AgdaPkt 2010-10-25 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

7.B � Pa e 2 degree of difficulty in enforcing red light violations using police personnel and stan�ard ; enforcement techniques. The difficulty primarily arises from the congestion associated with , the intersections of major city thoroughfares that are heavily traveled, with additional traffic ', through both intersections feeding both on and off Highway 101. The difficulty is compounded by the raised concrete medians that are present at various locations in both intersections. The heavy traffic and raised medians make it extremely difficult for officers to safely position themselves to monitor both traffic and the status of the lights and also remain in position to catch up to and effectively stop violators. After these intersections were identified by staff, Redflex conducted video surveys to assist with identifying which "approaches" within these intersections should be monitored. An "approach" is simply a direction of travel leading to an intersection, i.e., a typical two street intersection has four "approaches." At the conclusion of the study, Council approved , installation of Redflex camera systems at the two aforementioned intersections, though at present only the Whipple Ave. at Veterans Blvd. intersection has a system in place. ; Installation at the Vlloodside Road and Broadway intersection was delayed due to the need '�� to obtain encroachment permits from Caltrans and other infrastructure issues. Installation , was subsequently postponed indefinitely due to financial concerns. Staff presented Council with several different options within the approved intersections rega�ding which "approaches" to monitor, inc(uding either a"three approach" or "four approach" option, and the financial impact of each option. Each option projected a financia( surplus based on costs to operate and the expected revenue generated per approach. At present the City is only operating a"two approach" option: southbound Veterans Blvd. at Whipple A�e. (right turn, and straight through violations); and eastbound Whipple Avenue at Veterans Blvd. (right and left turn and straight through violations). The contract with Redflex was executed on April 23, 2007. It runs for a term of 60 months from the date the system was insta[led and went live. The system went li�e with one approach {eastbound Whipple Ave.} in March of 2008. Prior to the system going live, sixteen different advisory signs were posted around the City at various entrance points in compliance with California Vehicle Code section 21455.5. Three more signs have since been added. The Police Department also issued a press release to three bay area newspapers and two television news programs regarding the pending implementation of the program. Finally, prior to issuing any actual citations, the Department conducted a thirty day trial period during which only written warnings were sent to individuals who had been documented running a red light. Sixteen months later, in July of 2��9, the second approach (southbound Veterans Blvd.) went live, again with a thirty day warning period before citations were issued. There are twenty-eight months remaining on the term of the contract. Red Light Violation Enforcement Red light violation enforcement is one of the benchmarks by which the system must be measured because it directly relates to the primary goal: improved safety in #he form of collision reduction. As no similar system was in place prior to Redflex going live it is not possible to do a direct "before and after" comparison of the number of red light violation citations issued for either approach. It is possible, however, to compare the number of citations issued at the outset of the program with more recent data. Presumably the earlier data is representative of the number of violations that were occurring prior to the installation of the system. Eighty-seven percent of the violations captured are for turning 2