Like, things that we had hoped we were doing over two years, we’re literally going to be doing in six months but that’s okay because we worked through some challenges. I feel like we’re gonna see a significant jump in the next four months. That doesn’t mean all of them will be operational by then, but we should have all of the cameras out on the streets. I’m hoping that for the expansion we have planned that we are going to have all the cameras installed by the end of this summer. We feel like we’ve overcome some of those barriers. I think everyone’s going to start to seeing significantly more cameras on the street this summer. “I would say things are getting better… All the things you mentioned - procurement, contractor issues, siting issues - all those are real. But once recent legislation has gone through some of the logjam on that side of the problem has been resolved, so I’m just curious for an update.” “I’m really curious on what the status is on the speed cameras systems…I feel like what I just keep hearing is, ‘Oh, it’s procurement. Listen to the full audio (or the edited text) below: When BBAC member Josh Roll asked PBOT Traffic Safety Section Manager Dana Dickman for an update on the camera rollout, she gave the most thorough and candid response on this topic I’ve ever heard from a city staffer. With frustrations over record traffic deaths, falling cycling rates (due in large part to fear of dangerous drivers), and a “revenue crisis” gripping PBOT (more on that later), it wasn’t a surprise when a member of the PBOT Bureau Budget Advisory Committee (BBAC) brought up the lack of progress on traffic cameras at their monthly meeting last night. Regardless of the reasons, Portland has only installed nine cameras at five intersections in the past eight years.īut there’s reason for optimism! Not only did PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps recently promise to double the number of cameras currently in use in the next year, but a high-level PBOT staffer revealed at a meeting Thursday that cameras will be coming to new locations including 82nd Avenue and Powell Blvd. Fingers have been pointed at a problematic vendor, camera procurement problems, technical (electrical) issues, the bottleneck caused by the Portland Police Bureau’s involvement (an issue that is behind us thanks to recently passed legislation), and as we reported via a city audit in 2015 a lack of cross-bureau coordination might share also some of the blame. But a variety of factors has led to a maddening lack of implementation. Since the first one was installed in 2016, they’ve worked very well. I’m talking about automated traffic cameras, or what the Portland Bureau of Transportation refers to as “speed safety cameras.” One of the most frustrating things about Portland’s current traffic culture crisis is that we have a proven tool that would go a long way toward fixing it, yet the City of Portland has been extremely slow to use it. “I think everyone’s going to start to seeing significantly more cameras on the street this summer.” – Dana Dickman, PBOT Traffic Safety Section manager
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