The Seattle City Council is poised to implement significant changes to the city’s automatic traffic camera policies.
This initiative is driven by modifications to state law, which allow for a broader deployment of traffic cameras, a tool recognized for its potential to enhance safety on city roads, provided it is executed effectively.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has long envisioned expanding the school zone speed camera program, intending to increase the number of schools equipped with cameras from 19 to 38.
Funding for this expansion was allocated in 2023, led by former Councilmember Alex Pedersen.
However, the installation of these cameras has faced delays.
Rob Saka, who succeeded Pedersen as the chair of the Transportation Committee, had at one point considered pausing the rollout, but ultimately decided to move forward.
Recently, the City Council has shown interest in further enlarging the camera program.
Last fall, Saka garnered support from his colleagues for a budget allocation of $1.18 million aimed explicitly at implementing cameras outside of school zones.
The specifics of how the city will utilize this funding remain unclear at this stage.
Proposed legislation aims to align the city’s municipal code with state law by introducing new types of cameras, such as ferry-queue-lane cameras and speed cameras on state highways, among other changes.
Perhaps most notably, the legislation introduces a requirement for an equity analysis to be conducted prior to installing any new cameras.
This analysis must demonstrate a “demonstrated need for traffic cameras” based on various criteria, including accident rates, vehicle speeds, and rates of pedestrian and cyclist interactions, while also documenting the ineffectiveness of alternative mitigation methods.
According to City Traffic Engineer Venu Nemani, SDOT plans to leverage these new requirements to reform its automatic traffic camera program.
Research has shown that Seattle’s automatic traffic cameras have led to significant safety improvements; for instance, schools with these cameras experienced a 71% reduction in collisions during the active hours of the cameras.
These school zone cameras operate for 45 minutes around school bell times, twice daily.
However, current protocols do not ensure that each camera effectively maximizes safety by curtailing dangerous driving behaviors.
SDOT typically assesses physical engineering solutions to enhance safety before the introduction of cameras but they lack a framework for evaluating a camera’s effectiveness after it has been installed.
Excitement is building around the new program, with Nemani expressing hope for a holistic administration moving forward.
“Previously, we deployed cameras without regularly revisiting their impact and ongoing necessity, but the new state law clearly outlines the annual program evaluation we now need to implement,” Nemani stated.
Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the new direction of the camera program, tensions are brewing regarding its future.
Saka’s vision for camera deployment appears to diverge from SDOT’s approach, especially in his emphasis on using cameras to target a small group of drivers engaged in illegal street racing.
Earlier this year, Saka unsuccessfully pushed for state authorization to use cameras to enforce noise violations related to street racing, while simultaneously advocating for speed cameras to address similar concerns.
In a recent email newsletter, Saka emphasized the potential of automated traffic safety cameras as significant tools for reducing crime and ensuring lawfulness within communities, particularly in areas like Alki and Harbor Avenue.
At a transportation committee meeting, Saka mentioned the council’s previous decisions regarding camera placement.
This included locations where speed racing is a common issue, such as Alki/Harbor Avenue, Magnuson Park, Golden Gardens, and Belltown.
Nevertheless, these locations don’t always align with areas of high danger when considering overall collision statistics, as highlighted by SDOT’s high-injury network.
This network indicates streets in Seattle with the highest occurrences of severe and fatal crashes, with particular emphasis on downtown roads and fast-paced corridors in SoDo and the Rainier Valley.
In response, Nemani clarified that SDOT will adopt a data-driven approach in determining the placement of new cameras.
“The aim is to perform a safety needs analysis, identify potential locations, integrate equity considerations, and account for input from community members and organizations, as well as council members,” Nemani explained.
Before any other factors are considered, establishing safety requirements will be paramount.
However, Saka and other council members may still try to influence camera placements through budget amendments, similar to actions Saka previously took to modify infrastructure on Delridge Way SW.
The City Council will also confront another pivotal question regarding the distribution of revenues generated from traffic cameras.
At present, the proceeds from various types of cameras are allocated to separate accounts.
The proposed legislation aims to create a unified automatic traffic camera fund, with the exception that 80% of red light camera revenues continue to flow into the general fund, where those funds can be spent broadly across the budget.
The new legislation allows a wide range of potential uses for traffic camera revenues.
However, it stipulates that these funds must go toward pedestrian safety projects, operational investments, projects enhancing equitable access for persons with disabilities, and traffic safety education campaigns.
Critically, the current proposal does not mandate that funds generated from a specific camera be reinvested into the area surrounding that camera.
At a committee meeting, Saka expressed a desire for a stronger link between the revenue generated and its utilization, highlighting that a lack of such a connection feeds public skepticism about traffic cameras being mere revenue generators.
“It’s essential that as much of the revenue as possible is directed toward actual road safety improvements, rather than becoming a general fund resource for unrelated expenditures,” Saka affirmed.
The upcoming deliberations will determine whether the council puts in additional constraints around traffic camera revenues and assesses whether the existing arrangement for red light camera funding remains intact during a time when the general fund is under pressure.
Traffic safety advocates are ardently calling for stronger connections between camera-generated revenue and its usage.
Gordon Padelford, Executive Director of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, emphasized to the Transportation Committee the critical nature of aligning revenue with specific investments.
“The success of the school traffic safety program can be largely attributed to the reinvestment of those revenues, and ideally, we’d see that connection made even tighter at the specific camera sites,” Padelford articulated.
These policy discussions are set to unfold in the coming weeks.
Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that the timeline for introducing new types of traffic cameras onto Seattle streets is likely to be much longer.
image source from：https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/04/22/seattle-sets-the-stage-for-automatic-traffic-camera-expansion/
