The Alberta government plans to review photo radar sites over the next four months in a bid to reduce the number in the province by 70 per cent.
Photo radar sites on all provincial highways will be banned on April 1, except for those located in school, playground and construction zones.
The province says it will grant municipalities permission to set up photo radar sites on a case-by-case basis if the case is made to use them in a high collision area. Those extra sites will be reviewed every two years to see if they’ve helped reduce collisions.
Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said he believes municipalities have used the sites for revenue generation, not traffic safety, for too long.
“Our goal is clear to ensure that photo radar is a tool for protecting people, not a government cash cow,” Dreeshen said at a news conference in Edmonton Monday
“Last year alone, Alberta’s photo radar system generated $145,000,000, but this revenue came at the expense of public trust. With these changes, we are putting safety first.”
Alberta has about 2,200 photo radar sites used by 24 municipalities.
The new measures also end “speed-on-green” photo radar at intersections. Drivers will only receive tickets if they run red lights.
Municipalities have said photo radar helps cut down on speeding. But Dreeshen said he’s seen a “mixed bag of data” on the issue as some municipalities have improved safety after removing the sites.
Edmonton-McClung MLA Lorne Dach, the transportation critic for the NDP Opposition, said Dreeshen isn’t making his decision based on data.
Dach said municipalities use ticket revenue for traffic safety measures and their policing budgets.
“The province, I think, has a duty to perhaps look at backfilling these revenues that are going to be lost as a result of this decision,” he said.
Municipal officials frustrated
Municipalities are turning a thumbs down at Dreeshen’s decision.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said in an interview on Friday the province’s move to cut photo radar sites is a move to defund the Calgary Police Service. She said it comes at a time when police should get more funding to deal with a rapidly growing population.
Gondek said people get fined for speeding because they are breaking the law.
“So [is the province] now saying they’re preferring lawlessness to actually enforcing speed limits?” she asked.
“I’m not sure what they’re trying to achieve, but in the end, it will cost taxpayers in Calgary more money because the province is giving less of their share to Calgary Police Service.”
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron is expecting a $600,000 loss in her city’s budget. Heron said photo radar isn’t a cash cow and it’s used to implement safety measures to make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians.
Heron thinks photo radar should be managed by the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Management not Transportation and Economic Corridors. She suspects Minister Mike Ellis, a former Calgary police sergeant, might have a different view of the use of photo radar than Dreeshen.
“I’ve talked to Minister Ellis,” Heron said. “He seems to agree with us that that the tool is very useful in increasing safety on the street.”
