Red Light Cameras - Buffalo, NY

[Eric29]

These people just can't pass up a good revenue source, especially when it rides on the backs of the poor:

Buffalo Mayor proposes funding cultural groups with red-light cameras

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/comm...icle407790.ece

[Mayor] Brown also confirmed that he is prepared to set aside $300,000 to help dozens of cultural groups that saw their funding from Erie County eliminated earlier this year.
But there is a string attached. The mayor wants the onetime grants to be paid for through a controversial red-light cameras program that he's asking the Common Council to implement. Brown said Buffalo should follow the lead of many other cities and install cameras at many busy intersections to nab red-light runners.

[Qui-Gon]

These people just can't pass up a good revenue source, especially when it rides on the backs of the poor:

Buffalo Mayor proposes funding cultural groups with red-light cameras

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/comm...icle407790.ece

[Mayor] Brown also confirmed that he is prepared to set aside $300,000 to help dozens of cultural groups that saw their funding from Erie County eliminated earlier this year.
But there is a string attached. The mayor wants the onetime grants to be paid for through a controversial red-light cameras program that he's asking the Common Council to implement. Brown said Buffalo should follow the lead of many other cities and install cameras at many busy intersections to nab red-light runners.

Dude, don't EVEN get me started. This is nothing more than a frickin' money grab for the city. It has nothing to do with saving lives, it's all about the benjamins!!! He's been trying to get this crap pushed through the Common Council since he got elected.

"As for the red-light camera initiative, Brown said he believes local residents are "overwhelmingly in favor of these cameras." He also cited national statistics indicating that red-light cameras save lives."

Apparently he didn't speak to me. He doesn't have to...my councilman lives 3 houses down from me - I can tell HIM how disappointed I am in this coming up again. Notice Mayor Brown doesn't cite any of the studies that show an increase in rear-end collisions at RLC-enforced intersections, NOR the fact that many cities are abandoning their programs because they're not PROFITABLE...

Here's a link to another article where Mayor Nimrod is pretty much contradicting himself, I think:

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article75637.ece

[Eric29]

I remember that article. I just knew that the city wouldn't be able to resist the revenue. The next thing will be to offer the council money for their districts if they vote for it.

[Qui-Gon]

Here's another take on Mayor Nimrod's proposal...notice the phrase "revenue stream" mentioned:

http://buffalo.ynn.com/?ArID=541729

[AirMoore]

Looks like I better make the the 3600 has its updates continually on RLC's

[Qui-Gon]

Looks like I better make the the 3600 has its updates continually on RLC's

Don't rush into it yet...

According to the article, funding the purchase of RLC's is a separate project from the budget. I personally have been in contact with one member of the Buffalo Common Council who is againt RLC's (and who, coincidentally, ran against Mayor Douchebag a few years ago - unsuccessfully ). He told me that he will let me know what they have planned AFA keeping RLC's out of our city. Talking to MY councilman is like talking to someone who has NO clue: "Why does everyone hate RLC's? If you don't go through a red light, you won't get a ticket!"

He just doesn't seem to get it, no matter how much information I provided him in their PREVIOUS attempt at getting RLC's installed.

[Eric29]

The mayor must be drooling because there was a recent article indicating that NYC gave out 1,000,000 red light camera tickets last year. The city collected $55.4 million from this, but I read one article that said the city gets $8 a ticket, and the rest goes to the company that administers them.

Is this company publicly traded? If it is, invest now. American Traffic Solutions Continues Growth With 10 New Contracts

Of course, Buffalo isn't NYC. A lot of municipalities lose money on these cameras. LA Losing Money on Red Light Cameras

At many intersections, the only way to make a left is to wait until the light changes, and then when you're under the light, make the turn when it changes. You have plenty of time, and people wait for you because you're in the intersection. That's legal, but it gets you a ticket in the mail. That's the majority of tickets. The idea that people regularly blow through red lights at busy intersections is ridiculous. There's already a big penalty for that. It's called death.

I've spoken to several people who say that they'll just wait at the light, for several changes if necessary, and hold up traffic. And of course, if the light is changing, slam on the brakes.

Papers all across upstate NY picked up the NYC stories. I've seen stories in the Syracuse papers drooling over this. They aren't drooling over safety.

[Qui-Gon]

WOW...what an evening. I tuned into 103.3 FM here in Buffalo (The Edge) and called into the Shredd and Ragan Show this evening to commiserate about RLC's. To paint the picture, I emailed a letter to Mayor Brown this weekend and BCC'd Shredd & Ragan on it, knowing that they too despise these cash collectors. Ragan responded to the email, essentially stating that they LOVED the letter, and that they hope the Mayor reads it (I know his secretary got it - whether or not he did is beyond me), and that they were going to read it, presumably on the air. I figured I'd call in just to put in my 2 cents...well, I got cut off before I could give them some ideas, so I emailed Ragan again. Long and short..they want to talk with me ON THE AIR tomorrow to discuss the letter I wrote to the Mayor. COOL!!!

Here is the letter in its entirety:

"Mayor Brown:

As a taxpayer in the City of Buffalo, I want to express my utmost OUTRAGE at you trying to sneak in something to the budget, namely red light cameras. How DARE you hold possible funding to cultural organizations hostage unless you get your way with these revenue generators!!! This is SHAMEFUL!!! Red light cameras are CASH COWS– nothing more, nothing less. Why else would you be interested??? You are giving us the reason right here (quoted from today’s Buffalo News):

“He (Mayor Brown) also noted that the city faces fiscal pressures, including a $6.3 million cut in state aid and a projected $3.1 million cut in county sales tax revenue. What's more, employee health and pension costs will rise 15 percent, while gasoline expenses are up 59 percent.”

What do you have to say about that???

Where is the funding coming from for the purchase, installation and upkeep for these things??? What will your excuse be (when and if these things are put in) when people stop running red lights and the money stream stops flowing?

You, in today’s article from the Buffalo News, cited NATIONAL statistics indicating that RLC’s save lives. Are you talking about the ones sponsored by the IIHS and other organizations like it? How about the studies that cite an increase in rear-end collisions? How about the cities that once thought as you are currently thinking??? Why is it that cities are taking these RLC programs out??? Simple – they’re not PROFITABLE!!!

Don’t kid yourself or the citizens of this city, Mayor Brown. We’re not as dumb and ignorant as you may seem to think we are. RLC’s are not the answer."

[Eric29]

Great letter. I wish I could hear the show tomorrow, but I'm out of town. Let us know how it goes.

[Eric29]

Hey Byron ... proceed with caution

"We don’t have the space to get into the fleecing of the cities by the companies that sell and operate the cameras, but suffice to say, the politicians who claim it isn’t about the money may be right in one sense: preliminary data suggests the money flows out of the pocket of the average citizen, into the coffers of the city, and right back out, to pay the camera companies. Regardless of who gets the money, one thing is for sure: every red light infraction takes $50 out of the bank accounts of citizens who no longer have that money to put back into the local economy."

"If it is truly about safety, here’s a crazy idea — increase the time of the yellow light. In the interest of full disclosure, this isn’t an original idea, but doesn’t it make sense? If the concern is that people are racing the yellow, why not tack a few extra seconds onto the light, allowing the intersection to clear before the light changes?
It’s been done elsewhere in the country with a reported decrease in intersection crashes by as much as 30 percent. No cost for expensive cameras and monitoring. No cost to have every incident reviewed, something they call the “human element,” before a ticket is issued. No cost for the appeal of tickets and the potential to clog the courts. Just added safety to the citizens. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it Mayor Brown?"