Senator calls for
new traffic cam plan

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By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

A plan to use traffic cameras to photograph and ticket motorists has resurfaced somewhat in the Legislature less than a year after public outcry forced state lawmakers to dump a pilot program.

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This year, Senate Transportation Chairman Cal Kawamoto (D, Waipahu) is calling upon the state Department of Transportation to study the use of traffic cameras to enforce red lights at intersections to enhance pedestrian safety.

Using pole-mounted cameras to catch red-light violators was the planned second phase of last year's failed traffic camera project. Kawamoto, in a resolution calling for the study of a photo red-light pilot project, said there are increasing reports of pedestrian accidents both within and outside crosswalks, and police do not have enough officers to monitor the situation.

"Since the photo red-light enforcement project was never implemented in Hawaii, there is no way to accurately study its effect and whether it would be publicly accepted and useful in the state," Kawamoto said in Senate Concurrent Resolution 40, which will be heard at 9 a.m. Wednesday in state Capitol Room 229.

Last April, public opposition to the traffic enforcement camera project prompted legislators, who were all up for election last fall, to repeal the program after only four months. The Transportation Department operated the project through a contract with Affiliated Computer Services, the vendor that operated the camera vans and issued the citations.

While the program did slow traffic, many in the public viewed the traffic vans as more of a moneymaking scheme for the state and the vendor.

The company issued 16,858 photo speeding citations in the first three months of the program. Many drivers contested the tickets on various legal grounds in District Court, and many were dismissed.

Last December, ACS and another company that helped operate the traffic-van program demanded more than $3.1 million from the state. The issue is pending.

Along with Kawamoto, House Transportation Chairman Joe Souki (D, Wailuku) tried last session to salvage the project but ultimately gave up.