# New types of traffic cameras allowed by the state legislature have the potential to lead to big safety gains in Seattle -- but a potential clash over how those cameras are deployed could be on the horizon. SDOT and transportation chair Rob Saka are not seeing eye to eye.
Screw traffic cameras. Most of that money goes to private companies and it’s all too tempting for cities to game them to increase revenue. I say we just park a bunch of empty cop cars around if you want people to slow down. Nothing works better and there’s no cost involved outside of the initial purchase of the vehicles. It’s cheaper and more effective.
Agreed. I have a compromise. They can put in all the cameras they want - but absolutely cannot, upon pain of losing 50% of their total budget for a year per violation - outsource or subcontract the operations or anything akin to the operations of the system at all. Hire IT staff to run it, pay people to process the data. No you can’t use AI. Do this or fuck off, Seattle.
I will never ever forget when a red light camera came to Redmond, at the turn leading to driving through Microsoft’s campus. Can you guess what happens when you piss of a bunch of smart motivated people who have money and aren’t necessarily the kindest people? That shit got challenged and removed after about six months. I still see the stump/the concrete it was embedded when when I go to my buddy’s house, and it warms my heart literally every. single. fucking. time.