To one city councillor, Winnipeg’s photo enforcement system is a system in need of an overhaul.
It’s also a system entrenched in Manitoba’s Highway Traffic Act, regulating which zones can have image-capturing technology, the conditions of its use and what forms of safety it can be useful for.
But the system currently in place in the province’s largest city is outdated, according to Coun. Janice Lukes.
“Cameras, or red-light cameras, or whatever you want to call them, (they’re) 20 years old. There is technology buried into the road. It’s outdated,” Lukes said in an interview with 680 CJOB. “Probably the most significant factor is that data collection is almost non-existent.”
Lukes, the city’s deputy mayor, said that in order to improve safety there needs to be a way to get data out of the technology being used.
According to the Winnipeg Police Service’s website, photo enforcement is part of the agency’s strategy to make “city streets safe for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike.” The enforcement involves 49 intersection safety cameras across the city, along with 10 mobile units conducting speed enforcement in school zones, playground zones and construction zones.
Lukes said she wants to see improved infrastructure as part of any future overhaul of the system.
“I’m going to be bringing this up again. We’re talking about it on council and we’re going to be speaking to the new (provincial) government about it,” Lukes said.
Reflecting on the calls for change, Mayor Scott Gillingham said he, too, will bring up this discussion with the province. Also speaking to 680 CJOB, he noted that because the technology being used right now is engrained within provincial legislation, any updates to the technology would require changes to the legislation.
“I’m very open to that as well. Road safety is something that we as a council have really started to focus on,” Gillingham said.
The mayor also noted that funding in this year’s municipal budget has been set aside to start a road safety committee.
WPS Insp. Doug Roxburgh told Global News the current technology is defined as an induction loop-based system, where coils of wire are embedded in the concrete, measuring speed and distance, as well as red lights.
Roxburgh described it as a system that is not just outdated, but also difficult to move around. He instead pointed to a new system that would rely on radar.
“It picks up lane violations and speed (through) red lights. There is technology there that is available for licence reading as well,” Roxburgh said. “Having photo radar just enhances our ability to enforce areas such as school zones, construction zones and playgrounds when we can’t be there.”
He went on to emphasize the importance of photo enforcement, noting that speeding offences at intersections had gone down between 80 and 90 per cent since 2003.
“That data is supportive of an effective program,” Roxburgh said.
— with files from Global’s Rosanna Hempel
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