Murray Wood: Reporting live from beneath mounds of data
You can't say Saskatchewan isn't releasing annual reports on the Crown corporations, but Murray Wood says it's being don...
It appears that some – or possibly all – of the speed camera boxes in Saskatchewan are currently sitting empty.
Redflex Traffic Systems, operating as Verra Mobility Systems, was the vendor for the province’s photo speed cameras. It entered into a contract with SGI in 2020 to lease the cameras to the Crown corporation, install them and process the tickets that result from the photo enforcement program.
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But at the end of May, the company ended its contract with SGI early, taking its equipment with it. SGI didn’t say why, just calling it a “business decision” on the part of the vendor. 980 CJME has reached out to Verra Mobility Systems for comment.
SGI declined an interview request, instead answering questions by email. The Crown corporation says it’s working on transitioning to a new vendor for the province, but doesn’t have a finalized contract yet.
SGI wouldn’t confirm whether all of the cameras are gone, saying only that the equipment is being replaced as part of the transition to a new vendor, and noting that speed enforcement locations will be temporarily inactive at certain points in that process.
“In the interest of road safety, we do not comment on the status or deployment of equipment at specific sites. Drivers should assume photo speed enforcement is in place at all locations and continue to obey posted speed limits,” SGI said in a statement.
A number of the cameras are located in Saskatoon, and the police force there said it will try to step up traffic patrols in the areas where the cameras were being used.
“Over the next few weeks or until such time that the speed enforcement cameras are back online, members of the Traffic Unit will be adding these areas to their enforcement rotation as time permits,” read a statement from the Saskatoon Police Service.
The Regina Police Service said its traffic and road safety officers’ work will continue as usual.
A number of the photo speed enforcement camera boxes on Ring Road in Regina had lenses, but there appeared to be nothing else inside in mid-June. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
There are 27 camera locations in the province, and there were nine cameras that were moved between those locations. For example, one camera was moved between six separate sites on Ring Road in Regina.
Revenue brought in from the program gets split up.
From cameras in the cities, 25 per cent is sent to the provincial government’s General Revenue Fund, then SGI is reimbursed for the cost of the program and the remaining amount is split evenly between the municipality and the Provincial Traffic Safety Fund, which gives grants to other municipalities for driver safety projects.
From the cameras on highways, 25 per cent of the revenue goes to the General Revenue Fund, while the rest goes to the Provincial Traffic Safety Fund.
SGI said when it is operational, the photo speed enforcement program issues an average of $1.3 million in fines each month.
