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The Pima County Board of Supervisors stopped its photo enforcement of speeding laws, at least temporarily.
The board voted 4-0 not to renew the photo enforcement contract with American Traffic Solutions, the company that operates the cameras. Supervisor Ally Miller was absent from the meeting, but has been vocally opposed to the program.
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry recommended the board let the contract expire Monday night, and not renew it. Data on speeds near the 11 cameras showed they were slowing drivers at the camera sites, but were not having a great impact on overall vehicle speeds, which led to Huckelberry's recommendation.
After he suggested the contract end, ATS proposed an alternative.
The company suggested Pima County remove most of the permanent cameras along unincorporated roads and begin a mobile photo enforcement program. It would operate much like the city of Tucson's mobile enforcement program. The speed-sensing and photo equipment would be installed in a vehicle, so that enforcement could move throughout the county each day or several times a day.
ATS suggested the county target school zones with a mobile photo speed enforcement program. That's a possibility the supervisors seemed open to at Tuesday's meeting. Supervisor Richard Elías asked for data on whether that type of enforcement improves safety or changes driver behavior in school zones.
The board decided to revisit the issue once that data from the county Transportation Department is available.
Because the board vote was today, about nine hours after the contract with ATS expired, some people may have been photographed exceeding the speed limit overnight. Huckelberry said any violations tracked after the expiration of the contract would not result in citations.
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