Des Plaines Anticipates Lower Red Light Camera Revenue
Revenue from red light cameras can swell suddenly and drop off just as quickly. Des Plaines tries to plan accordingly.
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The Village of Rosemont brought in more than $1 million in red light camera revenue in 2011 -- almost $100,000 more than the previous year, the Journal and Topics Newspapers online reported Sunday.
While such a rise in revenue is not completely uncommon, in the past, many other Chicago suburbs have reported sharp declines in red light revenue as drivers learned the locations of the cameras and drove more cautiously in those locations.
Des Plaines has two red light cameras, both of which monitor the intersection of Golf and Rand roads. The cameras were installed in late October 2010 and only monitor traffic heading east and west.
In budgeting for 2012, the City of Des Plaines may have taken such a decrease into account. The city’s 2012 initial budget shows that Des Plaines officials projected $360,000 would be brought in from red light cameras in the coming year, a full 10 percent less than the city estimated it took in during 2011.
The Village of Bellwood, located about five miles west of Chicago, red light camera revenue dropped from nearly $1.1 million in 2008 to only $250,000 in 2010 – about $1 million less than the amount for which village officials had budgeted, according the Chicago Tribune.
The Tribune also noted that in 2010, Libertyville projected to net $462,000 in red light camera fines, but had only received $32,000 after six months.
“I don’t believe our decision in Des Plaines was to generate revenue,” said Dorothy Wisniewski, City of Des Plaines Finance Director. “That’s not why the camera was installed. Our reasoning for installing the camera was more for that being one of the more dangerous intersections, and it was to promote safety at that intersection. So, I don’t think the city would go ahead and make decisions to install a camera just to make up revenue.”
According to the Des Plaines Police Department, the number of accidents at the intersection of Golf and Rand roads actually increased during the first year after the red light cameras were installed to seven, up from three the previous year. However, the number of injury-causing accidents decreased from one to zero.
Des Plaines red light cameras issued 13,528 citations in 2011 from January through November, but after review the police department approved 7,881. Des Plaines red light camera fines are $100, $65 of which goes to the city, with the remainder paid to RedSpeed Illinois, the automated red light enforcement program provider.
Des Plaines finalized 2012 budget has yet to be made available online, but a city official said that revenue expectations in the preliminary budget “were pretty much set.” The city did not budget any projected red light camera revenue in 2011.
Wisniewski said that it was difficult to determine how red light camera revenue might change over time, because the cameras were such a recent addition and the city did not have enough data to predict what might happen.
But, Wisniewski also said she would not be surprised to see a drop in revenue from the cameras.
“Whenever a new program is initiated, there are higher revenues,” Wisniewski said, “and you plan for the scale back as people become aware of the camera, they start being more careful at an intersection and pay more attention, so that revenue is going to scale back at some point and that is how we plan for it as well.”
Though city officials might be playing it safe, Des Plaines red light camera data shows that the number of red light cameras issued by city police actually increased by 4 percent in 2012 from January to November. This change could be nominal, though, as the number of red light camera tickets issued fluctuates monthly.
Regardless of what happens, Wisniewski said that she does not believe the city will install more red light cameras to boost income, should revenue from the existing cameras taper off.
Jim
12:23 pm on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The cameras (indirectly) block emergency vehicles - because cars stopped at a camera hesitate to get out of the way! Other side effects: Rearenders, $$$ sent to Oz, AZ or Goldman-Sachs, where it won't come back, and tourists and shoppers driven away.
Worse, a false expectation of safety, because cameras can't stop the real late runners, who cause the accidents. (If cameras worked, camera sellers wouldn't have the crash videos they supply to the media.)
Want safety, no side effects?
To cut car/pedestrian accidents, train your kids not to step out just 'cuz the walk sign came on.
To cut nuisance running (a fraction of a second late), lengthen the yellows. It's cheap to do so can be done all over town.
The dangerous real late (multiple seconds) runs won't be stopped by the mere presence of a camera, because the runner won't know (a lost tourist) or won't remember (a distracted or impaired "local") that there's a camera up ahead. They're not doing it on purpose! To cut the real late runs, improve the visual cues that say, "Intersection ahead." Florida's DOT found that better pavement markings (paint!) cut running by up to 74%. Make the signal lights bigger, add backboards, and put the poles on the NEAR side of the corner. Put brighter bulbs in the street lights at intersections. Put up lighted name signs for the cross streets.
Who needs cameras and their side effects?