For some, Cedar Rapids traffic cameras’ value still unproven

Sept. 25--CEDAR RAPIDS -- Cedar Rapids launched Iowa's most robust automated traffic camera system -- and one of the only in the nation on interstates -- in 2010. This was at a time when drivers wove in and out of traffic on Interstate 380's tricky S-curve, police scouted speeders from shoulders -- posing a risk to themselves and other drivers -- and two motorists had just died.

The results came quickly.

Months into the program then-police Chief Greg Graham touted a reduction in crashes and a decline in the number of tickets issued as a sign of effectiveness. Police were freed from traffic enforcement to devote time to chasing bad guys.

"Nobody is immune," Graham said of the program's evenhanded enforcement of the rules.

Despite beating expectations of $750,000 in annual revenue, Graham predicted people would change their behavior, drive more safely and the city would see the income and tickets decline over time.

But state officials today say that, while there's some evidence I-380 is safer, some of the assumptions about the program have turned out to be incorrect.

The state Department of Transportation oversees all of Iowa's automated traffic camera programs on primary roads. Six cities use them, and Cedar Rapids -- with 29 cameras, including four on the interstate -- is the most extensive.

--Northbound and southbound cameras at J Avenue issue 10 times more tickets than the other two speed I-380 camera locations, at Diagonal Drive and First Avenue at the heart of the S-curve.

--I-380 cameras have seen an increase in tickets, from 91,966 tickets in 2011 to be on pace for 103,660 this year.

--The busy cameras on J Avenue are north of the S-curve, and state officials wonder if they play a role in improving safety or whether they are a tool for generating money. J Avenue cameras, for example, have issued 258 tickets worth at least $19,350 per day this year.

--There is uncertainty about whether the crash data proves safety improvements or if it might be due to a new, higher friction surface on the S-curve or an overall statewide decline in traffic fatalities.

"If it's really about the safety, maybe those cameras are too far away from downtown," said Steve Gent, DOT's traffic and safety director. "At that point, people feel they are out of town, it's time to move faster, whether going toward or away from the city. Safety is not always about speed limits."

Gent said the city was incorrect about the cameras leading to fewer speeders, and that many out-of-state drivers are getting caught up in the system, which is not the tone Iowa wants to set for visitors.

Larry Crandall, a dairy farmer from Battle Creek, Mich., got a ticket while traveling southbound on I-380 at J Avenue southbound. Unfamiliar with the roads, Crandall said he missed the speed limit sign because he was traveling in the left-hand lane and a semi-truck on his right blocked his view.

"I don't think it is a fair system for everybody," he said. "It makes you a little bit helpless. If I got pulled over by an officer, it would be more honest."

'Speculative'

Cedar Rapids officials don't have an answer for why more tickets are being issued or why J Avenue cameras are so much more productive. They also didn't provide any new insight for how the J Avenue location was selected.

"Any interpretation of the documented safety data would be speculative. This analysis would require an extensive traffic study," a spokeswoman said in an email.

Cedar Rapids hangs red flags to draw attention where the speed limit changes from 60 to 55 miles per hour, and signs identify the cameras. The images of infractions are viewed by several individuals, including employees from the camera vendor, Gatso USA, and finalized by a police officer before the issuance of a citation.

On the other hand, the increase in tickets and revenue is a concern for some.

"That is a lot, and the pattern is not getting better," said Joseph Schofer, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University.

"If you are writing all of those tickets, something is not going right in the enforcement process. That is not having the effect you intended. Drivers aren't learning ... ."

Schofer added, though, that safety appears to be improving, if marginally.

Schofer, who explored possible abuse of the camera program in Chicago, said Cedar Rapids data has limitations because it shows raw numbers as opposed to crash rates as a proportion of miles traveled. An analysis that showed an average speed of 58 miles per hour on the S-curve in 2013 would be more informative if it showed a distribution of speed as opposed to an average, he said.

"Iowa is the only state with speed cameras on interstates," Gent said. "Just generally, any time you are outside, on either end of a spectrum, that is something either you are way ahead of the curve or way behind the curve, and neither one of those is a great place to be, especially in a controversial situation."

In fact, Gent questions if interstates are the appropriate location for cameras at all.

Around the nation few communities use automated traffic cameras -- 502 have red light programs and 140 have speed cameras, according to the Insurance Institute. Iowa is one of only 12 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands that has operating speed cameras in at least one location.

"More communities should be using cameras," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute. "We could make a huge difference in reducing traffic deaths nationwide if more cities used photo enforcement."

Traffic tickets by the numbers in 2014

--Issued: 81,025

--Paid: 41,245

--Payment pending: 26,026

--Contested: 230

--Not liable: 806

--Undeliverable: 835

--Paid in full: 1,612*

--Payment plan: 16*

--Unpaid: 9,716*

--Sent to collection agency: 7,092*

--Amount paid: $3.15 million

--Amount outstanding: $2.94 million

-- Gatso USA returns these unpaid tickets to City of Cedar Rapids to address

Traffic cameras elsewhere

Political pressure over fairness or scrutiny due to accuracy issues has prompted several states to turn off or restrict camera programs.

Arizona's governor ended photo enforcement amid political pressure.

A court of appeals in Cleveland, Ohio, ruled the cameras unconstitutional.

Louisiana banned cameras on interstates and prohibited local governments from erecting speed traps on state highways.

The Missouri Supreme Court is considering the legality of traffic cameras.

Nassau County, N.Y., refunded or dismissed $2.4 million in tickets due to inconsistencies.

A Chicago Tribune investigation questioned whether traffic cameras in Chicago were manipulated to issue thousands of tickets to undeserving drivers and a federal investigation is exploring bribery accusations connected to the city's former cameras contractor, Redflex Traffic Systems, which operates some of the camera programs in Iowa.

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