Green light for speed cameras
Unclear whether municipalities will share in revenue
B.C. is getting ready to roll out its first intersection speed cameras, but municipalities still aren’t sure if they’ll be getting a share of the ticket revenue.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said a promised fall launch of the program that will activate existing red-light intersection cameras and use them to catch speeders does not necessarily mean the system will go online this month, and it could be as late as December.
“It’s probably more likely to be later fall, as opposed to Sept. 22,” Farnworth said.
The government announced in March plans to convert 140 redlight intersection cameras to photograph the licence plates of speeding vehicles during red, yellow and green lights. Tickets will be mailed to registered owners.
The same cameras have also been upgraded to photograph cars that drive through red lights 24 hours a day, instead of the previous six hours per day.
Six of the 140 are on Vancouver Island. Greater Victoria has two red-light cameras, at Tillicum Road and the TransCanada Highway, and Shelbourne Street at Hillside Avenue.
There are two cameras in Nanaimo (Island Highway at Aulds Road and Norwell Drive), and one each in Duncan (TransCanada Highway at Trunk Road) and Courtenay (17th Street at Cliffe Avenue).
The changes are expected to generate millions of dollars in new revenue for the province. Yet, as the launch date nears for the new speed technology, the government is still silent on key aspects of the program, including: At which intersections will speed cameras be located, how fast will drivers have to be speeding to get caught, and what will the government do with all the new money it generates with tickets?
Since 2005, the province has given all the net revenue from traffic tickets back to municipalities in the form of unconditional grants, which local governments have used to pay for police and safety programs. In 2017-18, the amount was $54 million.
Vancouver, where almost half of red light camera infractions are recorded each year, receives the largest annual grant of approximately $13 million and uses it to pay for city police.
The government gave notice in May that it wanted to renegotiate the revenue sharing on traffic tickets, sparking alarm among mayors who worried that the province could claw back a bigger share of the pot, or set specific requirements on how the funding is spent.
Farnworth said he has reassured mayors and the Union of B.C. Municipalities they won’t get less money than they currently do, under whatever new deal is signed.