Letter to the Editor
Devon Dispatch published my letter to the editor today :

I would like to thank David Schaefer, the director of Devon's Community and Protective Services, for taking the time to talk with me regarding their photo radar program. I read that the program was due to start up again this spring and with the issues reported before, I decided to investigate further.

I made a request last week to the Town of Devon's office to obtain a copy of their Traffic Safety Plan through the Freedom of Information Act. The Alberta Solicitor General, the provider of photo radar guidelines for municipalities, requires the plan to “ensure that traffic safety is the primary reason for enforcement.” Mr. Schaefer promptly provided a copy and we spoke at length about our views and opinions of the program's raison d'etre and effectiveness. A copy of the plan, links to the Solicitor General's site and a review of my discussion with Mr. Schaefer are available at my weblog on the subject : http://devonphotoradar.blogspot.com

My major concern was not the playground areas or other residential lanes in town, but the perceived cash cow that the highway traffic had become. Mr. Schaefer and I discussed options to raise public awareness (besides photo radar) of the occurrences of collisions for the stretch of highway through Devon - considered to be the “worst in the province.” He was very receptive to my views and ideas about some traffic calming techniques that could be implemented – including left turn merge lanes and a traffic light in the center intersection. I was also assured that the photo radar revenue was not going into the town's operating budget.

We also discussed the lack of responsible guidelines from the Solicitor General for the speeding limit tolerance. While their guidelines call for zero tolerance above the posted limit, it really should be a percentage, which is what obviously what a normal operator would allow. For example, there is a general conception that RCMP highway patrols will allow you at least 10km/h above the posted highway limit. I cannot speak of what guidelines for tolerance Devon's program has implemented, but I believe the onus is on the general public to provide feedback to our MLAs regarding the Solicitor General's guidelines.

In all, my review of Devon's Traffic Safety Plan and the discussion with Mr. Schaefer removed most of my prejudices. The declining incidents of speeding shows that the public is very aware of the enforcement and with the drastic reduction of collisions in the area, the program could be called successful.

However, I still worry about the tourist traffic this year and their impressions of Devon after receiving a ticket two weeks after they return from their trip. One final concern is that other municipalities, specifically along Highway 2, may utilize the success of Devon's program to initiate their own program. But with the lack of regular commuter traffic on the major route between Alberta's largest cities, the rate of speeders may not decline as shown in Devon's program – resulting in a real cash cow if we or the Solicitor General are not diligent enough to stop it.

- posted by Steve @ 8:28 PM 0 comments

 
Devon's Traffic Safety Plan
A printable copy (PDF) of Devon's Traffic Safety Plan (TSP) is available here (opens in new window).

I received these pages during my discussion with David Schaefer - director of 'Community and Protective Services' in Devon. He met with me after I formally requested a copy of the plan as per Alberta's Freedom of Information Act (FOIP).
- posted by Steve @ 5:30 PM 0 comments

 
Speeding :
A Photo Radar Discussion with the Director of Devon's Program
As I mentioned in previous posts¹, I wanted to see the Traffic Safety Plan (TSP) that the Town of Devon created before the Alberta Solicitor General would authorize² use of photo radar on a major Alberta highway through the town.

Well, as you probably can tell by the tone of my previous blogs, my personal view was that the use of photo radar on the major highway through Devon wasn't warranted. But I wanted to withhold final judgment or a long soapbox rant until I reviewed all the facts. It may hubris of me to state that nobody except myself and the Alberta Solicitor General had requested or reviewed Devon's TSP before today, but that's pretty much what has occurred.

A copy of Devon's Traffic Safety Plan will be posted soon.

Speeding Discussion

I had Tuesday off, so I was able to return David Schaefer's voice mail from the previous evening. Mr. Schaefer is the director of 'Community and Protective Services' in Devon and led the implementation of their photo radar program. He told me I could pick up the copy of the TSP report that morning at the front desk. So when I dropped by their office to pick it up - 'Dave' asked me if I would sit down and discuss the program. He was willing and open to discussing their operation, my concerns and he also voiced his own personal opinions or experiences regarding speeding.

Now, I'm not a journalist by any stretch and this isn't journalism. I highly recommend that you review the plan, contact³ him or the Devon office by email/phone and voice your concerns if you have any.

Here are some of the highlights of our conversation on the controversial program that is due to start up again. I won't try to quote him verbatim for fear of misquoting somebody who obviously made time in his busy schedule for a random taxpayer. Hopefully the major points are all covered here, but I will offer a forum to him or others for comment/rebuttal if requested.

