LA lags behind on installing cameras to quell speeding on dangerous roads

Camera systems shown to reduce speeding might not be operational in Los Angeles until the end of 2026, a transportation engineer told officials Wednesday, putting the city behind some of its peers throughout the state that are also piloting the technology.

Elected officials expressed frustration with the delay at an L.A. City Council transportation committee meeting.

“It has been about two years since we approved this, and we’re still talking about [requests for proposals],” L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park said. “I find that a little frustrating.”

In October 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation authorizing L.A. and five other California cities to pilot camera systems that cite speeding drivers on dangerous roads.

A representative for Streets Are For Everyone, a nonprofit also known as SAFE that sponsored the bill Newsom signed two years ago, said L.A. is falling behind on implementing its program.

“Our findings show that Los Angeles has currently only completed 25% of the required steps,” Brett Slaughenhaupt, SAFE’s director of L.A. County advocacy, said at the meeting.

What will the cameras do?

The cameras will capture the license plates of cars exceeding posted speed limits on certain corridors. That information will be used to mail tickets to the owner of the vehicle.

The number of cameras each city installs is based on population. L.A. is tasked with installing 125 cameras, the most of any of the participating cities.

The locations for the cameras will be selected based on where there are a lot of drivers that speed and where past attempts to make driving safer hasn’t resulted in “significant speeding reductions,” according to the report the Department of Transportation presented to city officials Wednesday.

School zones and street racing corridors will be prioritized, according to the report.

The owners of speeding vehicles will receive warnings for the first two months the cameras are active. Eventually, they'll be fined based on how much the car was observed exceeding the speed limit.

The purpose of the cameras is to help cities reduce speeding, which is the cause of nearly one-third of traffic fatalities, according to the Department of Transportation.

In L.A., 304 people in the city died in traffic fatalities last year, according to police data. An audit released in April found that lack of cohesion across departments and insufficient political support hampered the city’s goal of reducing traffic deaths to zero by this year.

What progress has L.A. made?

Chris Rider, a transportation engineer managing L.A.’s speed safety camera program, said that over the last two years, officials have been monitoring the progress of other pilot cities and honing in on the criteria that will be used to select locations for the cameras.

According to the report, the Department of Transportation hired a consultant in August to define policies around data retention, propose locations for the cameras and facilitate community engagement and public awareness about the program in the coming months.

The most updated timeline has L.A. activating its cameras, at the latest, by the end of 2026.

Achieving that timeline hinges on whether L.A. can “piggyback” or adopt the contract another pilot city has already signed with a camera system operator, Rider said.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Rider indicated that L.A. is looking to replicate Oakland’s proposed contract with Verra Mobility. A spokesperson for the city of Oakland told LAist that they're “hoping to get the contract signed ASAP, but don’t have a firm date.”

The pilot programs are authorized to run for five years or up until Jan. 1, 2032.

Where are the other cities in the process

San Francisco’s cameras have been operational since August.

Data on the number of tickets the city’s 33 cameras helped issue won’t be available until the end of September, according to a spokesperson for the city’s transportation agency.

Other cities are not far behind.

The spokesperson for Oakland said its 18 cameras are expected to be installed by the end of the year.

San Jose has identified potential camera locations, but its program has hit a snag. The city was going to use an $8.5 million grant from the Biden administration to fund its program. But the Trump administration updated the terms and conditions of that grant, as well as others focused on health and housing.

While a U.S. District Court judge in August granted a preliminary injunction blocking the administration’s actions, the money isn’t yet available.

“While our City Attorney's Office works on that issue, the speed camera program remains in a holding pattern,” said Colin Heyne, a public information officer for the city’s department of transportation. “We will work swiftly to award a contract, install the cameras, and start the program as soon as we have funding.”

Malibu Mayor Marianne Riggins said the five cameras the city is installing along Pacific Coast Highway will make pedestrians, cyclists and commuters safer.

“The City’s new speed safety citation camera system is one of the most important tools we have to slow drivers down and save lives on Pacific Coast Highway,” Riggins said to LAist in a statement.

Malibu officials said in an August meeting that it's targeting the end of the year for the installation of five cameras along Pacific Coast Highway.

Locations for Long Beach’s cameras have been identified and will be made public in October, according to a community information officer.

LAist reached out to the city of Glendale for a status update on its program.