Red light cameras coming back to Roseville

After being yanked offline more than six months ago, red-light camera enforcement appears headed back to Roseville intersections.The City Council is poised to approve a contract with Redflex Traffic Systems to install cameras at up to 15 intersection approaches – or about four intersections – throughout the city. Exact locations will be determined following a study of driver habits, officials said.The agreement, which would see cameras go up within a maximum of 150 days, follows the city's decision to pull the plug on its last red-light camera operator, Nestor Traffic Systems, in November, due to poor image quality and other equipment problems that were hampering the ability to issue citations. Under the contract expected to be approved Wednesday, "the new company will be starting from scratch," Police Spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said.That means new equipment with the latest image-capture technology. The previous system used older technology that Nestor had inherited from a former operator, she said. Images were often too fuzzy to positively identify red-light violators.The city will pay Redflex $6,000 per intersection approach – a single direction of traffic as it approaches an intersection – per month. But the company says fines collected mean the cameras will be "at least" cost-neutral.That's different from the previous contractor, which took a percentage off the top of all citations issued. That type of agreement is no longer allowed under state law."Photo red-light was not a huge money-maker for the city last time," Gunther said. "Really, the goal is to increase safety at those intersections. You get your higher injury collisions from red-light running."Red-light photographic evidence must include three things, Gunther said: The driver's face, vehicle license-plate number, and some evidence of the vehicle moving through the intersection during a red light, either through video or still photos.Though officials hoped to have a new agreement within 60 days of canceling the contract with Nestor, the actual agreement took longer."It took quite a long time to work through issues with the company and come to agreement both parties were happy with," Gunther said. "Revenue neutrality very important to us."Redflex already operates a red-light camera in Rocklin, at the intersection of Park Drive and Sunset Boulevard, said Virginia Trevino, the city's traffic clerk. That system has been in place since early 2006, she said.Rocklin is expecting to install another Redflex-operated camera, at Rocklin Road and Interstate 80, in the next week or so. It's currently the only Placer County community with a red-light photo enforcement system. "I view all the red-light violations and I've been very happy (with image quality)," she said.Roseville Police staff will also view each alleged red-light violation, approving each citation (which costs motorists $371 a pop) -- though they will be mailed by the equipment operator.It's still unclear exactly where the cameras will go, Gunther said. Police will suggest locations, but Redflex will also complete traffic studies to determine where its assets will be best placed."We'll give them a list of intersections, but they may even evaluate some we haven't looked at and have become busier than before."Redflex, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is the largest photo red-light contractor in the U.S., according to the company. In California, it holds contracts in 68 cities.