for quality and turns them over to the city’s traffic law enforcement agency, which reviews it for a violation and mails a ticket to the vehicle owner.

Detecting Red Light Cameras. Cobra is developing new GPS radar detectors that alert drivers where traffic cameras are being used according to this. This appears to be a similar approach to the NAVTEQ camera alert system which maintains information on the location of cameras, see previous post.

Fighting Red Light Tickets in Chicago, from the Sun-Times:

Most people just pay the ticket. Only 10% of those fighting the ticket actually succeed. This article provides a bit more detail on fighting tickets and why people usually fail. As a result, by October of 2006 the city had already collected $12.5 million in fines for 2006.

rshah Red Light Cameras

From Politech, another example of the red light cameras fining the wrong car. In this case, they misread the license plate. Richard Diamond points out that the city had kept the footage of this incident for 5 months and even sent it to a reporter. Link to Sun-Times story.

rshah Chicago, Red Light Cameras

A story in the Sun-Times today about a mistake with Chicago’s red light cameras. Apparently, there was a moving violation, but the wrong car was sent the ticket. The article provides some nice background on the cameras which cover 20 intersections in the city. The vendor for the cameras is Redflex Traffic Systems. So far the cameras have noted more than 100,000 violations in 15 months. The cameras are designed to zero in the on the license plate of the violator. System operators are suppose to verify this process. The cameras take 3 still photos and video for every ticket they generate. This video is available if a ticked is appealed.

rshah Chicago, Red Light Cameras