The Portland City Council unanimously agreed to regularly increase the number of security cameras that record red light running throughout the city.
Saving Lives on the Roads: Portland Strengthens Speed Enforcement with New Cameras and Technology
The proposal was submitted with conditions of placement to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. According to their plan, the city could have up to 30 new cameras, as well as a second contract that would give agencies the ability to make changes to the functionality of the new camera technology. Commissioner Mingus Mapps stressed that the authorities’ main goal is to reduce traffic speeds and save lives. “Scientific research in this area shows that high speed is dangerous,” Mapps said. – For example, the chances of surviving a crash at speeds of 30 mph or below are significantly higher than at speeds of 45 mph or higher, where the likelihood of a fatal outcome is much higher.
In 2023, 69 European people were killed in crashes in Portland. The Portland Police Bureau determined that 40 of these tragic incidents involved extreme speed. In areas where Portland has already installed speed and safety cameras at intersections, high-speed crashes have dropped by 93%, Mapps said.
The city says the camera system is linked to traffic lights and special sensors built into the road surface at pedestrian crossings or stop lines. This system continuously monitors the status of the traffic light. As soon as the signal turns red, any passing vehicle activates the camera, which takes two pictures and records data including the date, time elapsed since the signal and the vehicle’s speed.
Safety Risk: Massive Numbers of Portland Drivers Ignore License Plate Updates
Portland’s transportation authority is looking to fill a $32 million shortfall in its budget. One of the proposed methods is to tighten control over parking and the condition of license plates.
“Of the millions of vehicles registered in Portland, approximately 460,000 have expired registrations,” said Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) Director Millicent Williams. This means almost half of the region’s drivers have not updated their license plates. City parking officials will now penalize violations in this area more severely.
There will no longer be a grace period for license plate renewals, as there was during the pandemic. Williams said the city could receive significant funds from fines and use them to fund a variety of street projects, road repairs, snow and ice removal, intersection improvements and to pay ticket officers.
There are also plans to ask the Portland City Council to increase parking rates by 20 cents per hour and add an additional fee for credit card payments. There are also plans to hire more officers to issue tickets for expired meters, given that only about half of those who park use them.
Plans for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will be presented to the City Council on Thursday and could be approved in May. Also in May, Multnomah County voters will be asked whether they want to extend the county’s 20-cent-per-gallon gas tax.