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Sunday, July 20, 2008

Red Light Cameras, Speed Vans Catching More Motorists

By T.J. Wilham
Copyright © 2008 Albuquerque Journal Journal Staff Writer
       The Albuquerque Police Department is going through more pictures than a one-hour photo shop these days.
    Traffic camera enforcement citations were up 18.5 percent — from 53,447 to 65,595 — the first six months of the year.
    But it's not the curbside red light cameras that are working their shutters into overdrive.
    It's the camera-equipped speed vans, which have so far issued about 10,000 more citations this year than during the same period in 2007. The exact total was not available Saturday.
    At this pace, the traffic camera enforcement program will issue more citations in 2008 than in any year since it was started the fall of 2004.
    Police say officers who operate speed vans have extended their hours and are targeting interstate construction zones. That, they say, explains the increase.
    "We have received a tremendous amount of complaints from construction workers, and we have addressed it," Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh said. "It seems to be extremely successful. We are getting fewer complaints since we started parking the (speed vans) out there."
    The increase in citations comes about five months after Mayor Martin Chávez temporarily shut down the program in response to the Legislature passing a bill that takes some of the camera revenue. That law became effective July 1.
    Gov. Bill Richardson had estimated the amount of money to be diverted to the state at about $2.4 million a year, which would leave the city about $5.1 million to pay the vendor, Redflex, to run the program.
    The state plans to use its money from the program for state DWI and drug court programs and a state fund for Metro Court.
    Chávez and Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz had said in March that the legislation would leave the city with enough money to pay Redflex but not enough to cover the program's appeal process, which allows drivers to challenge their citations.
    After suspending the program for about a week in February, Chávez ordered the cameras back into action. He said speeding violations had increased in the days the cameras were operating but not issuing citations.
    The city mounted cameras at 20 intersections. They are designed to photograph vehicles that run red lights or are speeding.
    Speed vans are parked in different locations each day and target only speeders.
    Citations are mailed from Redflex, which manages the equipment, to the owner of the vehicle. Fines start at $69.
    When speed vans were introduced to Albuquerque in June 2006, city officials said they would be used only in school zones.
    But, later, officials started parking vans in areas where they said they received complaints about speeding.
    Walsh said citations are down at most intersections that use stationary cameras.
    The exception is the intersection of Louisiana and Central, which has seen an increase of 1,500 citations the first six months of 2008 compared with the same period last year. That intersection was one of the last to get cameras.
    Police say they aren't trying to hide the cameras.
    This year, APD marked its speed vans with the same design as a regular squad car.
    The department also developed a new policy: When the van is set up to take pictures, an orange traffic cone is placed behind it.
    Before, speed vans were plain white and hard to see.
    "We are not trying to get more citations," Walsh said. "We are trying to address traffic safety."
    APD also launched a program this month that allows residents to have a speed trailer placed in their neighborhood.
    The trailers have digital readouts that show motorists how fast they are going. The city has eight of them.
    Residents can visit APD's Web site or call 311 to request temporary placement of a speed trailer in their neighborhood.