Traffic Enforcement

SEPTA bus

In Philadelphia, Improving Bus Service by Tackling Traffic Congestion

With buses crawling along through downtown Philadelphia, the city has plans to step up law enforcement to help them move faster.

October 4, 2018 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Radar Speed Sign

Radar Speed Sign 2.0: How a Small Town Calmed Its Traffic

To get a handle on drivers whizzing through its main road, the small town of Betterton, Maryland installed a "smart" radar speed sign. The data it collected helped the local sheriff's department improve traffic enforcement.

January 18, 2018 - Governing

Highway Speed

Speed Limit Changes Coming to L.A.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation announced proposed speed limit changes and enforcement budgets. Changes to the speed limit will mean an increase in most places.

October 22, 2017 - Streetsblog LA

Carpool Lane Sticker

Second Attempt at Renewal for California's Clean Air Vehicle Decal Program

New legislation would continue the Clean Air Vehicle program after Jan. 1, 2019 to allow zero and near-zero emission vehicles to continue to qualify for carpool lane stickers in the Golden State.

July 10, 2017 - Santa Monica Daily Press

Red Light Camera

Chicago Red Light Cameras Making Streets Safer, Study Finds

A Northwestern University study found that Chicagoans ran fewer red lights after cameras were installed, even at intersections that don't have cameras.

March 23, 2017 - Chi.Streetsblog

Biking

'Biking While Black?' You're More Likely to Get a Ticket in Chicago

Majority-white neighborhoods like West Town and Lincoln Park are among the most popular for biking in Chicago, but they’re not in the top ten neighborhoods for bike tickets.

March 21, 2017 - Chicago Tribune

Black Lives Matter

On Driving (and Hailing, and Ridesharing) While Black

Two studies bear out the idea that Black people face continued discrimination in transportation. They drive cautiously to avoid discriminatory traffic enforcement, and they're less likely to get picked up by rideshare.

February 1, 2017 - City Observatory

Police

Using Data to Curb Pedestrian Fatalities and Slow Profiling

Chicago Department of Transportation Chief, Gabe Klein, suggests that crash hot spots should guide efforts to make streets safer.

January 31, 2017 - The Chicago Reader

Bike Cop

As San Francisco Debates Idaho Stop, Gov. Brown Gives All Cyclists a Break

Regardless of how San Francisco's proposed Bike Yield Law fares, all California cyclists who are ticketed for not stopping at stop signs may have the option to pay a reduced fine if they opt to attend bike school thanks to a new law signed Sept. 21.

September 28, 2015 - Streetsblog LA

San Francisco Bikers Score a Point for the Idaho Stop

Last week, along a popular San Francisco bike route, a group of protestors took to their bikes to advocate for new laws, such as the Idaho Stop, that make it easier to bike in the city.

August 4, 2015 - SF Weekly

Three Es of Grade Crossing Safety: Focus on Enforcement

Education, Engineering, and Enforcement. MTA police are taking the last one very seriously at grade crossings they monitor on the Metro-North and LIRR lines since the February crash in Westchester County that killed five passengers and a motorist.

April 13, 2015 - The Wall Street Journal

Controversial Speed Camera Program for School Zones Likely to Be Repealed

A speed camera program near school zones in Nassau County on Long Island provides a cautionary tale about the limits of surveillance and fines in curbing speeding.

December 13, 2014 - CBS New York

Green Light for Red Light Cameras in California

A decisive California Supreme Court ruling on June 5 made life easier for jurisdictions to enforce red-light laws using traffic camera technology by stating that the photos have the "same presumption of validity as other types of photos and videos."

June 8, 2014 - KTVU.Com

Traffic Enforcement Technology Has Its Limits

For the second time in a year, Baltimore has pulled the plug on both its red-light and speed enforcement cameras, paying the contractor $600,000 to do so. Re-evaluation will determine where the city, which now owns most of the cameras, goes next.

December 19, 2013 - Governing

Cities Pursue Different Paths to One Goal: Safer Streets

In the face of rising pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities, the District of Columbia's police department began deploying automated photo enforcement technologies while San Francisco took a multi-agency, collaborative planning approach.

November 26, 2013 - Transportation Nation

Speed Cameras 2.0: Ticketing More Than Just Speeding

DC traffic scofflaws beware: You may be recorded! In one of the nation's most comprehensive use of traffic cameras, motorists who run stop signs or don't stop for peds in crosswalks could find a "ticket in the mail". Plus, 132 cameras will be added.

September 18, 2013 - The Washington Post

Chinese City Gets Serious About Traffic Enforcement . . . Maybe a Little Too Serious

A program that allows undercover inspectors to keep 80 percent of any fines proves (un)remarkably effective.

August 25, 2012 - The Epoch Times

What Is the Best Way to Improve Safety for Cyclists and Pedestrians?

In response to an eye-opening Atlantic Cities article about the lack of enforcement of traffic laws in NYC, especially as it contributes to pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths, four esteemed debaters offer opinions on how to improve safety.

February 29, 2012 - The New York Times - Room For Debate

Want to Get Away With Murder? Just Run Over a Bicyclist

A drivers license in the wrong hands can feel like a hunting license to bicyclists who have few legal protections and even fewer enforcement options negligent drivers. When bikers are injured or killed, police are often reluctant to investigate why.

September 22, 2010 - AltTransport

Double-Fine Zones: Do They Work?

In this op-ed, CA state Senator Leland Yee (D-SF/San Mateo) discusses the result of his legislation to apply double traffic fines, as well as city street improvements, on two of the most dangerous roads in SF, 19th and Van Ness Aves.

January 25, 2010 - San Francisco Examiner

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