Chicago's Speeding Cameras Issued Nearly 205K Warning Citations In First Weeks Of Operation

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 11, 2013 4:40PM

Image via NBC Chicago screen grab.

Motorists should be thankful the new speeding cameras being installed across the city haven’t been issuing tickets since they went online. Had those cameras been issuing actual speeding tickets instead of warnings, the city would have reaped a financial windfall.

WBEZ obtained information on the warning citations issued at nine “safety zones” near the four Chicago parks where the first speeding cameras were installed and tested and found those zones produced 204,743 warnings to motorists from Aug. 26 through Oct. 3. If those cameras issued speeding tickets instead the city would have generated nearly $13.9 million from motorists speeding through these zones.

These numbers, naturally, renew the “safety versus money” argument at the heart of erecting speeding and red-light cameras across Chicago. Scott Kulby, the Chicago Department of Transportation official in charge of the program is firmly in the “safety” camp. Kulby told WBEZ, “the fact that there’s that many warnings that have gone out is an indication of how big a speeding problem that we actually have in Chicago.”

But the high number of warnings issued in such a short span has renewed criticisms that the speeding camera program is mainly about safety. The Emanuel administration projected revenues of between $40 million and $60 million from the program next year but some aldermen believe Emanuel underestimated those numbers. Alderman John Arena (45th) believes revenue from speeding cameras could easily surpass $100 million. Kulby, however, is sticking with Emanuel’s projections and believes that the volume of tickets will drop as soon as motorists are aware of the cameras.