Pittsburgh council approves automated red light cameras

Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously authorized the use of automated red light enforcement, technology touted by officials and activists as a way to make the city’s streets safer.

Council’s vote allows the city to install cameras at high-risk intersections to ticket drivers who run red lights. The technology will help the city ticket violators without sending police to monitor intersections.

“Dangerous drivers do need to be held responsible for the dangers they pose for our neighbors,” Eric Borer, advocacy director for Bike Pittsburgh, told council ahead of a preliminary vote last week.

Last year, 23 people — including seven pedestrians — were killed in car crashes in the city. Many others were hurt.

From 2019 through 2023, over 700 serious crashes were caused by people ignoring red lights, according to Kim Lucas, director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure. Seven of those wrecks were fatal.

City officials have not yet picked the intersections that will be equipped with the automated systems. Officials said they plan to start with the intersections proven to be the most dangerous.

PennDOT will need to approve the intersections they select.

City officials have not yet provided a timeline for when they believe the technology could be implemented.

The state requires the city to provide a 60-day notice before beginning automated enforcement at the first intersection and a 30-day warning at subsequent spots.

State law sets the fine at $100.

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill, who sponsored the measure, on Tuesday introduced amendments to the bill that will require the city’s parking authority to validate tickets before sending them to drivers.

Any profit the city would make from the red light cameras will go to a state program that funds infrastructure improvements. The city already has received about $1.4 million from money other municipalities have contributed to that fund for seven signal improvement projects.

Philadelphia, Abington in Montgomery County, and Warrington and Bensalem in Bucks County already have automated red light enforcement.

“This is one other step that’s really important and really needed,” said Councilman Bob Charland, D-South Side. “We need more and more and more traffic calming and out-of-the-box thinking about traffic calming.”

Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, said she believes the city needs more traffic calming measures of all sorts to deter the kind of dangerous driving that causes persistent concerns among her constituents. But she said wants to monitor how effective the measure is and re-evaluate it if it doesn’t seem to be working.