Pueblo says it's losing money on traffic cameras
Posted : Mar 10, 2010 8:13 AM
Updated: Mar 10, 2010 9:09 AM
Pueblo city officials say cameras that catch red light runners at two intersections have cost more to operate than they generate in fines.
Pueblo pays $15,000 a month to American Traffic Solutions for the camera setups, or about $90,000 since they started operating in September. The city has only collected about $70,000 in fines.
American Traffic Solutions reviews video and still photos from the cameras and sends possible violations to Pueblo police, who decide whether to issue a ticket.
Noah at Mar 10th 2010 11:32 AM
Simple answer, get rid of the camera's. But what I suspect that will happen is the fine will double. Let us count the number of ways the public loses.
Actually I remember an article a few months back saying they were making a profit on these and were thinking of adding more. What happened?
pcnerd37 at Mar 10th 2010 11:35 AM
Maybe this will be enough motivation to get these horrible things taken out. There are tons of examples from cities like Chicago that they are taking them out because in many cases, have caused the number of accidents to increase significantly. They seem to actually care about the safety of the people and have removed them even though they were bringing in all kinds of money.
I live a block down from the cameras as Prairie & Thatcher and they are a complete nightmare to live around. The flashes are so bright that they light up the entire neighborhood like a bolt of lightning and this happens probably dozens of times every night. All of the flashing is extremely annoying. What really irritates me is that the lights often go off for no reason. I have watched the cameras a lot since they have been installed and they seem to be horribly inaccurate because I often see them go off when no traffic is around or going through the intersection when the light is red. With as bad as these things are, I will no longer drive through the intersection out of fear that they will flash on me when I have done nothing wrong. They really need to be removed.
Jared at Mar 10th 2010 3:43 PM
It's about safety though... if you don't like the cameras, don't run the red lights. It's because of the citizens who live here, that think they don't have to stop at red lights, that are bringing these cameras here. I know for a fact, that if NO ONE ran lights in town, this wouldn't even be a topic of discussion. Those who whine and complain are the ones who are breaking the law - - they are the ones that should be punished. Phoenix has tons of these camera, and I rarely see people run the lights...if they do, they get a ticket.