PHOENIX — Phoenix is set to reinstall red-light cameras, six years after removing them from the city's streets.
The new, and they say improved, program will rely on red-light running and crash data from multiple sources to determine where the cameras are placed.
“We're looking at everything that we can do to drive the number of serious injuries and fatalities down," said Jorge Riveros, deputy director of the Phoenix Streets Department.
The Phoenix City Council approved the plan to bring cameras back in October. The plan calls for 10 of them around Phoenix. Riveros said some will be installed and others will be mobile.
“There's an opportunity to switch them out every few years or so, looking at all the data," Riveros said. "If they're being effective, we can look at other hot spot locations and then move those cameras around.”
The city's data-driven approach uses a report from the University of Arizona that showed red-light cameras cut the number of red-light fatalities by 28.7%.
The proposal also calls for using data from the Maricopa Association of Governments that highlights the most dangerous intersections in the Valley.
The city also plans to use its own crash data and decide which intersections get the cameras based on all the data, as well as the feasibility of placing those cameras in the intersections.
The program should also pay for itself, Riveros said. Any money the program makes over the cost will go toward other road projects.
"Those dollars are going to go right back into our road safety action plan and identifying where we can best place infrastructure that will keep our roadway users safe," Riveros said.
The city hopes to get the cameras up and running by the end of 2025, Riveros said.