Red light cameras back on Thunder Bay city council's agenda

Kris Ketonen · CBC News

· Posted: May 29, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Red airy cameras could inactive beryllium coming to Thunder Bay, Ont., intersections.

The cameras — which are triggered erstwhile a postulation airy turns red, capturing images of immoderate vehicles moving the airy truthful fines could beryllium issued — person been antecedently considered by metropolis council.

In 2021, councillors voted the measurement down, citing precocious costs.

But a study going to assembly connected Monday says changes to provincial rules whitethorn marque a reddish airy camera programme much feasible successful Thunder Bay.

"Currently the City of Thunder Bay Court Services processes Highway Traffic Act offences nether the Provincial Offenses Act (POA)," the study states. "The provincial tribunal strategy is not designed to negociate the precocious measurement of offences generated by automated enforcement systems. Automated enforcement offences person been recovered to beryllium amended suited to beryllium processed successful the Administrative Penalty System (APS)."

The APS strategy would spot representation processing handled by municipal screening and proceeding officers extracurricular of the provincial tribunal system, the study says.

Those officers would let cases to beryllium resolved faster, "while afloat section power allows the strategy to standard and accommodate to aboriginal needs.

"This attack eliminates reliance connected provincial judicial resources and avoids the hazard of delays oregon withdrawn charges owed to tribunal backlogs and allows the constricted tribunal resources to beryllium utilized for different matters," says the report.

Matthew Miedema, manager of the city's engineering division, said the APS strategy could beryllium utilized for different automated enforcement measures, specified arsenic schoolhouse autobus stop-arm cameras and automated speeding detection.

"What we are recommending Monday nighttime is to proceed with [a] further concern case," Miedema said. "We're not recommending the programme beryllium started; there's inactive a batch of homework to do."

"The reddish airy cameras are 1 facet of this," helium said. "We're champion to look at other automated enforcements arsenic well."

In summation to cutting down connected vehicles moving reddish lights, the cameras person been shown to besides trim right-angle, oregon T-bone, collisions by 25 per cent.

However, the study notes, the cameras besides thin to origin a 15 per cent increase successful rear-end collisions; those, however, thin to beryllium little superior than right-angle collisions, often resulting successful lone spot harm and insignificant injuries.

Angle collisions, the study says, are much apt to origin wounded oregon death.

"While you whitethorn person further upfront superior costs and operating costs, the revenues you get from it volition financially prolong the programs going forward," Miedema said.

If metropolis assembly does determine to spell up with reddish airy cameras, the extremity is to person them successful spot by the extremity of 2027, helium said.