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Friday, July 03, 2009
UK: London Congestion Tax Accused of Greenwashing

The head of Volvo Cars Europe yesterday wrote to London Mayor Boris Johnson urging him to eliminate the "apparent injustice" of giving a free ride into London to the owners of hybrid automobiles. Volvo argued that although the hybrid preference may have made sense in the past, advances in internal combustion technology have made conventional engines cleaner than ever.
   "It is Volvo's belief that, in its current structure, the London congestion charge unfairly benefits hybrid-powered cars at the expense of drivers choosing normal internal combustion-powered ones with similar levels of emissions," Stuart Kerr, Regional President for Volvo Europe wrote. "We now find ourselves in a situation where conventional cars can deliver equivalent, and in some cases, better levels of emissions than the hybrid cars that still receive an exemption from the charge."
   In 2003, London began imposing a charge, now £8 (US $13), on drivers entering the downtown area. Then-Mayor Ken Livingstone exempted hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius so that the tax, which generated £268 million (US $439 million) in revenue in 2007, would appear to be an environmentally friendly program. Livingstone promised this proposal would deliver large reductions in carbon dioxide, and even proposed an extra £25 (US $40) tax on certain sports and luxury cars based solely on CO2 emissions. Upon taking office, Mayor Johnson killed the extra CO2 tax.
   Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring gas generated by animals that is essential to life. Roadside measurements of oxides of nitrogen over a period of four years showed congestion charging in London did nothing to reduce these pollutants, which are actually harmful to air quality.
   Volvo sees a problem that the charge is not based on results, but a favored technology. The company insists that thirteen non-hybrid car models on sale in England best the celebrated Toyota Prius, which creates carbon dioxide at a rate of 105 grams per kilometer driven. The list of "cleaner" cars includes Volvo's own S40 DRIVe, a similarly sized vehicle that, unlike the Prius, is subject to the congestion tax. Worse in Volvo's view, models like the C30 Sportscoupe and V50 Sportswagon generate 85 percent less carbon dioxide at the tailpipe than the exempt Lexus 400h hybrid.
   "I appreciate that the removal of the congestion charge for all low-emitting cars would have considerable financial implications for Transport for London but at Volvo, we believe in one rule for one, one rule for all," Kerr wrote.
   Although Mayor Johnson has made statements favorable to removing the congestion tax, his predecessor locked in a contract giving IBM the right to collect the charge until the year 2014 unless city exercises a buyout clause that would cost taxpayers millions.

Thursday, July 02, 2009
Louisiana Parish Revolts Against Speed Cameras

Neither the churches nor law enforcement in Livingston Parish, Louisiana want anything to do with photo radar. In a statement yesterday, the parish sheriff's office explained that it has become fed up with Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company that uses a Ford Escape SUV to issue automated tickets worth between $100 and $464 each within the parish.
   "Due to a recent series of events regarding Redflex and its representatives, the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office is discontinuing its participation in the parish's photo enforcement program commonly referred to as 'the speeder van,'" the statement explained.
   The mobile vans operated by Redflex in Louisiana frequently park unattended on private property, including on residents' lawns. This practice became too much for the Carroll Baptist Church in Walker. On Tuesday, the church had the van towed off its property where it had been parked without permission. Redflex was not happy about having to pay the towing fees to recover its vehicle.
   "It was brought to the attention of sheriff's officials that improper comments were made to the towing company employees by the Redflex representative regarding the towing of the vehicle," the sheriff's statement explained.
   The van has stirred controversy in Livingston Parish ever since officials approved the contract one year ago. In April, the Louisiana State Police pulled the Redflex speed camera van over and gave the driver a $182 ticket for failing to signal on Interstate 12. Another trooper threatened to tow the van off of the Interstate. A Denham Springs police office issued the van a parking ticket for stopping on the interstate. At the end of April, the sheriff's office was forced to refund 2488 tickets because Redflex unfairly set the van in a location where the speed limit suddenly dropped from 70 MPH to 60.
   A total of fourteen states now ban photo enforcement.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009
California Tightens State Speed Trap Regulations

