Traffic Cameras
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Debate over speed cams, proven to save lives, continued at Tuesday’s committee meeting. CDOT announced 11 more locations today.
Yesterday, the City Council's Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic discussed the installation of new speed cameras this year. At the beginning of this year, Earlier this year, Chicago had 162 existing speed cams ,and Mayor Brandon Johnson announced plans to install 50 more. Officials said about 40 additional cameras were requested by alderpersons; 23 of which have been installed so far in April and May; 11 locations are currently being designed and installed; and the remainder are still under consideration.
May 14, 2025
Speed round: Both candidates said they’d dismantle Chicago’s livesaving speed cam program
It's disappointing that even politicians who claim to care about public safety and transportation equity have a blind spot when it comes to automated enforcement, which protects the most vulnerable Chicagoans, simply because traffic cameras are unpopular with drivers.
March 29, 2023
How should we respond to the UIC and ProPublica reports on Chicago traffic cameras?
There's no question that the cams are preventing injury and fatality crashes, but Black and Latino motorists and racking up more tickets and suffering financing hardship. Should we reform or abolish it.
January 14, 2022
UIC Study: Speed cams save lives, but drivers from POC communities get more tickets
City officials say they plan to use the findings from the report to improve the program, and note that low-income residents will get a 50 percent discount on traffic tickets starting in March.
January 11, 2022
Bakery-fresh CDOT study reaffirms speed cameras are saving lives
The new report compared the changes in crash numbers near speed cameras and citywide between 2012-13 and 2018-2019 and confirmed that collision numbers have stayed relatively low near the cams.
January 6, 2022
City is now issuing warnings for 6 mph speed cam violations, $35 tickets after March 1
We'll have a chance to see whether the change in ticketing protocols helps reduce the serious crash rate, and also whether it has any negative equity impacts.
January 21, 2021
After scandal, IL lawmakers say they can ban red light cams — here’s why they shouldn’t
The guilty plea of Illinois state senator Martin Sandoval shows that reforms are needed. But data shows that if lawmakers ban RLCs across the state, more people will die in crashes.
February 7, 2020
Here’s Looking at You, Kidwell: The Tribune’s Anti-Traffic Cam Reporter Has Left the Paper
Investigative reporter David Kidwell broke the Redflex bribery scandal and pressured the city to make reforms to the red light camera program, but much of his reporting on automated enforcement was misleading and betrayed an apparent personal bias against traffic cams.
April 3, 2017
Sliding-Scale Fines Could Make Chicago Traffic Enforcement More Equitable
[Last year the Chicago Reader launched a weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership allows Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We syndicate a portion of the column after it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in print. The paper hits the streets on Thursdays.]
September 29, 2016
More Steps Emanuel Should Take to Reform Chicago’s Traffic Cam Program
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 administration has mismanaged the program, which forced the mayor to take steps to reform it.
April 15, 2015