The ‘significantly lower than expected fine revenue’ comes nearly a year after the Alberta government vowed to remove photo radar traps from Calgary’s ring road
The Calgary Police Service will collect millions of dollars less from speeding tickets than it expected this year, blaming recent provincial restrictions on the use of photo radar.
The photo radar restrictions, as well as increased demands on patrol officers’ time, have led to a reduction in tickets, Cornett said.
And while she claimed police do not use traffic enforcement as a revenue generation tool, Cornett wrote that a portion of the money CPS collects from speeding ticket fines accounts for approximately eight per cent of the police budget, and city council has approved using the revenue to help offset costs.
CPS estimates how much fine and penalty revenue is likely to be generated for its budgets based on previous years, Cornett said.
“The service has done an outstanding job of managing this shortfall within their budget, but it has made it harder to absorb other unanticipated costs,” Cornett wrote.
In a separate statement to Postmedia, the commission cited photo radar restrictions as the main culprit for the drop in speeding ticket revenues, and noted additional changes being considered by the provincial government “are expected to double the gap in fine revenue.”
“Our commission continues to explore options with council on how to address the changes in fine revenue, including potentially removing fine revenue from the police budget altogether,” it stated.
Minister calls photo radar on Stoney Trail ‘cash cow’
Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen referred to photo radar on Stoney Trail as “cash cows” and “fishing holes” at the time, claiming the sole purpose seemed to be generating revenue. They were removed from Calgary’s ring road on Dec. 1, 2023.
“When you have certain beautiful highways built and engineered very well, and you’re seeing low accident data and yet hundreds of thousands of dollars of ticket revenue, that in most people’s minds is a fishing hole,” he said.
CPS also claims intersection cameras — a complement to photo radar units — have contributed to a decrease in right-angle collisions by nearly 50 per cent, while rear-end collisions have decreased by about 40 per cent across the city.
“Evidence is clear that traffic enforcement is an effective way of changing unsafe driver behaviour,” CPS spokesman Michael Nunn said in a statement to Postmedia. “The evidence is also clear that automated traffic enforcement reduces speeds, which in turn reduces both the number and seriousness of collisions.”
If the use of photo radar is further restricted by the province, police officers will be “hamstrung” in their ability to enforce traffic safety concerns, according to Nunn, who warned additional restrictions will force CPS to divert officers from other responsibilities.
Taking away photo radar also puts officers at risk of being struck by fast-moving vehicles on Calgary’s ring road, he added.
The amount collected by photo radar throughout Alberta in 2022-23 was $171 million, according to provincial statistics, down about $30 million from 2019-20.
A spokesperson for Transportation and Economic Corridors said this week that ministry staff engaged with municipalities and law enforcement agencies over the summer to continue the conversation on getting rid of photo radar “fishing hole” locations.
“The province is looking to finalize approved locations for photo radar by the end of the year, with a primary focus on sensitive areas such as school, playground and construction zones,” he said.
— With files from Bill Kaufmann