'Fantastic idea': Speed cameras coming soon to Bradford roads

After a brief pit stop to reconsider their options, councillors are once again driving forward with speed cameras in Bradford.

Council voted to endorse a one-year automated speed enforcement (ASE) pilot project in town during the regular meeting of council Tuesday night.

While staff and councillors could not reveal the name of the company with whom the town would be partnering for the project, prior discussions at the council table involved Global Traffic Solutions.

A report by Paul Dubniak, transportation technologist, regarding the ASE project estimates that four speed cameras could be active in town by March of 2024, but notes the exact date for implementation could vary based on the timing of approvals from outside institutions including the Ministry of Transportation Ontario and the Ministry of the Attorney General.

A company is proposing to use “ultra-portable” automated speed cameras that are remote, battery-operated, about one cubic foot (28,000 cm³) in size, weighing about seven kilograms, and can be operated out of various roadside boxes or mounted to posts or poles, according to the report.

“The system is capable of tracking multiple vehicles on highways up to four lanes in width, making it an ideal option for the town,” Dubniak said in the report.

As part of “a full turn-key solution” for ASE, the proposal also includes assistance in the creation of an in-house administrative monetary penalty system (AMPS).

The cameras don’t just help issue speeding tickets either; they come paired with software that offers traffic counts, vehicle speeds and stop data, which provides “detailed insight into driver behaviour,” including “when, where, how many, how fast, and shows stopping behaviour at schools, playgrounds, and intersections,” according to the report.

While Dubniak acknowledges staff time will be required to support the program, he notes “there appears to be no initial capital or ‘buy-in’ costs and the program is supported through a revenue-sharing formula.”

Under a program previously being considered, the town’s capital costs were estimated to be about $60,000 for the initial buy-in and between $4,000 and $8,000 per month for each speed camera.

“I just want to say thank you to staff for bringing this forward and for being able to talk with a different company to make sure we’re getting the best bang for our buck. We’ll hopefully get this thing running as soon as possible. The committee is extremely excited about it,” said Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine, who also chairs the community and traffic safety advisory committee.

Council had previously been on track to enter into a contract with Toronto’s Joint Processing Centre (JPC) and Barrie courts, but asked staff to look at automated speed enforcement (ASE) options from Global Traffic Solutions, during the regular meeting of council on Sept. 5.

The decision came after Mayor James Leduc and Ferragine discovered new options at the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) in August.

As the speed cameras can only be used in areas designated as community safety zones (CSZ), council also voted during this week’s meeting to adopt 35 new CSZs and modify two existing CSZs.

Ferragine explained that previously, most of the town’s CSZs were near schools.

“I had originally requested that we just take a brush and paint the entire community with a community safety zone. That was frowned upon, so we moved to the next best step and we’ve include all the parks right now,” he said.

Moving forward, Ferragine explained that other roads within the community could be considered for designation as a CSZ, based on vehicle and pedestrian traffic data.

“For now, we wanted to make sure that we hit up all the parks and all the schools to make sure that it’s safe for all the children in the areas,” he said.

In a CSZ, a sign informs drivers that they are entering an area the where community has designated the safety of its children/citizens as paramount and where fines have been increased.

The rules of the road do not change within the zone, but the penalties for violations of the traffic laws are substantially increased.

Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott was supportive of the initiative and proposed two of the CSZs during the meeting.

“This is a fantastic idea, so kudos to the traffic committee all the members who came up with this and worked with staff. It’s simple, it’s clean, but it really gives us some more traffic safety,” he said.

Leduc was also highly supportive of the effort and looks forward to having the ASE to help deal with traffic issues in town.

“It’s great what the traffic committee did. Community safety zones are what we’ve been talking about and it’s nice to see we got them around the parks. I commend you all for that,” he said.

Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano wanted to ensure that both residents and police would easily be able to recognize the new CSZs and Brent Lee, director of corporate services, confirmed that in addition to the signage the province requires in each zone, and ongoing communications with South Simcoe Police Services, the town will also work through the communications department to communicate the changes to residents.

The new CSZs are expected to be in effect at all times and after some proposed amendments from councillors are set to include:

The two modified CSZs are: