Thomas Breen photo
Transit director Aysola: Human being will review camera footage before automated tickets are sent out.
Proposed 19 locations for red light and speed cameras.
Drivers hell-bent on whipping past the often-ignored red light at Park and South Frontage have only a few more months to avoid an automatic ticket, if a plan announced Monday goes through to put a red light camera there.
Mayor Justin Elicker, city Transportation, Traffic & Parking (TT&P) Director Sandeep Aysola, and Police Chief Karl Jacobson made that announcement during a Monday morning press conference at the corner of South Frontage Road and Park Street.
As cars and trucks sped through the intersection when they had the green and pedestrians hustled across at each red, Elicker said his administration has submitted a proposed ordinance to the Board of Alders to install red light cameras in 11 locations and “speed safety” cameras in eight locations across the city. (See below for a full list of proposed locations.)
The red light cameras would allow the city to keep track of which cars are driving through red lights at those select intersections. With the help of license-plate reading technology, the city will then send out a ticket — $50 for a first offense, $75 for all subsequent — to the owner of the offending vehicle.
The same fines go for cars caught going more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit in the eight school-adjacent areas where the speed cameras would be set up.
There are still quite a few steps to go before these cameras will be up and running, Elicker and Aysola cautioned.
First, the Board of Alders will hold a public hearing, potentially amend, and then vote on the ordinance proposal, including the 19 camera locations suggested by the Elicker administration.
If local legislators approve the plan, Elicker said, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) then has to sign off on the city’s proposal.
Then New Haven must hire the TT&P staff necessary to manage the program; Elicker has proposed four new such positions in his Fiscal Year 2024 – 25 budget. The city would also hire a contractor to help figure out exactly how the cameras will be installed, and then buy and put up the actual cameras themselves, etc. etc. “It will take some time,” the mayor said. Hopefully the cameras will be in place within the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Elicker said on Monday that the city’s very proposal of these red light and speed cameras marks quite the “milestone” for local and statewide traffic safety advocates. It follows a decade-plus push at the state legislature to get enabling legislation passed, which New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar helped bring to fruition last year. The state DOT put out its own mandated guidelines for how municipalities can put up red light and speed cameras in January.
Jacobson’s message for the public at Monday’s presser: “Yellow does not mean speed up to try to make the light.” Plus, he said, for any young people cruising through lights in their parents’ car — watch out. If you keep this behavior up, your mom, the owner of the car, will be sent a ticket for your dangerous driving when these cameras are up and running.
Why has the Elicker administration proposed putting a red light camera up at South Frontage and Park, when, just one block over at South Frontage and York, two pedestrians and a cyclist have been hit and killed by cars over the past decade and a half?
Elicker and Aysola responded that the enabling state legislation requires municipalities to use relevant crash data when determining where to put these cameras. In particular, Aysola said, the city had to show that each intersection with a red light cameras has had at least two red-light-related crashes in the past three years. South Frontage and Park, Elicker said, had 13 such crashes last year alone. South Frontage and York did not meet that threshold.
Nevertheless, the mayor argued, red light cameras at South Frontage and Park will ideally slow down traffic barreling east, and thereby make South Frontage and York safer, too.
What about concerns long raised at the state legislature by groups like the ACLU and the NAACP about automated traffic enforcement opening a door to invasions of privacy and potential discrimination against certain types of drivers based on, for example, their skin color?
In regards to privacy concerns, Elicker said, it’s 2024. There are cameras everywhere. This is the reality of the time we’re living in.
As for the potential for discrimination, Elicker said that the enabling state legislation limits the number of cameras a municipality can put in any one part of the city, to ensure that no one is being targeted. Plus, he and Aysola and Jacobson stressed, these cameras are looking at license plates — not drivers — of cars that blow through red lights. Aysola also said that a city transit employee will review each video footage showing a car going through a red light or speeding in these designated areas before the city sends out an automated ticket and fine.
Stephanie: Not thrilled about more tickets for more drivers.
A Yale New Haven Hospital employee named Stephanie was more wary of the prospect of red light cameras when asked before Monday’s presser for her thoughts on the proposed traffic-safety intervention.
“It’s tough, because everyone’s in a rush,” she said about cars and pedestrians at the South Frontage-York intersection. She said she knows to avoid standing too close to the roadway on the sidewalk in case a car goes flying off the street. But, she said, she also doesn’t want the city to be sending out lots more tickets to drivers.
Another hospital employee named Earl was even more circumspect. “It ain’t right,” he said. “Sometimes [the light] changes real quick” from yellow to red. Does that mean everyone who keeps on going will automatically be sent a ticket?
Safe streets advocate Lior Trestman showed up to Monday’s presser to speak in support of the camera proposal. These types of red light and speed cameras are used by cities around the world, and they work at slowing down cars and making streets safer, he said. New York City alone has thousands of such cameras. He pointed out that the tickets are cheaper than fines associated with other types of traffic violations. And, he said, the automated enforcement doesn’t “run the risk of bias or escalation” that can result from a human being, like a police officer, issuing a ticket in person.
See below for a full list of proposed locations for red light and speed safety cameras.
Red Light Camera Proposed Locations
• South Frontage Road and Park Street
• MLK Jr. Boulevard and Church Street
• College Street and Church Street
• Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Derby Avenue
• Quinnipiac Avenue and East Grand Avenue
• Whalley Avenue and East Ramsdell Street
• Orange Street and Edwards Street
• Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Washington Avenue
• Quinnipiac Avenue and Foxon Boulevard
• Prospect Street and Highland Street
• I‑95 South off-ramp at Main Street and Woodward Avenue
Speed Safety Camera Proposed Locations
• Barnard Environmental Magnet School (170 Derby Ave.)
• Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School (150 Kimberly Ave.)
• Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School (177 College St.)
• Davis Academy for Arts & Design Innovation Magnet School (35 Davis St.)
• FAME: Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration (255 Blatchley Ave.)
• James Hillhouse High School (480 Sherman Pkwy.)
• Nathan Hale School (480 Townsend Ave.)
• Ross/Woodward School (185 Barnes Ave.)
South Frontage and Park. The light was green.
Safe streets advocate Lior Trestman.
Reporters aplenty eager for red light camera deets.
Does anyone know how to voice our discontent about this? If we attend a board of alders meeting can we say something?
My experience with red light cameras is that they over-ticket and tend to penalize low-income and people of color disproportionately. I agree New Haven has horrible driving but I think these lights won't fix anything, we will all just end up with 5 million unnecessary tickets.