More red light cameras

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Cameras that catch drivers running red lights first came to Hamilton 16 years ago and at the time, many people were outraged at the privacy invasion. Now Hamilton and Halton region are planning to put in more cameras and with drivers paying $325 for every infraction, it seems like a lucrative way to make the roads safer.

At Hamilton’s new traffic signal control centre at a glance operators can see which lights are red and which are green and they can control the lights in case of emergency or traffic chaos. The red light camera technology has improved too, they’re now digital and live all the time. Much of the $325 ticket goes to maintenance of the system and prosecuting offenders but last year Hamilton got about $2 million in extra revenue, money that went directly into bigger speed limit signs on the Red Hill and the Linc.

Today Hamilton has 19 cameras and is planning to acquire 5 more every year for the next 5 years. Halton region is expected to approve five more cameras, including one for Sixth Line and Upper Middle road in Oakville and at Guelph Line and Harvester road in Burlington. Halton has 12 cameras across the region now. But Halton makes only meagre profits mostly because far fewer people run red lights. Whereas Hamilton saw 15 000 tickets with 19 cameras last year, Halton caught just 7 300 red light runners with its 12 cameras.

It’s not just red light cameras, Hamilton, Halton and other municipalities are now pushing the province to change legislation to allow for photo radar to remotely catch speeders.