Speed cameras on Philadelphia's Roosevelt Boulevard have slowed down reckless drivers, report says
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 2023 report by the Pennsylvania State Transportation Advisory Committee found that speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia have been successful in slowing down reckless drivers.
The Speed Camera Program started as a pilot in June 2020 and installed speed cameras near 10 intersections along the Boulevard. According to that report, automated speed enforcement reduced speeding by 90%, and car crashes dropped 36% along this corridor.
Some Philadelphians want more cameras added on the Boulevard and throughout the city.
"Broad and Cecil B. Moore, Broad and Huntington Park, Logan, Olney," a Northeast Philly resident said.
Between March 1 and May 1, councilmember Isaiah Thomas' Safe Streets Philly campaign will host town hall events and open an online survey to gather suggestions from residents to help identify five other high-speed corridors to implement automated speed enforcement.
"Every Philadelphian deserves a safe commute to work, trip to school, or walk to the corner store," Thomas said. "Far too many Philadelphians' lives have been permanently altered and lost due to reckless driving. Speed cameras are another tool in the toolbox we can use to make sure we reach our Vision Zero goals."
Chris Gale, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, supports the initiative.
"There's quite a calculus to select the roads," he said. "It's the speed data, it's the crash data, it's roads that the city feels really needs the attention."