FY 24 Budget Q&A #072: Can you please provide the revenue impact and expenditure impact for the placement of 5 such cameras in school zones prioritized by Transportation & Environmental Services in alignment with the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan?
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Question: Section 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia allows the City to place photo speed monitoring devices in school crossing zones. Can you please provide the revenue impact and expenditure impact for the placement of 5 such cameras in school zones prioritized by Transportation & Environmental Services in alignment with the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan? (Mayor Wilson)
Response:
In 2021, the Alexandria Police Department (APD) conducted a pilot program to study whether it would be feasible for the City to deploy cameras in school zones and how it would affect the residents of the City related to Automated Speed Enforcement. This study was conducted at the 1700 block of North Beauregard Street for two hours per day from January 2, 2021, through January 14, 2021, and found that 65% of those vehicles were going above the posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour. The pilot was successful in accomplishing its objective and demonstrated that ASE cameras can achieve their operational objective of improving traffic safety.
The current budget includes funding for the installation of five speed cameras that will be placed at Francis Hammond Middle School, John Adams Elementary and Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School, and George Washington Middle School. The estimated revenue impact would be $500,000 while the estimated expenditure impact would be $490,000. The estimated revenue amounts are based on the revenue performance of the City’s red-light camera program. The City has not started issuing tickets and is not expected to start until fall 2023, therefore revenue cannot yet be extrapolated. The estimated expenditures include 2.00 FTEs to manage the program at a cost of $250,000 and $4,000 per month per camera in vendor operating costs. If five additional cameras were added to the program it would increase the estimated cost to $8,000 per month per camera. The APD will also work with the City Manager’s Office in FY 2024 to assess any additional resources needed to manage the additional 5 cameras and determine total expenditures and revenues. Based on current experience, expenditures will not exceed revenue.
