Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/12/1265.asp

8/1/2006

Red Light Cameras to Erase Chicago Budget Deficit
Chicago, Illinois will add enough red light cameras to erase the multi-million dollar city budget deficit.

Red light cameras have reduced the red ink for Chicago, Illinois. Mayor Richard Daley (D) is so pleased with the $14 million in profit generated by the windy city's fifty ticket cameras that he is proposing to expand the system to 280 cameras by 2010, covering one out of every ten intersections. The move would erase Chicago's current budget deficit of $64.5 million. The first round of new cameras will be installed next year.

Last July, Chicago aldermen sought to add speed cameras to increase the budget further. A test showed a single camera could generate $13,140 per hour on a street where the speed limit had been lowered. Some have been less pleased by the performance of Chicago's red light cameras, including the innocent individuals accused of running red lights.

Source: Budget gap is smallest in years for city (Chicago Tribune, 8/1/2006)

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