As of today, it will be more difficult for California cities to lower speed limits to create lucrative radar speed traps. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has issued a new policy directive that alters the method used to set speed limits, as codified in the state's Manual on Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). California's speed trap law prohibits the use of radar or laser to issue speeding tickets on any road not in compliance with these new rules.
   "The setting of speed limits can be controversial and requires a rational and defensible determination to maintain public confidence," the MUTCD explains. "Speed limits are normally set near the 85th-percentile speed that statistically represents one standard deviation above the average speed and establishes the upper limit of what is considered reasonable and prudent. As with most laws, speed limits need to depend on the voluntary compliance of the greater majority of motorists. Speed limits cannot be set arbitrarily low, as this would create violators of the majority of drivers and would not command the respect of the public."
   The rules require a regular engineering and traffic survey be used to determine the speed limit. The results of the survey will be rounded to the nearest 5 MPH increment of the speed most drivers in free-flowing traffic are comfortable driving -- the 85th percentile speed. The revised regulation eliminates a provision that allowed the "needs of the community" to be cited as a reason to arbitrarily reduce the speed limit by 5 MPH from the calculated value.
   Under the new policy, the 5 MPH reduction can only be made if a registered civil or traffic engineer personally signs off on a study that documents how the reduction was required to address factors that are not "readily apparent" to drivers. For example, if the 85th percentile speed is measured to be 37 MPH, the speed limit must be set at 35 MPH unless a study shows a specific, objective factors indicating a need to reduce it to 30 MPH.
   Chad Dornsife, Executive Director of the Best Highway Safety Practices Institute says the net result of this change is that it will be more difficult for jurisdiction to make that 5 MPH reduction. He argues further that the 85th percentile speed is by definition always the safest speed because it is based on the consensus of those who know the road best.
   "'Conditions not readily apparent' when applied to a local surface street or residential collector is an oxymoron," Dornsife said. "By definition the primary users of this classification of roadway are the people who live or work there, and they use these very same roadways many times a day, going and coming. Therefore, the conditions are not only apparent to the primary users, they are well known. Whereas under current practice, the traffic engineer's opinion is based of a few hours of observation at best."
   Caltrans made the change to standardize procedures across the state after a lengthy consultation process with law enforcement and local agencies. Many jurisdictions that began arbitrarily lowering speed limits by 5 MPH in 2004 had their citations thrown out in court. The new regulations are intended to create tickets that will withstand court scrutiny. Cities with red light cameras that raise speed limits to comply with the law will also need to increase the yellow time at affected intersections.
   A copy of the new regulation is attached in a 600k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

Policy Directive TR-0011 (California Department of Transportation, 7/1/2009)

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Arizona: Group Forces City to Refund Tickets Over Short Yellow

