Monday, December 3, 2012

Cameras are now in place

According to NBC Chicago, the city is still trying to decide which vendor they will go with, but the speed cameras are in the 4 locations mentioned in a previous post.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Chicago-Speed-Camera-Testing-Begins-Monday-181819221.html

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Speed Camera Trial to Begin Soon at 4 Locations

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-21/news/chi-smile-testing-of-speed-cameras-set-for-4-sites-20121121_1_camera-contract-camera-zone-redflex-traffic-systems


Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s controversial speed cameras will get their first test next month in four locations as the city tries to determine whether the technology to catch speeding cars works.
No tickets will be issued to drivers caught going above the speed limit during the testing period, which will last from Dec. 3 to Jan. 3, according to a news release Wednesday from Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
The city will test mobile and permanent cameras at two North Side locations: Warren Park in the 6500 block of North Western Avenue, and Near North Montessori School in the 1400 block of West Division Street.
There will also be two test spots on the South Side: McKinley Park in the 2200 block of West Pershing Road, and Dulles Elementary School in the 6300 block of South King Drive.
Emanuel is counting on raising at least $20 million from tickets issued to motorist by speed cameras in 2013 to balance his budget.
But the push to get the system in place near schools and parks hit a snag this fall because of a decades-old opinion by the Illinois attorney general that says children must be “visibly present” before school zone speed limits can be enforced.
The bidding process for the lucrative camera contract also became mired in controversy after the Tribune reported in October that an official at Redflex Traffic Systems – the company that holds the contract to operate the city’s red light cameras and a bidder for the speed camera work – had paid for a luxury hotel stay for a Chicago Department of Transportation employee who oversaw the red light contract.
Emanuel disqualified Redflex from competing for the speed camera contract, and city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson has issued subpoenas to the companies that lost to Redflex in 2007 for the red light camera contract.
Emanuel has defended the speed camera plan against criticism that it’s simply a cash grab, saying he wants to try to protect children by setting up “safety zones” within one-eighth of a mile of schools and parks.
The ordinance adopted by the City Council last spring legalized the cameras in up to 300 areas in the city, which would allow the administration to cover nearly half of Chicago.
When the contract gets awarded and the cameras are officially in place – possibly in spring 2013 -- tickets for driving 6 to 10 mph over the limit in a speed camera zone will be $35. The fine for going 11 mph or more over the limit will be $100.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Questions cloud red-light camera issue

USA Today wrote an article about Red Light Cameras this week and in it, it states


Traffic cameras can generate enormous revenue.
Chicago, for instance, reaps more than $60 million a year from its cameras, according to Rajiv Shah, adjunct assistant professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied the issue in that city.

To read the entire article, click here.

Emanuel speed camera ordinance passes City Council committee

April 11, 2012|By John Byrne and Hal Dardick | Tribune reporters

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to use speed cameras to issue tickets cleared a City Council committee today.
The 7-3 vote came after criticism from aldermen led the mayor to offer up a revised ordinance governing the use of speed cameras in Chicago.
Instead of $50 fines for driving six to 10 mph above the speed limit near schools and parks, a $35 fine would be assessed under the revision, which also will include other tweaks, said Ald. Margaret Laurino, 39th, chairman of the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Speed camera bill OK'd

According to today's Chicago Tribune:
Cameras set up to catch speeders near Chicago parks and schools could be in operation by July 1 after Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.  The cameras could monitor zones covering nearly half of Chicago and figure to significantly boost the number of fines handed out.  The money - fines will be up to $100 - will go toward school safety and road and bridge repairs.
If this is all about children's safety, I don't understand why Rahm refuses to release all the records behind the decision.  Sounds shady to me.  Is this how you plan on bringing change to Chicago government Rahm?  Sounds like more of the same to me.

Emanuel withholds most records detailing push for speed cameras

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Quinn signs Emanuel speed cameras bill into law

I guess it is official, we are going to be getting speed cameras attached to some of our red light cameras.  I love how Quinn invokes the argument that it's for the children when it is really for the revenue.  As soon as the locations are released, I will update this blog.


Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure into law today that allows Mayor Rahm Emanuel to start using red light cameras to fine speeding drivers as much as $100 for violations.
"I think that you've got to understand that if you save even one life, you are saving the whole world," Quinn said at a morning event at a Chicago school. "I mean, what do you say to a parent that's been there from the day their son or daughter was born, and they're killed by a speeding motorist next to their school, or their park?"