In early 2004, once the issue with a very high collision rate on the highway was identified by the town council, there was a review with the local RCMP and other stakeholders. They decided to follow the Solicitor General's guidelines to implement the photo radar program, but found a few ambiguities in the policies. This included a zero tolerance level that is often discussed regarding speeding violations. We all assume or know that RCMP will give at least 10-15km/hr above the posted limit before they will pull us over. Dave told me that he had to clarify with the province that their guidelines were indeed "zero tolerance" - meaning anybody who is over the posted limit gets a moving violation. My neighbor, an Edmonton police officer, mentioned that he often would give at least 16km/hr over the limit when he was policing traffic 'years ago.' I cannot confirm if all tickets issued by Devon utilized the zero tolerance, just that it was the directive given by the province's Solicitor General.

Devon's TSP plan speaks of the targets that came out of the review with the RCMP. I am a firm believer in traffic stops for seatbelt and other violations as statistics show that major arrests have been made of criminals with outstanding warrants. I was glad to see that the photo radar program was not replacing their traffic policing effort.

We agreed that public knowledge of areas of high collision locations has to improve. He told me of the usual protestors that try to notify people of the impending speed trap, something which he felt actually produced the desired end result - people slowed down. I have found that there is no ill will felt towards people that try to perform this 'duty', other than concerns for distracting drivers or putting themselves in a dangerous situation (pedestrian on the highway carrying a sign).

During the first week that the program was implemented they had a very high rate of speeding : 1000 incidents per 8 hour day. After review of the initial tickets issued for that first week, they decided that they had better wait for a week or two for the dust to settle to give people a chance to adjust to the new policy. They decided also to step up their publicity of the program through signage and notices in the town's local paper.

I was also assured that the money collected went into trust and would be used in the future for one time purchases to improve facilities or policing. I had worried that it might go into supporting operations and as the revenue decreased with less speeders being ticketed, the famous month end blitz of radar traps that we see in Edmonton could be instigated. Edmonton Police have said their is no quota for photo radar - but that organization is suffering from lack of direction and credibility to make such a claim. But that is another discussion.

The input I gave about public relations of the issue with speeding on the highway was welcomed. I suggested a sign with 'your speed' be implemented - we had both seen that used in the city somewhat successfully. We also discussed a merge lane for left turning traffic and other 'traffic calming' improvements - including a traffic light in the middle intersection or access route into Devon that could help regulate/control traffic flows. Dave assured me also that a plan was forthcoming on changes to the intersection between highway 19 and 60 - south of Devon that causes major congestion and frustration for right turning traffic. We both felt that this could be the cause of some aggressive driving tendencies to pass drivers to make up 'lost time' as they approach Devon.

But it appears funding will have to be forthcoming before major changes occur to the highway. Dave assured me that they are lobbying the MLAs and government agencies hard on improvements to the highway as traffic has doubled since the last traffic survey was done by the province in 1996.

Summary

I greatly appreciate Mr. Schaefer's time and effort today. I believe many of my misconceptions or prejudice on the program in Devon were changed as a result of the talk I had with him. The review I did with him has shown me that as the leader of the program, he has done his diligence and the end result was a drastic reduction in collisions on the highway and in town.

However, it's the major highways in Alberta that pass by other jurisdictions that I worry about now. With the zero tolerance guidelines from the Solicitor General and the possibility that Leduc and other municipalities are looking to start up a photo radar program, they could quite easily could become a cash cow. The next municipality will most likely use Devon's collision reduction success as leverage to start their own program. But with higher traffic volumes and less commuter or local traffic on other busy highways between Alberta's major cities, the number of tickets distributed could take months to level off.

Yes, there is more to come...


Resources

1 Town of Devon - Community and Protective Services Staff Contact information

2 Alberta Solicitor General
The Solicitor General authorizes and provides guidelines for municipalities to hire special constables that can generate photo radar tickets.

Previous Related Blogs

Devon Photo Radar - Intro Sunday, April 10, 2005

Request for a copy of Devon's Traffic Safety Report Thursday, April 07, 2005





- posted by Steve @ 11:30 PM 0 comments

 
Request for a copy of Devon's Traffic Safety Plan
During my research into Devon's controversial photo radar program, I came across an interesting statement on the Alberta Solicitor General's website¹ :

During the time the Town of Devon deployed photo radar they were able to reduce collisions by 80 per cent and greatly impacted the number of drivers who failed to heed the speed limits.

