A year after speed cameras were installed in San Francisco, the city’s drivers are slowing down, new data shows, and experts say the technology could have the same effect once cameras are installed in Los Angeles.
According to a one-year analysis of data collected at San Francisco’s 33 camera locations and other road-sensing devices, speeding — defined as drivers going more than 10 mph over the speed limit — dropped by nearly 80%. The number of repeat offenders has dropped, too.
Street experts and urban engineers say San Francisco’s findings are similar to the success of other communities across the nation that are already using speed camera technology.
“The results are clear,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “Drivers are changing their behavior.”
When Los Angeles completes installing 125 cameras across its 15 boroughs by the end of July, the city hopes its implementation will lead to similarly significant reductions in speeding drivers. According to experts, here are some things LA can borrow from its Bay Area neighbor.
One year review of San Francisco
San Francisco and Los Angeles are just two of six California cities participating in the five-year pilot program authorized by a bill signed into law in 2023. The goal is to combat speeding and the alarming increase in road-related deaths by ticketing drivers going at least 10 mph over the speed limit.
San José, Oakland, Glendale and Long Beach also participate. San Francisco is the first city to hit one year old.
A rotating team of less than 15 people within the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency regularly collects and analyzes data from speed cameras and other sensors to further understand traffic patterns, track how many tickets are issued at any given camera location and how fast drivers are traveling, said Viktoriya Wise, the agency’s director of traffic.
They found, at the one-year mark, that drivers going 10 mph or more over the posted speed limit went from 25% of all traffic to 6%. The number was even lower in the latest quarterly update – just 2% of all drivers, the report said.
Over a one-year period, the city’s transportation agency found that 65% of motorists who received a warning or citation did not repeat the offense, and 82% of drivers were not cited more than once or twice.
Speed camera success in some states
The latest data coincides with what is happening in other states with speed cameras. Another program in New York City was the subject of a study compiled by Jingqin Gao, assistant director of research at the C2SMART Center, which studies urban transportation at New York University. He found that, in general, most speed cameras begin to reap safety benefits within the first six months after they are installed, as violations decrease and tend to remain low over time, reflecting potential changes in driver behavior.
“A long-term analysis using three years of data in New York City found that performance varies by location,” Gao said, “but in most cases, the majority of cameras have nearly stopped speeding behavior within 1½ years.”
Over a five-year period, New York saw a 60% drop in drivers cited more than twice, the same as San Francisco.
“These findings suggest that there may be opportunities to evaluate how the cameras are used over time,” he said, “including possible removal or relocation.”
What San Francisco learned
As San Francisco’s transit agency gathers data on the cameras’ performance, it will move into high-speed zones and find other ways to slow down drivers, Wise said — a practice Los Angeles could replicate.
Additional interventions include fixed speed limits on the road, speed humps, red light cameras, and collaboration with police and public health departments.
When it comes to reducing speeding on the road, a multi-pronged attack is the way to go, says Wen Hu, senior transportation engineer research for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
A Virginia-based nonprofit has tested a speed management pilot program on a rural road in Maryland, Hu said. There, the authorities had improved police operations, installed speed response radar and engaged the community. Together, those efforts have led to significant speed reductions, he said.
“This project is about protecting people, it’s not about making money, and it’s not about punishing drivers,” said Julie Kirschbaum, director of transportation at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. “Speed is a cause of so many serious injuries and deaths that we are very grateful to the government that we finally have this tool to make these meaningful changes, and a small reduction in a person’s day. [driving] behavior saves lives.”
Next up in the San Francisco program, which has a one-year mark behind it, is another 18-month trial, when officials may consider removing it.
What will happen to the program after the end of the five-year pilot program is still up in the air.
There is no data or research on how long speed cameras should be in place to maintain a reduction in speeding, Hu noted.
“We’re doing a study to examine what happens after some of these major cities in the United States turn off their red light camera systems,” he said. “We found an increase in fatal accidents at intersections in these cities after the cameras were turned off.”
