IA - Cedar Rapids OKs traffic cameras (Speed/RLC)

[StlouisX50]

Cedar Rapids OKs traffic cameras

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• Massachusetts

Associated Press 6:24 a.m. CDT, October 15, 2009

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Red-light runners and speeders in Cedar Rapids beware -- you'll soon be photographed.

The City Council on Wednesday night unanimously approved a contact with a Massachusetts company to install, maintain and operate the traffic enforcement cameras.

Police Capt. Steve O'Konek says the city plans to install cameras at 10 intersections as well as a speed enforcement camera, probably on Interstate 380. Police also intend to use a mobile camera to catch speeders.

The mobile camera should be ready soon, and O'Konek says cameras at four intersections would be ready within 90 days. All should be installed within six months.

The company, Gatso USA, Inc., of Beverly, Mass., will get $30 for each red-light violation, with $70 for the city.

The city expects annual revenue of $750,000.

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Information from: The Gazette, Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines | GazetteOnline.com - Cedar Rapids, Iowa City

[oldsyd]

What do the Gatso units use for detection? Is it radar?

[oldsyd]

Council OKs cameras contract to catch traffic scofflaws

Posted on Oct 14, 2009 by Rick Smith.

The way finally has been cleared for the arrival of cameras to catch red-light runners and speeders — and to capture an estimated $750,000 a year for the city.

The City Council last night approved, 9-0, a contract with Gatso USA Inc. of Beverly, Mass., to install, maintain and operate enforcement cameras.

The vote was delayed three weeks after council members Monica Vernon and Justin Shields asked for more details about why a City Hall review panel had selected Gatso over Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Phoenix.

Police Capt. Steve O’Konek said Wednesday that the city intends to install cameras at 10 intersections that can snap photos of red-light runners and speeders.

The city also plans to install a fixed speed-enforcement camera, probably on Interstate 380, and to employ a mobile speed-enforcement camera.

O’Konek said the mobile speed-enforcement camera should be in place soon. He expected cameras at four intersections within 90 days, with the rest in place in 180 days

The number of cameras could total 50, with four cameras at each intersection and perhaps six to capture all lanes on Interstate 380, O’Konek said.

Gatso will receive $30 and the city $70 for each red-light violation. Gatso will receive $30 for a speeding violation and the city will receive the rest of a speeding fine — an amount that increases as the extent of the speeding violation increases, O’Konek said.

The city expects the cameras to bring in $750,000 to the city in a year, though O’Konek and Police Chief Greg Graham said they are more interested in seeing if the cameras help reduce crashes.

[oldsyd]

(note that they do not disclose the actual location of the I-380 cameras)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009
Contact: Sgt Cory McGarvey
Phone: 319-286-5548
E-mail: c.mcgarvey at cedar-rapids.org


AUTOMATED CAMERA ENFORCEMENT

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA - December 3, 2009 - The Cedar Rapids Police Department in cooperation with the Traffic Engineering Department and the Iowa Department of Transportation have selected the automated enforcement locations for the City of Cedar Rapids. These systems will capture on video and photographs both red light running and speeding vehicles at the listed intersections below. Locations 9 and 10 will not capture red light violations only speeding vehicles on I 380. # 11 is a mobile photo radar vehicle which can be deployed at any location in the city.

Location Approach

1 1st Ave & 10th St. E EB/WB

2 1st Ave & L St. W EB/WB

3 2nd Ave. & 3rd St. SW NB

4 2nd Ave. & 6th St. NB/WB

5 2nd Ave. & 10th St. SE NB

6 Center Point Rd. NE & Collins Rd. Ramp (North) NB

7 Williams Blvd.& 16th Ave. W EB/WB

8 Edgewood Rd. & 42nd St. NE NB/SB

9 I380 Fixed Point NB

10 I380 Fixed Point SB

11 Mobile Photo Radar Vehicle

Camera installation is close to beginning. There will be a 30-day warning period when the first systems go live. The Cedar Rapids Police Department wants to be as transparent as possible in the locations and continue to notify the public when the systems are live. More updates will be coming.

[oldsyd]

Over 30 Get Red Light Warnings After Camera Installation

Originally printed at www kcrg com/news/local/85088482 html Over 30 Get Red Light Warnings After Camera Installation | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather | Local News[/url]

CEDAR RAPIDS - Red light cameras have photographed more than 30 motorists since the first one went live in Cedar Rapids 11 days ago, police said Tuesday.

Two intersections are now monitored on 10th Street SE, at First Avenue and Second Avenue. (map below) Six more cameras will be put in place to monitor speed and red-light violations in the coming weeks.

A mobile radar van is also part of the enhanced enforcement system. During a 90-minute test on Tuesday morning, its camera caught 166 speeders in the 400 block of 76th Avenue SW, near Prairie Crest Elementary School.

Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said several motorists were clocked at 50 mph in the 25 mph speed limit.

“It will get a picture going both ways, so it will get the driver of the car, and it also will get the back of the vehicle,” Hamblin said.

