Province considering cutting number of photo radar sites in Alberta by about 85-90%
Alberta's transportation minister says he is considering reducing the number of photo radar sites in the province by about 80-to-90 per cent to fall in line with the rest of the country.
Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshan said in a statement to CTV News Edmonton that Alberta is "an outlier" when it comes to the use of photo radar.
Currently, Alberta has 2,400 photo radar locations while other provinces have between 200 and 400.
Consultations on the use of photo radar in Wild Rose Country started Monday, with the minister planning to meet with civic officials in Edmonton on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
“Albertans can be confident that going forward, photo radar will only be used to improve traffic safety," Dreeshan said in the statement.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi defends his city's use of the tool, arguing it's necessary to keep roads safe and free up police, adding the loss of the cameras will come with costs not only from lost revenue but with the added expense of having more officers for speed enforcement.
"(We would) have to have police officers do that enforcement," Sohi said Monday. "That means we will have to hire more police officers, which means a tax levy increase."
Last year, the City of Edmonton parked 35 photo enforcement vehicles at 422 sites, handing out more than 135,000 tickets to earn the city about $29 million.
Sohi said the use of photo radar by the city, however, "has never been about raising revenue."
The changes to the number of photo radar sites in Alberta is expected by December.
Political analyst John Brennan told CTV News Edmonton he thinks a move by the province to greatly reduce the number of photo radar sites could garner support for the governing United Conservative Party, particularly in the cities, but says just because it would be popular, it doesn't make it good policy.
"I see this as an example of right-wing populism," Brennan said.
"Most people will say, 'Oh great!' without thinking through the possible impacts on public safety and, even further, the impact on municipal revenues."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson
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