Pittsburgh City Council has approved a plan to improve traffic safety by installing red light cameras.
Councilperson Erika Strassburger who sponsored the legislation says the city doesn't have enough officers to enforce the traffic laws.
“But, what we can do, is augment our police officer’s ability with automated red-light cameras and choose the most dangerous intersections, and put the cameras there, and people will then start getting tickets,” said Strassburger.
She adds that, by state law, a human officer ultimately decides if a ticket should be issued.
She says her legislation is not a cash grab or a tax
“We’re not keeping any of the of the revenue,” said Strassburger. “It’s literally just to pay for itself and the excess goes to the state, when then goes back into cities like Pittsburgh, but also other cities that don’t have red-light camera programs.”
Strassburger says signage will be put in place to notify drivers of the camera enforcement and once the warning periods have ended, and a maximum fine of $100 will take effect.
Verra Mobility will operate the cameras at a cost of $14 million over a five-year contract.