Agenda Date: 03/03/2015
Subject:
Title
Motion to not renew the photo red light program contract with American Traffic Solutions.
Body
Presented By: |
Doug Stephens, Chief of Police |
POLICY QUESTION:
Does city council support not renewing the photo red light program contract with American Traffic Solutions (ATS), which expires July 31, 2015?
BACKGROUND:
The City of Littleton began use of automated photo red light cameras in 2009 at the intersection of West Littleton Boulevard and South Broadway. The program expanded in 2010 to include the intersections of South Santa Fe Drive and West Mineral Avenue, and South Santa Fe Drive and West Bowles Avenue. The final two intersections, South Broadway and West Mineral Avenue, and South Platte Canyon Road/South Lowell Boulevard and West Bowles Avenue, were added in 2011.
The city entered into a long-term contract with a private vendor, American Traffic Solutions (ATS), with the contract expiring July 31, 2015.
The purpose of photo red light cameras is to reduce the number of vehicle accidents. The intersections where photo red light cameras are in use have consistently been among the top ten accident locations in the city since 2008.
Data indicates that the photo red light systems have had minimal impact on reducing accidents at the selected intersections. While injury accidents have decreased slightly at three of the five intersections, non-injury accidents have actually increased at four intersections. Violations peaked in 2010 and have steadily decreased since.
Public opinion on photo red light cameras is a controversial topic, and legislation is being debated at the State Capitol, which would prohibit its use altogether. A similar bipartisan bill was narrowly defeated in the final days of last year's legislative session. The Littleton community appears divided on the issue. An openlittleton.org posting resulted in 56 responses with 28 supporting photo red light cameras and 22 opposing while 6 were neutral. The common public complaint is that it does not reduce accidents and is merely a revenue-generator for cities using the systems. Those in favor of the technology support its effectiveness in promoting greater traffic safety.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
The Littleton Police Department (LPD) periodically reviews the efficacy of the photo red light cameras. The most recent review was completed January 29, 2015.
Injury Accidents - The six-year data shows three intersections have experienced a decrease in the number of injury accidents and two have experienced an increase. Broadway and Littleton Boulevard, experienced the greatest decrease over time while Santa Fe and Bowles experienced an increase. There were eight fatal accidents in Littleton from 2009 to 2014, but only one occurred at a photo red light intersection (Santa Fe and Mineral in 2010).
Non-Injury Accidents - The six-year data shows an increase in the number of non-injury accidents at four of the five red light camera intersections. The only exception is Broadway and Littleton Boulevard which had a decrease since peaking in 2011.
Analysis of the number of citations issued indicates motorists have modified their driving habits at the monitored intersections as the program progressed.
There were 67,614 citations issued at photo red light intersections from 2009 through 2014. Violations peaked in 2010 with approximately 16,000 and have steadily decreased each year since with the most significant drop occurring in 2014 with approximately 9,000 violations.
Citation data seems to indicate the photo red light program has had a positive effect on driving behavior in that the number of violations at four of five intersections continues to decrease each year. It is reasonable to assume the majority of traffic at these intersections consists of regular commuters or Littleton residents who utilize the same routes each day. The steady and significant decrease in violations indicates most drivers have learned to exercise better discretion at these intersections. Data indicates the drivers' learning curve has peaked and that photo enforcement may no longer be necessary to reinforce this positive behavior.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
The photo red light cameras cost the City of Littleton approximately $650,000 annually. The costs are based on the contracted price per approach (lane) for each camera. Over the life of the program, the photo red light system has generated surplus net revenue for the city; however, due to the steep decline in violations in 2014 and projected into 2015, the contract was amended to provide for cost-neutrality for the final two years to avoid a financial deficit for 2014/2015.
While there has been an overall net revenue surplus, operational costs of the photo red light cameras does not take into account the "soft" dollars associated with managing the program. The LPD's management of the program requires an officer to review every citation issued, 67,614 over the life of the program. On average, each review takes approximately six minutes. Using the 2014 senior police officer hourly wage (excluding benefits), that equates to approximately $241,720.00 in officer salary. In addition to review of each citation, officers are also required to review all contested citations (approximately 248 per year). These reviews take approximately 30 minutes each and have resulted in an additional $22,165 personnel expense.
LPD has allocated approximately 442,884 minutes, or 7,381.4 hours to the management of the photo red light program. That equates to more than 738 patrol shifts. The annual LPD personnel cost to manage the program is $52,777, the equivalent salary, minus benefits, of a new full-time police officer.
It is staff's opinion that redeployment of LPD resources, especially an already short-staffed Traffic Unit, to a targeted enforcement approach, which focuses on school zones, construction sites, and neighborhood complaint areas, as well as continued monitoring of these high volume intersections, is a better use of department resources and better serves the community.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
The photo red light program peaked in its effectiveness in 2011/2012. Based on data analysis, public opinion, potential restrictive legislation, and efficient deployment of LPD personnel, it is the recommendation of staff that the contract with ATS not be renewed, effectively ending the photo red light program within the City of Littleton.
PROPOSED MOTION:
Proposed Motion
I move to not renew the photo red light program contract with American Traffic Solutions, which expires July 31, 2015.