Oakland is set to install speed cameras at 18 high-risk locations around the city by the end of this year, city officials announced this week.
As part of a pilot program, 35 cameras will be installed at 18 locations selected by the Oakland Department of Transportation.
Those streets are in Oakland’s “high-injury network,” which comprises 8 percent of the city’s streets that account for 60 percent of its severe and fatal collisions, according to city officials.
“Speed safety cameras, paired with our commitment to designing safer streets, will equitably and effectively improve traffic safety for all Oaklanders,” said City Councilmember Rowena Brown.
Brown said that as an Alameda County Transportation Commissioner, she worked to approve a $2 million grant to help fund the project.
After the cameras are installed, there will be a 60-day warning period before any citations are issued.
After that, each site will monitor both directions of traffic for anyone speeding more than 11 mph over the posted limit who will then receive fines ranging from $50 to $500, city officials said in a news release.
The hope is that the cameras will help reduce the city’s average of more than 33 traffic deaths per year.
Oakland officials said that similar programs in large cities have helped reduce speeding by as much as 94 percent and that this will be the second such program in the state, following San Francisco.
The Oakland program will be monitored by the city’s Department of Transportation, which will also conduct evaluations and post data and updates on the city’s website.
Readers can learn more about the program by visiting the city’s website.