AGENDA #5b
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Response to a Petition Regarding the SafeLight Chapel Hill Program
DATE: October 27, 2003
The following report is in response to a petition submitted by Mr. Will Raymond that includes a variety of questions, concerns and requests for information about the Town’s SafeLight Program for automated enforcement of red light violations.
The SafeLight Chapel Hill Program was authorized by State enabling legislation and program implementation was approved by the Town Council in 2002. The Program currently includes two camera installations that have been in operation since early September 2003, with two additional installations now under construction. The Town contract provides for as many as ten camera installations.
At its August 25, 2003 meeting, the Council received a petition (Attachment 1) from Mr. Raymond including questions and requests for information regarding a variety of issues associated with the Town’s SafeLight Program and with automated traffic enforcement in general.
We reviewed Mr. Raymond’s petition and prepared the attached response summary (Attachment 2). Questions directed to the SafeLight Contractor, ACS, have been answered by the Contractor as indicated in the right hand column of the response summary. Attachment 3 is a copy of the agreement between the Town and its SafeLight contractor that includes information germane to many of the petitioner’s inquiries. This agreement document is also available for review on the SafeLight web site at safelight.townofchapelhill.org. Attachment 4 is a copy of a proposal from the Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) regarding the “before and after” studies that the Institute is performing on the Chapel Hill SafeLight Program.
CONCLUSION
We think that the use of automated enforcement technology may reduce the number of red light violations and some types of traffic accidents at signalized intersections in Chapel Hill. We expect automated traffic enforcement to function as a supplement to existing Police resources rather than as a means for freeing up existing resources for new assignments.
We believe that the SafeLight Chapel Hill Program may provide practical and effective opportunities for the Town to improve intersection safety conditions for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. We will be better able to evaluate the Program as data is accumulated.
1. Mr. Raymond’s Petition (p. 3).
2. Response to Mr. Raymond’s Petition (p. 18).
3. Agreement between the Town of Chapel Hill and the SafeLight Contractor (p. 39).
4. Proposal from ITRE (p. 68).