Tampa moves forward with plans to add red-light cameras

Red-light cameras are coming to Tampa.

Two years after abandoning a similar proposal, city officials are moving ahead with plans to install the controversial traffic control devices at 10 intersections as a way to crack down on chronic scofflaws and generate much-needed revenue.

Within the next few weeks, the city will begin soliciting bids from prospective vendors to operate the cameras, according to Gregory Spearman, the city's purchasing director. If all goes well, he said, the new system could be up and running by the end of the year.

Locally, red-light cameras are in operation in Port Richey, Temple Terrace and Lakeland. Hillsborough County recently installed cameras at 10 intersections, including Dale Mabry Highway and Waters Avenue, and began issuing fines to violators at the end of 2009.

The city contemplated installing the cameras in 2007, but Mayor Pam Iorio scrapped the plans, citing available research on rear-end collisions and concerns about using a private company to issue traffic citations.

Iorio said after studying the effectiveness of the red-light cameras in other Bay area communities, her administration believes the traffic control devices are working.

"The city's police department supports this strongly because of the issue we have with red-light runners, and I believe there has been enough experience with other jurisdictions to ensure that the program can operate properly," she said.

Red-light cameras would require city council approval, but several council members said previously they would support the move if the Iorio administration goes ahead with it.

City officials haven't yet identified locations for the cameras and would likely need to sign agreements with local utilities and property owners to install them near intersections.

Tampa is facing major budget shortfalls, and city officials have been searching for ways to cut costs as well as to generate additional money for a dwindling general fund.

City officials said they could use the added revenue from citations but point out that the primary reason for reconsidering the use of the cameras is the issue of public safety.

Proponents of the high-speed surveillance equipment say it has been shown to reduce red-light violations. The technology has drawn its share of critics, including Libertarian groups that say the real purpose of red-light cameras is to generate revenue.

Officials in Temple Terrace and Lakeland say the cameras are working.

Temple Terrace officials are considering expanding the program from two intersections - 56th Street and Fowler Avenue and 56th and Bullard Parkway - to four or five. Since October, the city has issued more than 22,200 citations, or about $1.4 million in fines.

Lakeland has installed nine cameras at five busy intersections and has issued more than 7,000 citations since June 1, when the cameras started rolling, city officials said.

Still, the cameras have been dogged by controversy in both communities.

Temple Terrace is being sued by five complainants who argue that the city's red-light camera ordinance violates vehicle owners' rights. Officials in Lakeland are weighing an "amnesty plan" for drivers who have been cited for violating no-right-turn-on-red rules.

This year, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office contracted with an Arizona-based company to install and operate red-light cameras at 10 intersections.

Besides the one at Dale Mabry and Waters, cameras have been installed at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Fletcher Avenue, Bloomingdale Avenue and Bell Shoals Road, Sligh and Habana avenues, and Waters Avenue and Anderson Road.

Hillsborough officials expect to generate more than $200,000 a month from traffic fines.

When someone runs a red light, the camera records the vehicle and its license plate. Law enforcement officials then review the evidence and decide whether it backs up a citation. Any tickets or warnings would be mailed to the vehicle's registered owner.

The citations typically are $125 for each violation, but repeat offenders could be fined up to $500. Violators are given an opportunity to challenge citations in court.