Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about speed cameras

Trib Launches War on Speed Cams, CDOT Releases Data Showing They Work

By John Greenfield | Nov 19, 2015 | 29 Comments

The Chicago Tribune’s David Kidwell and his colleagues have written extensively about the city’s red light camera program. Some of that reporting has been constructive, including revelations about the red light cam bribery scandal, unexplained spikes in ticketing, and cameras that were installed in low-crash locations during the Richard M. Daley administration. Other aspects of the […]

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Crashes Doubled After Houston Banned Red Light Cameras

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 12, 2015 | No Comments

Law enforcement officers warned there would likely be an uptick in collisions when Houston debated banning red light cameras in the early part of the decade. Turns out they were absolutely right. Houston voters banned the life-saving technology in 2010, with the press mostly cheering them along. Last year Houston PD examined how that’s impacted safety at intersections. According […]

More Steps Emanuel Should Take to Reform Chicago’s Traffic Cam Program

By John Greenfield | Apr 15, 2015 | 47 Comments

Even if you voted for Chuy García, if you know how effective automated enforcement has been for preventing serious crashes in other cities, you may be relieved he didn’t get a chance to shut down all of Chicago’s traffic cameras. However, García and the other challengers did residents a service by drawing attention to ways that the Emanuel […]

The Real Reason There Are Speed Cams by Challenger Park

By John Greenfield | Nov 7, 2014 | 32 Comments

Uptown’s Challenger Playlot Park is the poster child for the anti-traffic camera crowd. Along with Mulberry Playlot Park, in the McKinley Park neighborhood, Challenger is frequently cited as a small, little-used park that’s not even visible from the locations of speed cameras that are supposedly there to protect park users. This is proof, according to […]

More Noise About the Mulberry Speed Camera From the Anti-Cam Crowd

By John Greenfield | Oct 7, 2014 | 32 Comments

The backlash against the Mulberry Playlot Park speed camera keeps getting more surreal. Now, 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas is calling for demolishing the park to get rid of the cam. On September 4, the Chicago Department of Transportation installed the speed cam at Archer Avenue and Paulina Street, about 500 feet northwest of the park. […]

Letting Drivers Dictate Speed Cam Placement — What Could Go Wrong?

By John Greenfield | Sep 24, 2014 | 31 Comments

12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas wants to use a dubious method to decide where Chicago’s speed cameras should go: crowdsourcing. On September 4, the Chicago Department of Transportation installed a speed cam in the ward at Archer Avenue and Paulina Street, near Mulberry Playlot Park, which features a playground and a water play area. Since […]

Archer Avenue Motorists Upset They Can’t Drive as Fast as They Want

By Steven Vance | Sep 12, 2014 | 99 Comments

Some motorists are complaining about a new speed camera along the busy 3200 block of Archer Avenue in McKinley Park. The accusations of a “speed trap” focus on the camera’s location, which is not immediately adjacent to the small park that, under Chicago’s “safety zones” rules, justifies the camera’s placement. But the camera is located […]

Speed Camera Cut Dangerous Speeding Next to Senn Park By 73%

By Steven Vance | Aug 18, 2014 | 34 Comments

Fast times on Ridge Avenue, in front of Senn High School, are now over: The speed camera that CDOT installed in front of Senn Park has sharply cut the number of speeders cruising at a dangerous 40+ mph. Right after the camera was first installed, roughly seven out of 1,000 drivers received an official mailed warning […]

Speed Cameras Issue 1.25 Million Warnings, Cut Speeding 43%

By Steven Vance | Jul 21, 2014 | 44 Comments

The City of Chicago’s automated speed enforcement system continues to succeed in reducing dangerous speeding around parks and schools. The Chicago Department of Transportation issued a press release earlier this month, stating that the number of speeding cars observed by its 51 speed cameras has fallen an average of 43 percent ever since the first […]

26 Bike/Ped Injuries Next to a School? No Big Whoop, Says WGN

By Steven Vance | May 15, 2014 | 33 Comments

WGN TV recently reported this week that 26 bicyclist and pedestrian injuries at Addison and Western, just outside of Lane Tech High school and within view of three speed cameras, “is relatively small.” Reporter Jackie Bange did not clarify just how many injured Chicagoans would be “relatively large” and thus merit a public response. She quoted […]

Speed Cams Aren’t Generating Much Revenue, and That’s a Good Thing

By John Greenfield | Mar 13, 2014 | 9 Comments

Yesterday’s Sun-Times piece on speed camera data obtained via a Freedom of Information Act focused on the fact that the cams haven’t brought in much cash for the city, assuming that must be a big disappointment for Mayor Emanuel. However, the real story is that the program seems to be doing an excellent job of […]

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