For now, police are mailing written warnings to all the violators. Hamblin said citations will be sent to those caught by the cameras starting on March 14, after the 30-day warning period expires. The ticket for running a red light will be $100. Speeding citations will vary depending how fast the motorist is going, she said.

Capt. Steve O’Konek said the next camera to go live will be at Second Avenue and Sixth Street SW. Hamblin said other cameras — at First Avenue and L Street SW, Second Avenue and Third Street SW, Center Point Road and Collins Road NE, Williams Boulevard and 16th Avenue SW and Edgewood Road and 42nd Street NE — should be in place active by this summer, at the latest. Two fixed speed cameras are also planned for Interstate 380 near the downtown area.

More than two dozen Cedar Rapids police officers have been trained to review each potential violation and decide whether a citation is warranted, O’Konek said. So far, Hamblin it has been a popular chore among the officers.

“They get in arguments over who gets to approve them,” Hamblin said.
O’Konek and other officials with the city have denied claims that the goal of the cameras is revenue generation.

“If we don’t see a reduction in crashes and injuries, then the cameras are gonna go,” O’Konek said.

Questions about the red light and speed enforcement cameras can be e-mailed to crpdredlight cedar-rapids dot org, and someone will reply with an answer as soon as possible.

[oldsyd]

CRPD Radar Car Catches Hundreds of Speeders

Originally printed at www kcrg com/news/local/85428627 html

[oldsyd]

There is video of these stories at the links above. You'll have to figure out the real web link since I am not allowed to post website links yet.

[oldsyd]

If you can find this story online, there is a YouTube video with the LEO showing the software in use.




Cedar Rapids red-light camera sites chosen by crash numbers, not citations
Posted on Mar 28, 2010 by Jeff Raasch.
Police and traffic engineers considered an array of data to determine where to put red-light cameras, but actual red-light violations weren’t a factor.

Instead, the team focused on right-angle crashes, which are often caused by drivers who run red lights. Construction plans, pedestrian traffic and the ability to enforce the intersections normally also were included in the review, police said.

Police Capt. Steve O’Konek said red-light citations were not considered, because they are not tracked by location. Even if they were, he said, basing camera locations on those citations would lead the public to believe the goal is revenue generation, something Cedar Rapids police have consistently denied.

“Our goal has always been to reduce crashes and injuries at these intersections,” O’Konek said. “If we do have other intersections where people are running the red lights, the data doesn’t show that they’re hitting anything. It may be a problem there, but they’re not crashing into anybody.”

The controversial cameras are

already running at First Avenue East and 10th Street and along

Second Avenue at Sixth Street SW and 10th Street SE. (See map.) Cameras will go up at more intersections this summer, police said. They are projected to generate $750,000 in tickets annually.

To figure out where the cameras should go, police and traffic engineers analyzed six years of crash data at 30 intersections. They counted the number of right-angle crashes and the number of injuries caused by them, O’Konek said. The camera vendor, Gatso USA, independently analyzed the finalists.

City Council members approved installation of the cameras without reviewing the data themselves, O’Konek said.

Of the 30 studied intersections, eight are approved for cameras. The eight include the top three intersections with the most right-angle crashes during the time span, but only five of the top 15, an analysis by The Gazette found. (See crash chart, XA.)

There are no plans to install cameras at the other accident-prone intersections. The reasons range far and wide, O’Konek said.

Construction is planned at two of them: Williams Boulevard and Wiley Boulevard SW, and the intersection of eastbound Collins Road NE and the Interstate 380 northbound off-ramp. Left-turn lanes will be redesigned on Williams this year. At the other corner, a system will be installed to detect oncoming traffic and adjust the signals accordingly, so last-second signal changes are reduced.

The two intersections combined for 48 right-angle crashes, 12 with injuries, during the six-year span.

“We’ll look at those after they do the construction work,” O’Konek said. “If we still have a problem, they may be suitable candidates (for cameras), but it didn’t make sense for us to put a system in place to change driver behavior and reduce crashes if the engineering would do it.”

Another accident-prone intersection is Second Avenue and L Street SW, No. 5 on the list, according to the analysis. The intersection logged 22 right-angle crashes, eight with injuries, from 2003 through 2008. A camera will be installed a block away, however, at First Avenue West and L Street SW, No. 9 on the list.

O’Konek said studies have shown that the cameras reduce accidents at nearby intersections, too.

“We think we’re going to see some residual effect at Second Avenue and L Street,” O’Konek said. “Certainly, it’s still on our list, and if we continue to see the right-angle crashes, we have no aversion to putting a camera at that location, as well.”

The three intersections where cameras are already live rank first, 20th and 21st for number of right-angle crashes during the six-year span. O’Konek said weather delays and the ease of engineering have dictated where cameras have gone first.

Tom Welch, state safety engineer for the Iowa Department of Transportation, said red-light cameras should be the last resort to improve safety. Design of the intersection and signal visibility and timing should all be considered first.

O’Konek said those things were evaluated, along with speed limits.

Welch said measuring safety is a difficult task.

“It’s like trying to measure how wet water is,” Welch said, “but that’s what we try to do. It’s about trying to save trips to trauma centers and funeral homes.”