Pennsylvania Senate panel approves amended speed ticket cameras bill

A Pennsylvania Senate panel has advanced a bill that covers the topic of automated speed ticket cameras in the state’s largest city.

Officials with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have said the focus on these revenue-generating devices ignores a more logical and reasoned approach: Keep traffic moving in as safe a manner as possible.

House Bill 1284

This bill stipulates a continuation of an automated ticket enforcement program in Philadelphia.

Since June 2020, speed ticket cameras have been posted along U.S. 1, or Roosevelt Boulevard, in the city. Travelers receive tickets for exceeding the posted speed by at least 11 mph along this route.

The program has a December sunset date.

House lawmakers approved the bill, HB1284, to eliminate that expiration and to expand the use of speed ticket cameras on any Philadelphia roads. The lone requirement for adding speed cameras would be approval by city ordinance and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

A separate provision would authorize speed ticket cameras to be placed in Philadelphia school zones.

Senate changes made

The Senate Transportation Committee voted to remove the provisions to expand use of speed ticket cameras in Philadelphia and to place cameras in school zones.

Senate Transportation Committee Chair Wayne Langerholc Jr., R-Cambria, said the school zone provision was no longer necessary because Gov. Josh Shapiro recently signed into law a separate bill that includes this change.

Langerholc added that removing the provision to expand the use of speed ticket cameras citywide was necessary to “move along the bill” for further consideration.

“This is to get it going in the process so we can address this very, very pressing and important issue,” he told the committee.

Langerholc also noted that the provision to take speed ticket cameras citywide could be revisited later in discussions on the Senate floor or once HB1284 heads back to the House for consideration of changes.

The committee voted 13-1 to advance the bill despite opposition to nixing the provision to expand the camera program.

Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Lackawanna, was among the committee members to oppose the change.

He told the panel the amendment “takes a step backward” but that he supports the overall pursuit to keep cameras in place along Roosevelt Boulevard.

Critics voice opposition

Opponents have argued there is a better way to address concerns about speeding along the roadway.

John Williamson of the National Motorists Association previously told the House Transportation Committee the 40-mph speed limit on Roosevelt Boulevard is “unrealistically low based on the design of the roadway.”

“If the speed limit were set more realistically or the roadway designed to be self-enforcing at lower speeds, the vast majority of violations would disappear overnight,” Williamson testified.

He also noted that since the start of the pilot program, over 1.2 million tickets costing residents more than $17 million have been issued on the route. He added that despite this, since December 2021, the average speeds, average issued speeds, highest speeds captured and number of violations issued have not changed significantly. LL

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