Most Chicagoans want to eliminate or cut back Emanuel red light program

[Brandon]

Most Chicagoans want to eliminate or cut back Emanuel red light program

{Behind Paywall}

Nearly three in four Chicago voters believe Mayor Rahm Emanuel should eliminate or reduce the city's troubled and scandal-plagued red light camera ticketing program, a new Chicago Tribune poll has found.

The findings come after the Tribune has reported in recent months that the red light cameras have failed to deliver the safety benefits long claimed by City Hall, that some cameras have experienced mysterious spikes in the number of tickets issued at certain intersections and that the Emanuel administration's decision to quietly shorten yellow light times led to $7.7 million in tickets.

In addition, a former city official and two others have been indicted on charges they orchestrated a $2 million bribery scheme tied to the camera system, with an accused bagman already pleading guilty.

All of that has led to the red light issue emerging in the city's mayoral and aldermanic races as candidates have sought to capitalize on eroding public confidence in the system.

Overall, 49 percent of those surveyed said they believe Chicago's red light ticketing system should be eliminated, while 25 percent said the program should be reduced. Only 11 percent said they believed the program was functioning as it should, while 6 percent said the city should add more cameras. Another 9 percent had no opinion.

During an appearance Tuesday before the Tribune Editorial Board, Emanuel's four opponents in the Feb. 24 election advocated for major adjustments to the program.

Businessman Willie Wilson, 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti and community activist William "Dock" Walls said the cameras should be eliminated. Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia said the cameras should "come down except where evidence shows they are providing safety."

Emanuel, who has touted the red light cameras as about public safety and not revenue, said the program should be reformed but hasn't spelled out how. On Thursday the mayor said he was open to an idea by a pair of aldermen to put pedestrian countdown timers at camera intersections to let drivers know how much time is left on green lights, but Emanuel didn't offer a timeline or specifics on how he'd pay for it.

Which technically, is against the MUTCD, but Chicago has never paid much heed to it anyway.

The poll found that Emanuel voters were least likely to want the program eliminated – only 36 percent favored taking down the cameras. By comparison, 69 percent of Wilson's backers said they wanted the cameras removed, while 56 percent of Fioretti and Garcia supporters favored eliminating the program.

Minority voters also were more likely to want the cameras eliminated, perhaps reflective of the argument some have made that the fines tied to the cameras are a regressive tax that disproportionately harms low-income and minority communities. Of those surveyed, 53 percent of African-American voters and 51 percent of Hispanic voters said they wanted the cameras eliminated, compared with 44 percent of white voters.

The latest poll also found a slight increase in the number of voters who favor of scrapping the program. In an August Tribune survey, 45 percent of voters said they thought the program should be eliminated.

Last week, two aldermen introduced a plan requiring that countdown displays be installed at all intersections with the cameras. That came after the Tribune reported that the Emanuel administration quietly issued a new, shorter yellow light standard when the city began the transition from red light camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems to Xerox State & Local Solutions in February 2014.

The switch to a 2.9-second yellow came after the city had long set the standard length for yellow lights at three seconds. About $7.7 million in tickets were issued to motorists caught driving through signals with yellow lights that were at least 2.9 seconds long. The city later returned to a three-second yellow light standard.

Last month the Tribune published a story in which researchers it hired to analyze the effects of the city's red light cameras found that at nearly half the intersections in the study, the cameras did nothing to make drivers safer and may have caused an increase in injury-related crashes.

The new poll was conducted Jan. 22 through Tuesday by APC Research and featured live landline and cellphone interviews of 708 registered voters who said they were certain to vote in next month's election. It has an error margin of 3.7 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 percent. The error margin for racial and ethnic subgroups is 6.5 percentage points.

[dave069]

Get rid of the speed cams too!

[ctsignguy]

"Emanuel, who has touted the red light cameras as about public safety and not revenue, said the program should be reformed but hasn't spelled out how.'   When a politician says it is about public safety and not about the revenue, you can be sure of one thing....it's about the revenue.

[silverback1065]

"Emanuel, who has touted the red light cameras as about public safety and not revenue, said the program should be reformed but hasn't spelled out how.'   When a politician says it is about public safety and not about the revenue, you can be sure of one thing....it's about the revenue.

Especially when study after study proves it has the opposite effect on safety. 

[StogieGuy7]

I marvel at how the red light and speed cameras in the City of Chicago aren't used for target practice!   

[SSOWorld]

I marvel at how the red light and speed cameras in the City of Chicago aren't used for target practice!   

Many people do not want to damage their cars

[kphoger]

to put pedestrian countdown timers at camera intersections

Which technically, is against the MUTCD, but Chicago has never paid much heed to it anyway.

Is that the part you were saying is against the MUTCD?
Where does the MUTCD prohibit pedestrian countdown timers?

[PurdueBill]

to put pedestrian countdown timers at camera intersections

Which technically, is against the MUTCD, but Chicago has never paid much heed to it anyway.

Is that the part you were saying is against the MUTCD?
Where does the MUTCD prohibit pedestrian countdown timers?

The MUTCD doesn't prohibit pedestrian countdown timers, but they are not meant for drivers of vehicles to be counting down to the yellow.  The most recent effort is not the first time that pedestrian countdown timers as aids to drivers at red light camera intersections in Chicago has been floated even.

[kphoger]

But does the MUTCD prohibit intent?

[PurdueBill]

But does the MUTCD prohibit intent?

That's where they can get away with something.  The MUTCD doesn't prohibit pedestrian countdown timers but doesn't permit vehicular ones--but drivers can see the pedestrian ones!