Well, well, well. Dallas Blog is reporting that ACS won the city’s contract to operate its new red light cameras. Perhaps it’s time to re-read this June story from D Magazine:
BUSTED!
The ugly truth about the new red-light cameras.
They are sprouting up everywhere. Denton, Frisco, Duncanville, Richardson, Plano, Rowlett, and Garland all have them. Dallas is next. The city gets its first red-light cameras in August. Run a light, and you’ll get a picture of your license plate in the mail, along with a $75 fine. The rationale: the cameras make intersections safer.
Poppycock.
Here’s the real poop on the eyes in sky:
1. The cameras are really just cash cows. Washington, D.C., for example, has cameras at 45 intersections. In 2004, at $75 a pop, those cameras generated nearly $5 million for the city’s general fund. In San Diego, where the fines are higher, a single camera brought the city $6.8 million in only 18 months. Garland last year netted about $785,000.
Dallas passed an ordinance making it only a civil offense carrying a $75 fine if a camera nabs you. If a cop catches you, it’s a criminal matter, and you’re hit with a $285 ticket that you’re more likely to fight. But $75? And it won’t raise your insurance rates? You’re already writing the check.
2. The contractors that operate the cameras are running a racket. They earn a percentage of revenue generated by their cameras. So cameras get installed at profitable intersections, not necessarily dangerous ones. In one case, in Maryland, a yellow light was even shortened to generate more revenue.
Redflex Traffic Solutions handles many of the local burbs, but Dallas-based ACS is the largest red-camera contractor in the country. It is the odds-on favorite to win the Dallas project this month. In cities where it operates, ACS has given millions to politicians who’ve given business to the company. Locally, it has contributed to the Lege (Royce West, Dan Branch, James McCall), the County Commissioners Court (Margaret Keliher, Mike Cantrell, John Wiley Price, Ken Mayfield), and the City Council (Elba Garcia). In fact, Councilman Bill Blaydes, who serves on the transportation and environment committee,worked at ACS years ago.
There’s also the matter of the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running. The safety advocacy organization works hard to promote red-light cameras. It was founded by ACS.
None of which is illegal. But bribing people is. ACS stands accused of doing just that to win a $90 million contract in Edmonton, Alberta.
3. The cameras actually cause crashes. A study by the Washington Post found that accidents at camera-equipped intersections increased at a rate equal to or greater than unmonitored intersections because people hit the brakes to avoid the ticket. The Virginia Transportation Research Council found that while cameras decreased collisions resulting from people running red lights, they significantly increased collisions overall. And the Texas Transportation Institute found that most camera violations occur within the first second after a light turns red, while most T-bone collisions—the deadly sort of crash that advocates claim cameras prevent—occur five or more seconds after a light changes. The TTI came to one more interesting conclusion: lengthening yellow lights dramatically reduces red-light running.
But longer yellows don’t make money. —TIM ROGERS