Red light cameras are a step closer to becoming a reality in London.
The Civic Works Committee gave the nod to the controversial cameras Tuesday after hearing a staff report recommending ten cameras be rotated between as many as 22 city intersections to bust drivers who speed through red lights.
The committee's recommendation will go to full council next week.
"We are going to see a decrease in right angle collisions where you get people T-boning each other in intersections," says Councillor Jesse Helmer, chair of the committee. "It would be a significant decrease over time with a decrease in injuries and fatalities. That's why I think it is a reasonable idea. We are looking at in the neighbourhood of 150 of these collisions every year. We really need to do something on that front and this seems like a reasonable approach."
Only one member of the committee, Councillor Michael Van Holst, was opposed to the proposal.
Under the program which could start as soon as next year, owners of vehicles recorded running red lights will be mailed a $325 ticket. Those fines would be issued from the City of Toronto processing centre.
The cameras come with a $3.8-million price tag but are expected to generate $4.5-million in additional revenue over five years. Of that $4.5-million, $1.2-million would go to the company supplying and maintaining the cameras, while $1.1-million would go to the City of Toronto to cover the costs of ticket processing.
"It covers all of the costs of the program over the five years, it's actually forecasting to have a small surplus," says Helmer. "The idea is to put the fine revenue into further road safety improvement. In future years when we see the number of violations decline, we can put it through a fund that would then pay for the program in future years."
"All of the municipalities participating in the red light program in the province of Ontario have centralized the processing of the video at the city of Toronto to save costs," says Helmer. "It is more cost effective than everyone setting up their own processing centre."
If approved by full council next Tuesday, London would join six other municipalities in Ontario including Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Peel, Waterloo, and Halton using red light camera enforcement.
