CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Agenda Date: February 6, 2023 Action Required: Approve the resolution for use of speed cameras on Monticello Avenue for Clark Elementary and on Cherry Avenue for Buford Middle School and Johnson Elementary. Presenter: Brennen Duncan, Traffic Engineer Staff Contacts: Brennen Duncan, Traffic Engineer Title: Considering the use of speed cameras in School Zones (1 reading) Background The State Legislature and Governor approved the use of speed cameras for school zones and construction zones in 2020. § 46.2-882.1. Use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones and school crossing zones; civil penalty. With the bus driver shortage and the need to expand walk zones for all of the city schools, many of the crossing guards have felt the need for enhanced measures to ensure the safety of the increased number of students walking to school along some of our busiest corridors. Discussion In talking with other jurisdictions that have implemented, or plan to implement speed cameras for use in school zones, the consensus seems to be the use of a third-party vendor. This relieves some of the requirements of managing the program from staff, introduces more levels of checks and balances before any ticket is issued, as well as relieves the city from much of the up-front and ongoing costs of the camera hardware in order to operate the program. As staff understands, the procedure in which tickets are generated would start with a review of the video by the 3rd party vendor. Once they have established that they think an infraction has occurred, they contact the DMV and cross reference the make/model of the vehicle to the tags and receive the owner information. The next step would be to then forward all of the information to CPD for confirmation/denial of the infraction before returning back to the 3rd party for the ticket to be mailed out to the offender. The cameras can be set up to only be in service during the time in which students at school or be even more restrictive and only be active for the 1hr before and after student pick-up and drop-off. Currently, staff, the school administration and school crossing guards are only proposing the use of the cameras in three identified locations 1) Monticello Avenue for Clark Elementary 2) Cherry Avenue for Buford Middle School and 3) Cherry Avenue for Johnson Elementary. These locations were selected based on the number of children walking, number of observed violations by the crossing guards, as well as the volume and speed of traffic along those roadways. These locations could be expanded in the future by council action depending on the success of the program and desire of the greater community to enforce the speed limits around the school zones and protect some of our most vulnerable residents. Alignment with City Council's Vision and Strategic Plan Community Engagement Budgetary Impact The program will be self-funded with minimal impact on the city’s budget. Recommendation Approve the resolution Alternatives Deny the resolution Attachments 1. Crossing Guard Letter to Council 2. Speed Camera_Resolution_2.6.2023