A red light camera at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road, March 2024. (Photo: ClearwaterDaily.com)
Clearwater officials have approved a new, five-year contract with American Traffic Solutions, which will provide red light violation cameras at three city intersections.
The city council unanimously approved a five-year extension to an existing agreement last month at a cost of $768,600. American Traffic Solutions, an Arizona-based company, is now also known as Verra Mobility Systems. The current set of cameras were launched in Clearwater in the fall of 2019 after an initial five-year run with a previous provider known as Redflex.
The financial terms of the agreement are the same as the existing agreement and are locked in for the duration of the new pact. The city will continue to pay Verra $4,270 per month, per camera, for one to six cameras, or $4,100 per month per camera for six or more cameras. With the three cameras currently being utilized, the cost equates to $12,810 per month, $153,720 per year, and $768,600.00 for the entire five-year agreement.
Payments to the company are flexible in that balances are carried from one month to another. Each monitored-intersection has a fixed price, and if fines collected in a given month do not meet the minimum rate, the deficit is carried to the next month and deducted from future profits. If there were to be any balance remaining at the end of the contract, the city would not be responsible to pay it.
The new agreement also includes an upgrade of the existing red-light camera technology and the addition of three automated license plate reader cameras at locations determined by the police department.
In all, the city will receive three systems from Verra, which will record red-light violations at the following intersections:
- Chestnut St. and Fort Harrison Ave. (Eastbound).
- Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road (Eastbound and Westbound).
The new license plate-reading cameras will be placed at:
- 2500 Sunset Point Rd (westbound)
- 1684 N. Belcher Rd (southbound)
- Bellair Rd & Belcher Rd (northbound)
The system works not necessarily with cameras alone, but with sensors installed in the roadway. When the sensors detect a vehicle has violated a red light law – whether outright running a red light or making an illegal turn on red – one of several automated license plate reading cameras activates and flashes. The flash also goes off periodically to reset the system.
There are no points assessed against a driver’s license if they receive a red-light camera violation since it is impossible to cross-examine a camera in court, however motorists can still dispute the citations at periodic hearings held by the city.
A red light camera at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road, March 2024. (Photo: ClearwaterDaily.com)
A red light camera at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road, March 2024. (Photo: ClearwaterDaily.com)
Red light cameras have been controversial since they were initially deployed. According to the Florida Division of Revenue, crashes have risen considerably at two monitored intersections compared to the period before they were installed from 27 to 66 and rear-end crashes rose from 16 to 34, however serious crashes were reduced, and zero fatal crashes were reported.
The Division of Revenue reported Clearwater, from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, the latest dates available where such records exist, issued 12,696 citations for red light violations generated by the cameras. Of those, 8,472 were paid – about 1,200 were either successfully contested, in contest, or never paid. Of those who received violations, there were 448 multiple-time offenders.
Fines for red light camera violations are set at $158, meaning the city generated $1,338,576 during the year-long study period if only the number of tickets paid were to be counted.
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