NYC DOT Vision Zero
Oct. 8, 2019 By Allie Griffin
The city issued more than $10 million in speed camera violations in Queens alone in the first six weeks after the program’s expansion this summer.
During the first six weeks following the program’s July 11 expansion, the city mailed out more than 200,000 tickets to Queens drivers caught speeding in school zones — and more than 500,000 tickets across all five boroughs, according to city data.
At $50 a ticket, the city has made millions off the program’s massive expansion in less than two months.
The cameras take photos of drivers going more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit in a school zone and then the city mails $50 violations to the registered owner of the car.
In Queens, drivers received 205,373 violations from July 11 to Aug. 22, according to the latest City data — that’s equal to $10,268,650 in less than two months.
For the year ending June 2019, drivers in Queens received 371,546 speed camera violations and paid $18,577,300 in fines. In just 43 days since the expansion launched, drivers in Queens have already paid more than half that amount.
In total, the city collected more than $28 million in the 43-day period or $455 per minute as the Staten Island Advance reported.
On July 11, the city began the program’s expansion to increase the number of school zones with cameras from 140 zones to 750 zones.
By the end of August, the number of school zones with cameras was at 360 and the Department of Transportation plans to install about 40 to 60 new speed cameras a month to increase the number of zones and reach its 750 goal by June 2020. There can be multiple cameras per zone.
In addition to the new cameras, the program expansion also mandated that speed cameras now operate year-round on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., including the summer and school breaks. That’s about double the program’s previous hours, in which cameras were only active during school hours.
The city first introduced speed cameras in 2013 with just 20 school zones. The next year, the state authorized the program to expand to 140 school zones.
The DOT says that the program has saved lives. From 2013 through 2018, the DOT reported a 60 percent drop in speeding infractions in school zones where the cameras had been installed. The agency also said there was a 21 percent decline in the number of people killed or severely injured in crashes within the zones.
The total cost of the massive expansion is $62 million and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg has previously said she expects the program will pay for itself through the fines.
The original 140-zone speed camera program brought in $45 million in revenue in 2018. With more than $28 million already collected in less than two months since the expansion began, this year is likely to pass that number quickly.
Drivers in Queens received the second-most violations, behind drivers in Brooklyn, according to NYC Open Data. Queens was followed by the Bronx, Manhattan and then Staten Island. Together, Brooklyn and Queens account for nearly 75 percent of all speed camera violations.
While the DOT has not released where the speed cameras are installed, city data lists intersections where drivers have received speed camera violations.
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22 Comments
20 ave 27 st what school is there ,money grab speed bumps down Astoria park have prevented so many accidents.
I’ve had a dashcam for 2 days. Already captured my share of horrible drivers in Astoria.
I’ll stop when people stop blaming bikes for agressive and illegal driving on our streets. Drivers kill pedestrians at an alarming rate.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqdHL1KsHbXD2XixMkznvg
Pedestrians can hear cars better than they can hear bikes.
People need to be responsible for their choices.
Is it most likely inexperienced ride share drivers from Lyft and Uber involved in striking pedestrians?
I’ve seen so many people hit by a black TLC cab and it’s always Lyft or an Uber.
Though, on about 12 occasions I’ve almost been clobbered by a cyclist who was silent in passing and 11/12 was riding illegally against a red light as I legally crossed a sidewalk
Well Franny lieu people drive like its the Acropolis 500. Many of the side streets in LIC and Astoria they think they have a right to speed and don’t have a worry in the world.
Don’t do the crime, if you won’t pay the fine.
How much money does NYC want from us? And they always put these cameras in poor communities. You won’t find them is wealthy areas of NYC. You won’t find alternate parking rules either in places like Long Island. Its always the poor that pay for the rich.
Wow, I just said the exact same thing. It’s always the poor areas that they target. Bad enough tolls and fares are constantly being raised. Now these cameras?? We can’t win….
You actually can win by driving the speed limit.
If it’s a poor community then what’s with all the cars?
Speed bumps are just as effective, but don’t make money for the City!!!
About time! Cars are driving so fast everywhere, and people exhibit road rage more now than ever before. All the car drivers on this page HATE this, but they’re the ones the DOT are going after. And it’s about time, cars are hitting bicyclists and pedestrians at record rates!!!
We have a bigger issue for safety with ebikes, escooters, and bicyclists in general. So many people operating them are negligent and abuse on the roads. Travelling on one way streets in the wrong direction, riding on sidewalks, and passing cars, trucks, & buses on the right with no warning.
I agree with you—cyclists need to follow the law—but if you get hit by a bike, you’ll walk away; if you get hit by a car, you’ll never walk again.
Oh no.. I don’t hate your comment. It’s just not realistic and transparent. The statistics says the bicyclist are injuring pedestrians at a “record” rate.
“Think of the children” is nothing more than an emotional ploy to cover up the fact that the speed camera program is a money maker for the city.
If safety and driver correction were really at the root of it, live Police enforcement efforts with it’s subsequent fines and insurance premium penalties would be more effective.
I’m worried this will catch me whenever I casually roll a stop sign or drive faster than the speed limit.
Cyclists should follow the law strictly btw.
It’s not about saving lives. It’s about the city raising money masquerading the cameras as a life savior.
I saw a sign that says speed cameras saves lives. More like “makes money” for this crooked city.
A 21% decline in injuries/deaths in these zones is an absolutely incredible stat! Plain and simple – if you’re against this program, you do not support safety for children and your neighbors.
If the funds went to schools.. sure. Where you think the money is going? Crooked Cuomo dirty dipping hands.