Over at the Times Union, JCE FOIL'ed the red light camera proposals the city of Albany has received from contractors and looked at the costs involved with running the systems -- at least $2 million annually -- and the various payment arrangements (leasing, fee per ticket, etc.). [TU] Earlier: Albany red light camera intersection map
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Comments
Lets do a bit of simple math here...
Max projected cost: $4.5M/yr
Lowest projected cost: $2.8M/yr
20 intersections
Cost spread per intersection per year
$4.5m/20 = $225,000/yr
$2.8m/20 = $140,000/yr
Now let's look at the price of doing it the old fashioned way.
Average salary of an Albany police officer ~$51k + benefits (27%) =
Average cost of a police cruiser at $45k
Lifetime of cruiser of 3 years, makes it $15k/yr
Thus one shift of coverage per intersection costs ~$80,000/yr.
Full, 24 hour coverage, 3 shifts, ~$209K/yr.
But wait, of that $209k or $80k, the vast majority comes back into the community as taxes, purchasing, and cost of living, while the vast majority of the ticket system leaves the community.
And putting a cop at every intersection 24x7 isn't necessary. Move them around at random and it becomes even more cost effective.
Not to mention, it puts 20 more cops on the beat in neighborhoods helping to reduce crime and improve the relationship of the community and the PD.
Bottom line:
New way: $2.8 to $4.5million/per year
Old way: $1.6 to $4.1million per year plus side benefits.
So, new technology, more money, less benefit.
Why are you doing this again?
... said komradebob on Mar 9, 2015 at 6:00 PM | link
"Why are you doing this again?"
Because in 7 years, I have yet to see one cop pull pull over one person for running a red light, even though I see multiple people run those lights every day, often in the presence of a cop. If they won't do that job (and to be fair, they potentially have much more serious work to attend to), we'll go with a system that will.
... said JayK on Mar 9, 2015 at 8:23 PM | link
Thanks to komradebob for doing this estimate because I was about to spectulate a similar proposition.
... said tim on Mar 9, 2015 at 11:06 PM | link
This red light camera idea might be somewhat worthwhile if it wasn't being completely driven by private companies that are looking to make a profit on the system regardless of whether driving habits change for the better. I feel this system is destined to be pretty problematic given the high cost of running it and since I am sure any contract with a private conractor still gets their money regardless of what happens. This just seems like a bad time to start getting red light cameras when many municipalities are starting to take them out (and are stuck with the cost of removal) and when it seems obvious the city wants to incorporate the projected "revenue" from red light tickets into the municipal budget in future years. .
... said abc on Mar 9, 2015 at 11:11 PM | link
@komradebob
Generally agree with this assessment and do think having more cops in the field is a major plus, but...
It would be very hard to force the chief into dedicating these cops to just intersection patrol.
Additionally, I would significantly discount your argument about the money flowing back into the community since close to 2/3 of cops don't live in the city. Yes, they may do some eating in the city, but the vast chunk of their salaries (coming out of my pocket as a taxpayer) disappears outside of our boundaries.
... said Rich on Mar 10, 2015 at 9:07 AM | link
excellent points made by @komradebob. there are so many ways that this could go really poorly (both short + long term) and it just doesn't sound like the best solution to the problem. hiring some more police officers to focus on enforcing traffic laws in problem areas (yay jobs) + adjusting the timing of the yellow/red lights in these areas sounds like a way better idea to me.
... said Ashley Campbell on Mar 10, 2015 at 10:03 AM | link