Montgomery County, Maryland Has 72 Speed Cameras

Drivers in Montgomery County can look forward to 10 new portable speed cameras. Last year, the county issued more than 487,000 speed camera tickets and another 40,000 red light camera tickets, raising nearly $10 million in revenue. The additions will bolster the county's existing 72 speed cameras -- 56 fixed pole cameras, 10 portable cameras and six speed camera vans -- and 40 red light cameras.

Montgomery County residents have been seeing some suspicious white boxes around the County.  However, they are not speed cameras. The boxes are actually enclosures that cover vents for underground equipment. The enclosures are manufactured by a company called Hot-Box.   That is the good news.

The bad news is that drivers in Montgomery County can look forward to 10 new portable speed cameras and 20 new red light cameras before the end of 2013. 

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Red-light cameras are designed to deter traffic offenses in major intersections, but an unpaid citation could result in having the offender's utilities shut off.

The City of Las Cruces is notifying offenders by mail that they have to pay their fines or make arrangements by the due date stated in the letter, and failure to do so will result in termination of utilities services, officials said.  In the Las Cruces Municipal Code, Section 28-10, it gives the city authority to remove such services. It states that: The City may decline, fail to cease to furnish utility service to any person who may be in debt to the city for any reason, except ad valorem taxes and special assessments.

So far, the city reports approximately $2 million in unpaid and delinquent fines from red-light traffic cameras. To top it off, those who have their utilities removed will have to pay a $48 fee to re-establish services once the red-light traffic-camera fines have been paid.

Red-light traffic-camera violations cost $100 per violation, and a $25 default fee is added when the citation is not paid within 35 days.   Read full story. 

El Mirage, Arizona will no longer enforce red light running with cameras but will keep speed cameras active.  Was it because of a cost or maintenance issue?  Or was it because only 10% of the tickets were coming from red light runners?

Will this be a growing trend as drivers become more aware of these intersection and the locations become unprofitable.  Red light cameras decrease in value to the city over time as people become more aware of the locations.  However, speed cameras and right turn cameras seem to be the new hot trend for cities to make more money.  

Red Light Cameras are watching drivers at 28 different intersections around Rochester. Originally, the city only planned for cameras to be at 22 intersections. Each ticket carries a fine of $50. They have issued about 53,000 tickets since October of 2010. After paying the Arizona company that installs and maintains the cameras, the net revenue recorded for the city was about $600,000 over that time.  Double that for a full year and you have over $1M in revenue.

Rocheseter plans to add an additional 22 intersections which should be an additional windfall of an additional $1M in cash for the City.  The city of Rochester began operating cameras in October 2010.  Drivers caught running a red light receive a $50 ticket in the mail. If the ticket is not paid, the fine jumps to $75 and eventually the car can be booted or towed.  Ticket cars matched with drivers are mailed photos of their vehicle entering and in the intersection after the light had turned red and a link to a secure web site where they can view a video of the alleged infraction. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s speed camera ordinance, the ordinance passed with a 35-14 vote at this morning’s Chicago City Council meeting. City Hall promises a slow start for speed cameras to be implemented near parks, schools. Speeders caught going 6 to 10 miles over the limit will get a $35 ticket. The fine jumps to $100 for drivers going 11 miles over the limit.  This fine is similar to Chicago's current fine of $100 for red light running violations.

Speed cameras are a great idea if you want to generate revenue. Lot’s of revenue. Millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue. When you realize that Chicago’s 191 red light camera locations generated over $69 million in 2010, a potential 300 speed camera locations could easily be the U.S.'s largest safety camera program.

Here is the PR video Chicago is using to promote the new program. 

 

A Connecticut bill, which was repeatedly described as a work in progress, creates a pilot program allowing towns with populations exceeding 48,000 to install the cameras. The cameras will photograph the license plates of vehicles running red lights or otherwise breaking the law. Owners of vehicles photographed would be issued infractions of up to $50 by mail. According to the bill’s fiscal analysis, the cameras will cost towns between $50,000 and $75,000 for installation and maintenance. However, towns can expect an increase in revenue depending upon how many people are ticketed and how many of them pay the fines.