A group campaigning to eliminate photo enforcement in Arizona has forced Paradise Valley to admit that it has been shortchanging drivers. A volunteer with the group Camerafraud.com discovered the city used illegally short yellows at the intersection of Tatum Boulevard and McDonald Drive. The motorist was mailed a red light camera ticket for allegedly entering the intersection just 0.2 seconds after the light had turned red.
   "I was nailed with a ticket at an intersection that left me very perplexed because I didn't think I was going to get a ticket," David K. wrote on June 16. "I thought I was close enough to the intersection to pass the limit line before the light turned red. Well, I thought wrong because the duration for the yellow light on a 40 MPH speed limit road was only three seconds."
   David measured the other intersection approaches and found they used a four-second yellow. All of the engineering guidelines suggest a bare minimum of four seconds be used at intersections with a posted speed limit of 40 MPH. Wondering why the approach equipped with a camera had the shortest yellow, David called the city. The signal in question was re-timed to a duration of 4.3 seconds of yellow on the very next day. Paradise Valley is required to add the extra 0.3 seconds because of a curve in the road that affects signal visibility.
   Another member named Shauna received a ticket while the signal was timed at three seconds.
   "I am almost never in Paradise Valley, so was not at all familiar with the road or the length of the yellow lights," Shauna wrote on June 20. "When I was flashed, I was shocked. I would have had to slam on my brakes -- and I was actually driving slower than the speed limit -- to stop for the yellow, and then all of a sudden, it was red, and the flash went off."
   Five days later, Shauna received notification that her ticket had been canceled. Altogether, 1063 motorists issued red light camera tickets between May 6 and June 16 will receive refunds if paid or have their citations canceled. Most have not paid. This represents a loss of $193,466 in potential revenue to the city.
   The Texas Transportation Institute documented the importance of yellow timing in a 2004 report (view study). Cutting one second from the yellow time formula endorsed by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) boosts violation income by 110 percent. Adding one extra second beyond the bare minimum allowed under the ITE formula slashed violations by 53 percent. Lawmakers in the state of Georgia recognized the value of longer yellows with a law mandating one extra second. Since it took effect in January, violations plunged 80 percent and profit dropped to a level that has forced seven cities to cancel their photo enforcement contracts.
   View a video of the signal with the yellow set at three seconds.

Monday, June 29, 2009
Louisiana Legislature Passes Speed Trap Reform

The Louisiana State Legislature last week sent Governor Bobby Jindal (R) a bill that will stop small towns from padding their budgets by issuing minor speeding tickets on interstate highways. In adopting the measure, state lawmakers put themselves on the record for the first time in clear support of red light cameras and speed cameras.
   State Representative Hollis Downs (R-Ruston) has spent the past four years negotiating a compromise with local officials and law enforcement agencies to shut down speed traps. The state's Legislative Auditor found fifteen cities made more than half their budget from speeding tickets (view report). Under the bill introduced by Downs, non-home rule jurisdictions would not be allowed to retain any revenue from speeding tickets issued for violations of between one and ten MPH over the speed limit on an interstate. Instead, the state will pocket the revenue.
   The state Senate approved Downs' measure unanimously and the House with a 72-13 vote. During the House discussion, however, lawmakers rejected two separate amendments that would have expanded the bill to put an end to the use of photo enforcement by local jurisdictions to raise revenue. Representative Jeff Arnold (D-New Orleans) first proposed to ban photo ticketing outright.
   "With this amendment we basically would join fourteen other states across this country that have said, 'You know what, there's no due process,'" Arnold (D-New Orleans) said. "Our constituents don't get a fair hearing. The legislatures in fourteen states and their governors have decided, 'We're not going to do this at all; Big Brother is not coming here.'"
   House Transportation Committee Chairman Nita Hutter (R-Chalmette) strongly objected to the amendment, insisting that red light cameras and speed cameras are positive tools.
   "Yes this about some money, we come up here and do this all the time," Hutter said. "We set these fees. If this is a money grab, then every other ticket that you write for every other violation is a money grab if you look at it like that... This is a safety measure, that's all it is."
   With opposition of Downs and Hutter, Arnold's camera ban failed by a 56-26 margin. Arnold followed up with a second amendment. He proposed to mandate that automated ticketing could only be implemented after the affirmative vote of residents in a referendum. Arnold cited the example of the city of Sulphur where 85 percent of voters rejected speed cameras. A greater number of state House members spoke in favor of the referendum idea.
   "Wouldn't that be the most American, the most democratic thing to do?" Representative M.J. "Mert" Smiley, Jr. (R-Port Vincent) asked.
   Nonetheless, lawmakers rejected the referendum amendment by a 50-38 vote. Previously, the state House had adopted legislation expanding the use of photo enforcement under the guise of "restrictions" on automated ticketing.
   Governor Jindal is expected to sign the anti-speed trap measure into law, a copy of which is available in a 10k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:

House Bill 626 (Louisiana State Legislature, 6/23/2009)

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