The use of the 80% reduction statistic in collisions seems to imply that speeding was a factor in all the previous collisions - police do not currently have any way to effectively track if speeding was the direct cause of an accident (with the noted exception of excessive speeding). Such a round number without any periodicity raises some cynical responses also. I felt the need to seek out more information regarding their claim and determine for myself if the reduction in collisions was because of the photo radar program.

However, I won't dispute that they were successful in reducing the number of those drivers that "failed to heed the speed limits." After the program was suspended, the photo radar firm continued to collect data on the traffic through Devon. Their data showed that people like me were more diligent in maintaining their speed. A $150 fine for going 10-15km/hr over the limit in their 70km/hr zone past the town has a way of doing that to your normal driving habits.

On Thursday afternoon I stopped by the Town of Devon's office to inquire about obtaining a copy of their 'Traffic Safety Plan' through the Freedom of Information Act. They would have had to prepare the report for the Solicitor General for initial authorization (April 2004) or recommencement (Fall 2004) of the program.

Unfortunately David Schaefer, the director of 'Community and Protective Services', was away at lunch. I left my name, the request and cell phone number with the executive assistant and she assured me that David would be in touch regarding my request. After I didn't hear back, I decided to email them this weekend to clarify my request.

I will probably follow up again next week with a phone call. I would like to ask a few more questions about the program, but given my lack of journalistic skills, I think I will just stick with the original request. Hopefully I will be able to post it here soon, so that we all can review the report and ascertain if we think the photo radar program is really warranted on the highly traveled highway through town.

Subject:Request for a copy of Devon's Traffic Safety Plan
To: David Schaefer

Mr. Schaefer;

I dropped by the town office today (Thursday) and I believe it was Christine I spoke with about obtaining a copy of the town's "Traffic Safety Plan" that was submitted last year to the Alberta Solicitor General as part of their Special Constable program's "authorization to enforce traffic safety on a primary highway."

I believe this information was submitted either at the beginning of Devon's photo radar program or as part of the audit/review performed during the time it was suspended. It appears that the Solicitor General's latest press releases about this subject (March 1st, 2005) are quoting statistics from your reports.

I left my name, number and a message that I would like to obtain a copy of this information. If you wish, you may email the reports to this address.

I was going to make a "Freedom of Information" request to the Solicitor General for the information regarding statistics, planning, etc that Devon submitted for approval and/or review of the Special Constable photo radar program, but they suggested that I contact Devon's administrative office first. However, if you require it, I can make that formal request to you for the information as per the Alberta Government's Guidelines in their Freedom of Information Act.

Thank you for your time, your response is greatly appreciated. I hope this email clarifies my request.

---

1
The Solicitor General authorizes and provides guidelines for municipalities to hire special constables that can generate photo radar tickets.
- posted by Steve @ 7:48 PM 0 comments

 
Devon Photo Radar - Intro


Nobody likes to receive a photo radar ticket. Call it a speeding tax, a deterrent to excessive speed or a way to increase awareness of a high collision area – everybody curses that ticket found in the mail two to three weeks after their picture was taken for going five or more kilometers per hour over the posted limit.

This blog will review the issues with Devon's controversial photo radar program.

Devon, a small town on the south west corner of Edmonton, started it's photo radar program in mid-spring of 2004. The town council outsourced the enforcement to another firm who, as per the Alberta Solicitor General's guidelines, trained a “special constable” and began taking pictures of speeders' license plates after posting several photo radar signs and notices in the local paper.

This controversial program was implemented not only on the streets of Devon, but also on Highway 60, a well traveled bypass route around the city. Of course, many speeders – including myself, were ticketed in the first few months in the zone that drops from 100km/h to 70! Soon we all learned to slow down on the highway to avoid the punishing fines and the program was declared a 'success' by the town council.

But there were and still are issues:

• Devon had to cancel the program for the latter half of 2004 as there was a controversy regarding the training of the radar operator.


• The public has began to question the program also after recent disclosure revealed that Devon collected several hundred thousand dollars per month while the program was in operation.


• Recent council meetings show that there are no plans for changes to the highway through the townsite.


• Alberta's Solicitor General, the overseer of Devon's photo radar, granted authorization for the restart of the program in the spring of 2005 – But there has been no concrete data from the Solicitor General as to the program's effectiveness or how well Devon followed the guidelines for photo radar enforcement.

So, is it just a "cash cow?" Should photo radar be allowed on Alberta's highways ? Will the money be used for safety or other improvements to the highway through Devon ?

More to come ...

- posted by Steve @ 8:00 PM 0 comments