Province freezing new photo radar devices, launching review

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) — Amid concerns it is just a cash cow and used to generate revenue, the Alberta government is launching a review of photo radar.

Also, while the review takes place, there will be a freeze on new remote speed enforcement devices and municipalities will not be allowed to upgrade existing devices.

This freeze is effective on Dec. 1, and the review itself may last around two years.

“We’re going to make sure the focus for photo radar is on safety,” said Transportation Minister Ric McIver in Edmonton. “If it’s for safety, we’re going to keep it. If it’s only for revenue collection, we won’t. But we don’t want to presuppose where the evidence will take us.”

McIver said all options are on the table right now, including cancelling the use of photo radar outright, but they are not making any firm decisions at this time.

“Traffic tickets should help increase public safety and not be used to generate revenue. We are conducting this review because Albertans need to have confidence that photo radar is an effective way to keep people safe. I look forward to working with the Minister of Transportation to understand the value of photo radar and see if it’s worth preserving,” added Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer.

A major purpose of the review is to standardize data, as McIver said they can’t yet compare apples to apples between the 27 Alberta municipalities that use photo radar.

It also raised the question as to why not all municipalities have it in place.

Together, these municipalities rake in over $200 million per year through photo enforcement.

This review also follows a review held by the past NDP government, which found there are some issues around site selection for photo radar and it being used in speed transition areas.

“We actually support the NDP’s review. We support the changes that they made about where photo radar can and cannot be used and the conditions under which it should be used, and we’ve actually kept them in place,” McIver added.

The NDP changes went into effect after Feb. 2019, and the review also found that Alberta has the highest per capita ratio of photo radar devices — three times higher than British Columbia and Manitoba.

The province will be engaging directly with the municipalities and police forces during this process, and McIver assured reporters in Edmonton that it would cost “not a lot” of money.

During budget discussions at Calgary City Hall on Tuesday, councillors asked Calgary Police Chief Constable Mark Neufeld what the impact would be if the program were completely cancelled.

Neufeld said it would create a massive revenue shortfall, as they make around $40 million per year on photo radar.

“We have not used it as a cash cow and I think that’s why, in these times around budget, there’s a number of levers that can be pulled, but we have to be quite careful about which ones we’re pulling because I think we have to maintain legitimacy of that program,” he said.

“There’s a lot of intersections in the city that are actually very difficult to enforce safety in absence of photo enforcement.”