As promised, traffic enforcement cameras are back in Baltimore.
This Monday, 10 portable speed cams will be up and running in school zones around the city. That day, June 26, marks the start of a 30-day “warning period” in which drivers caught moving 12 miles or more above the speed limit near eight schools will receive a warning letter in the mail.
The grace period ends Wednesday, July 26. From there on out, the person whose name is on the registration of any vehicle captured speeding will get a $40 citation in the mail. According to a release from the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, tickets won’t add points to driver’s licenses or have any impact on insurance.
Mayor Catherine Pugh revealed in her fiscal 2018 proposed budget in March that she wanted to resurrect traffic cameras in the city limits. A Baltimore Sun investigation four years earlier led the city to shut down its old program, which officials later admitted had become too big to manage with its 160 cameras. Drivers had complained of the devices, then operated by Xerox, Inc., issuing erroneous tickets.
Now, the city government has opted to pay nearly $10 million combined to a subsidiary of Xerox called Conduent, Inc., and Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions to run a much smaller traffic camera operation. The 10 portable ones going live on Monday are only part of the deal; the Department of Transportation also plans to plant 10 fixed-speed, 10 red-light and up to six commercial vehicle law enforcement cameras around the city.
Under the terms of their deal,American Traffic Solutions will operate all speed cameras, while Conduent will run all red-light and commercial vehicle enforcement cameras.
DOT spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes previously told Baltimore Fishbowl the fine for getting caught running a red light will be $75, while truck drivers found traveling on prohibited roads will get a warning, followed by $250 and $500 fines for subsequent violations.
Barnes said today that the department will announce the arrival dates for the other cameras “accordingly.”
Get ready to slow down, if you already weren’t following the law in school zones. The portable cameras will be deployed near the following schools, which are subject to change:
- Frederick Douglass High School, in the 1800-2400 blocks of Gwynns Falls Parkway;
- Vanguard Collegiate Middle School, in the 5400-5700 blocks of Moravia Road;
- Holy Angels Catholic School, in the 900-1200 blocks of South Caton Avenue;
- Edmondson Westside High School, in the 4200-4500 blocks of Edmondson Avenue;
- Glenmount Elementary/Middle School, in the 5900-6400 blocks of Walther Avenue;
- Baltimore Polytechnic Institute/Western High School, in the 1200-1600 blocks of W. Cold Spring Lane; and
- Gywnns Falls Elementary School, in the 2600-2800 blocks of Gywnns Falls Parkway.
