Windsor, Ont., will likely approve speed cameras this month. Do they work?
Program expected to cost more than $1.2M and be covered by ticket revenue
Speed cameras could be coming to Windsor, Ont., this year — and city staff predict they could issue 23,000 tickets annually.
City council, at its upcoming April 14 meeting, will look at bringing in five photo radar cameras that will rotate every couple of months across more than 50 locations.
Each site requires a 90-day advance notice period, with signs at upcoming locations. The devices end up ticketing vehicle owners if they're breaking the posted speed limit by a certain amount.
The proposed Automated Speed Enforcement program has already been approved by five city councillors on the environmental, transportation and public safety committee.
If approved by council, staff expect to put any profit toward traffic calming measures, but only after first paying off the program's expenses.
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What do speed cameras achieve?
Similar cameras have been installed in cities across Ontario for years, with many reporting a noticeable shift in driver behaviour.
Toronto launched its program with 50 speed cameras in 2020, and now operates a mixture of 150 mobile and permanent ones.
A study found the biggest shift in driver behaviour was an 87 per cent reduction in the number of people driving over the speed limit by 20 km/h or more.
Overall traffic flow also dropped by seven km/h in areas with 30, 40, and 50 km/h speed limits.
That's a similar drop the City of London is tracking after launching a speed camera program in 2021.
London started with two cameras and now rotates seven across the city.
"We've seen some good success in terms of increasing driver awareness around the need to reduce speed," said Garfield Dales with London's transportation, planning and design division.
Dales said data also shows long term driver behaviour changes.
"Even after the cameras are removed, we're seeing a longer term reduction of about five km/h per hour in speeds from those areas."
Alberta is cutting back the program
Sudbury launched its program last year with six mobile cameras and found a similar reduction in speed after the cameras were removed.
In one example, a camera placed on a road with a 60 km/h speed limit dropped the average speed from 89 km/h to 62 km/h.
In Alberta, the provincial government has set new rules limiting the use of photo radar to school, playground and construction zones.
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Alberta's provincial government will grant sites permission on a case-by-case basis in high collision areas.
When the reduction was announced last year the minister responsible for the file called photo radar a "government cash cow."
That shift has led to a $28 million shortfall in the Calgary Police Service budget.
Windsor's plan, if approved, would see cameras rotated through community safety areas and designated school zones.
The city will need to hire two full-time employees to run the program. and would partner with the City of Brampton to process the tickets.
Brampton, which has an automated speed enforcement program, opened a $46 million centre to process tickets last year.
What speed will get you a ticket?
Windsor city staff have said these cameras are not currently available for purchase and can only be leased through an approved vendor.
They will cost $1.3 million each year and the price is expected to be covered by the tickets they issue.
And those tickets will be issued to the vehicle owner, not necessarily the driver.
That's because cameras will not be able to identify who is behind the wheel; therefore, no demerit points will issued.
City staff will set the speed to trigger a ticket but have yet to make that number public.
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