Regina red light cameras bring in big bucks

REGINA – It’s not a camera you want to see yourself on, but many drivers in Regina are.

In 2012, 1,500 drivers were nabbed by red light cameras. There are working cameras at two intersections in the city (Albert Street and Saskatchewan Drive along with Albert Street and Parliament Drive).

“The red light cameras are doing their job,” said Sgt. Andrew Puglia, part of the Regina Police Service traffic safety unit.

Tickets are $230, and last year, totaled over $320,000. The money is split between the city, province and a victim surcharge fund.

One other camera is at Dewdney Avenue and Lewvan Drive but it has not worked in three years. A committee of city, police and SGI representatives is determining if it needs to be replaced or if other intersections could use a camera.

“We are looking if this program needs to be continued,” explained Ravi Seera, the city’s traffic operations manager. “If it needs to be continued we are going to look at other high crash locations, as well.”

Seera expects within the next six to eight months the committee will come back with some recommendations, including what other options can be taken at problematic intersections.

“There are other tools which we have like advanced signal warning lights, even the pedestrian countdown signals, which the city has been installing (recently),” he said.

Saskatoon, a similar sized city, has three red light cameras. Another will be added next month. Meanwhile, Winnipeg has 50, with ticket revenue expected to be almost $10 million this year.

Regina does not have as many, but police say the cameras are making a difference and getting drivers to be more cautious of their driving habits.

“In particular, Albert Street and Saskatchewan Drive,” said Sgt. Puglia. “We don’t have as many serious collisions there as we used to have.”

Even though they are only at a select few locations, police believe the cameras’ effects extend past those immediate areas.

“I think it also improves people’s overall driving when it comes to other intersections,” Sgt. Puglia explained.

Cameras are not only in the city. Three new mobile units move throughout the province, providing photo enforcement in highway construction zones. In the last few weeks of August alone, 83 tickets were handed out.

“The measures we’ve introduced, the new sign measures, and new enforcement measures are making a difference, but excessive speed in work zones is still a problem, unfortunately,” said Ministry of Highways spokesperson Doug Wakabayashi.