Minneapolis approves traffic light cameras expected to begin this year

Traffic light cameras coming to Minnesota

Traffic cameras at stop lights that could lead to tickets for speeding and red light running might be debuted in Minneapolis and other cities beginning later this summer.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Saying they hope their implementation will reduce speeding and increase public safety, the Minneapolis City Council has approved a contract for a vendor to install and maintain traffic light cameras that could impose tickets on drivers throughout the city as soon as this summer.

Minneapolis traffic cameras

What we know:

Council members have approved a contract with NovoaGlobal, Inc. for red light and speed camera enforcement and citation issuance management.

The terms of the agreement include $12 million throughout the four-year pilot, with an option for two additional years afterward.

The earliest a traffic camera pilot could launch is August 1, 2025, though officials with the city have said they are targeting September.

The pilot would then run through July 14, 2029, with the option to extend for two additional one-year terms.

The backstory:

According to a study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) in 2023, "every methodological study of U.S. speed camera systems has found reductions in deaths, injuries, crashes, and speeds" while studies have also found a 19-56% reduction in severe or fatal crashes using the technology. Traffic safety cameras are currently used in 29 states and Washington D.C.

Between 2017 and 2021, an average of 150 people died or suffered very serious injuries in crashes in Minneapolis, when speeding was often a contributing factor.

In Minneapolis, 31 people were killed in crashes involving clear speeding, and 16 people were killed in crashes involving running red lights throughout 2022 and 2023, MnDOT also found.

Proposed locations for potential traffic cameras in Minneapolis. (Supplied)

How it will work

Dig deeper:

During the pilot, a first violation would be a warning, with $40 citations for 10-plus miles over the speed limit, and a doubled fee for speeding more than 20 mph over the posted limit. Fines escalate to $84 each if never paid.

Warnings and citations will be sent to the owner of the vehicle, and owners aren’t liable if they provide a sworn statement that they were not driving the vehicle at the time, or that it had been sold or stolen prior to it occurring.

All violations would also need to be confirmed by a trained enforcement agent before becoming official, and no violation would go on driving records, or be grounds for revoking or suspending a driver’s license.

The cameras could also only be used for traffic safety enforcement, and couldn’t capture pictures that identify people.

A one-month warning period will lead up to any enforcement, and the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) would be barred from implementing or coordinating the program.