SPEED CAMERAS TO BE INSTALLED THIS SUMMER, SAYS ADMINISTRATION
Clarence-Rockland city council has approved automated speed control projects in several areas of the municipality starting this summer.
City officials and Local Authority Services (LAS), a non-profit organization managed by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), discussed a new partnership with the hope of reducing speeding and improving road safety in the City of Clarence-Rockland.
The LAS ASE program provides advanced camera technology for ticket processing, in compliance with provincial law. Under the agreement with the City, LAS will initially fund two Provincial Offences Officers to process speed camera violations on behalf of the City of Clarence-Rockland under the ASE program.
Now that council has approved the project, the city of Clarence-Rockland will become the second processing centre in Ontario, with the other located in Barrie, Ontario.
Clarence-Rockland Mayor Mario Zanth said that with the city becoming a processing centre, the program will bring revenue to the Clarence-Rockland for start-up costs and investments in future infrastructure projects. Successful program in Ottawa According to the City of Ottawa, speed cameras, which more than doubled in number by 2023, have been remarkably effective.
After a one-year pilot study in Ottawa, there was a 200 per cent increase in compliance with speed limits in the areas where the cameras were installed, and a reduction of over 70 per cent in the number of drivers exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 kilometers per hour.
A CBC Ottawa report revealed that a camera in Barrhaven handed out more than 10,000 tickets in just over two months, generating more than $650,000 in fees since the camera was installed last year.
“Not only will we help make the roads safer with this new technology, but by becoming the processing center for other municipalities, we will increase the city’s revenue,” said Zanth. “I proposed finding new sources of revenue rather than expecting our residents to bear the bulk of the costs of running the company. This is a step in that direction.”
The province has allowed the use of speed cameras in community safety zones and school zones since 2017.
Next steps for C-R administration Pierre Voisine, chief administrative officer of the City of Clarence-Rockland, said the first cameras will be installed sometime this summer, as there are still steps to take to make the program official.
Voisine said several bylaws and policies need to be written and implemented. The supporting bylaws, according to Voisine, will address aspects such as the ASE program County roads, the appeals process for screening and hearing and the establishment of community safety zones.
Voisine noted that the policies of the processing centre need to be implemented, along with an area for all the necessary equipment required for officers.
i8F BSF JNQMFNFOUJOH B IVNBO SFTPVSDFT (HR) plan for the hiring of these officers who will process the tickets, collection processes, then of course is the work around the purchase and installation of the cameras themselves,” said Voisine. “There are a multitude of activities occurring right now in support of this effort, including the traffic study, which will identify the locations for the installation of cameras.”
Voisine said the administration was also considering placing cameras at the entrances to villages, where the speed limit is reduced from 80 to 50 kilometers per hour.
LAS is investing in the establishment of a JMSB that would include Clarence-Rockland and other municipalities using LAS ASE systems. This centralized commission would oversee the processing of speed camera violations.
The City of Clarence-Rockland would be a founding member of the JMSB and recognized by LAS as an industry leader for this type of service.
The City has approved an expense of $400,000 for ASE, which will come from its tax stabilization reserve.
Future net revenues will be used to reimburse the reserve.