Citing limited data on safety or driver behaviour changes, council delays red light camera decision

A city council decision on a plan to install 10 more red light cameras has been delayed after Windsor's mayor raised concerns about the lack of data provided in a city report. 

The city currently has 10 red light cameras installed that have issued 11,000 tickets totalling $3.7 million in fines since January 2022, according to a staff report. 

Mayor Drew Dilkens questioned why the report didn't contain detailed information about driver's behaviour or collision data. 

"Fundamentally when we started this program is was meant to be about behaviour change," said Dilkens. 

Director of operations Shawna Boakes said that the program hasn't been around long enough to provide a report that meets an industry standard of three to five years of data.

She did say that early data is showing a decrease in the number of side impact collisions. 

"Right now in those locations, we have had less side impact collisions. We did have a few additional rear-enders initially but that has settled down now," said Boakes. 

When asked by Dilkens if the program has changed behaviour, Boakes replied "not really, no."

Council decided to refer the recommendation of installing an additional 10 cameras to a council committee.