The use of photo radar must be about safety and shouldn't be used as a cash grab, believes Alberta Transportation minister Brian Mason.

Today, Mason has announced some changes to the guidelines to Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) he hopes will offer a more fair, transparent and effective way of using photo radar in Alberta. He calls it a starting point and expects further refinement to occur in time.

At a morning press conference, Mason said he agrees with the public opinion that they are being unfairly targeted by photo radar.

“I think photo radar is being used to generate revenue for municipalities and for the provincial government to a greater degree than it should be and it is not being optimized to improved safety outcomes on our highways and our roads,” said Mason, recognizing there is no cut and dry answer.

As of this June, photo radar will not be allowed in transition zones on a highway where the posted speed limit changes and the area immediately adjacent to the speed limit signs. Conventional enforcement, though, will still be allowed.

The transition zones now have a clear definition. If there is a 10 km/hr speed change, it is 10 metres on either side of the sign; for a 20 km/hr change its 25m either side; and for a 30 km/hr change, it’s 100m on either side of the sign.

That same month, photo radar on high-speed multi-lane corridors will be prohibited unless there is a documented safety concern.

In both cases, conventional enforcement is still allowed.

Also starting in June, the government expects municipalities to post all upcoming photo radar locations and their rationale on their municipal websites and to update the information monthly.

By March 2020, the government wants police agencies and municipalities to prepare a clear strategy to justify the use of photo radar based upon public safety. That same month they want to see data collection and reporting to demonstrate safety concerns outcomes.

Down the road, the government intends to develop more stringent photo radar guidelines, including restrictions, site selection and enhanced data collection.

An independent photo radar review was conducted in Alberta in 2017-18 to assess how it’s used in Alberta and whether or not it is effectively enhancing traffic safety.

It has been determined photo radar makes a small contribution to traffic safety but is generally not used in a way that maximizes traffic safety. It was found to reduce traffic collision rates by 1.4 per cent and fatal collisions by 5.3 per cent, but it also recognizes data limitations makes it difficult to analyze photo radar contributions to traffic safety and that more data is required to determine the true efficacy of photo radar programs.

He rejects the idea of banning photo radar altogether, stating he sees no need to “throw out the baby with the bath water.”

“The report did show that although the impact on safety was relatively small, it was real. The conclusion that I drew from that if it’s not being deployed right now to maximize safety we could probably get even better outcomes if we insisted that be done in that way, so that’s the approach we’ve taken.”

In the 2016-17 calendar year, ATE programs generated $220 million. While there is no photo radar within Cochrane town limits, it’s heavily utilized by our neighbouring City of Calgary, where most Cochranites travel frequently, and along transportation corridors. Calgary alone generated over $38 million in revenue in that time frame from photo radar enforcement, only surpassed by Edmonton, which generated nearly $51 million.

In a public opinion survey of 1,200 Albertans, 63 per cent believed to a moderate or great extent that ATE’s primary focus in revenue generations while only eight per cent believed that was not the aim.

Mason says he sides with the public in their opinion.

“I also believe and hear from the public that they feel they are unfairly targeted by photo radar, they get tickets in the mail and they have no idea that they were even speeding and there are no pedestrians, nor residential areas, just a road.

“So they feel that they’re being taken advantage of and I feel they’re right, so I want to fix that.”

He also wants to see “fishing holes” eliminated over time.

“If you ask the police they’ll tell you most severe accidents at intersections and yet most photo radar is not deployed at intersections, it’s deployed on long straightaways where people speed. The accident rates there are much lower than they are at many intersections that don’t have automated enforcement.”

“I think the process we set out today will over time make it more and more difficult for police or municipalities to have fishing holes. I don’t deny that they exist and I’m not promising they’re going to be done overnight but they will be gradually eliminated, I’m quite sure.”

Among those fishing holes are construction zones and he says measures have been taken to make sure they are not abused.