Houston voters, your vote isn’t what it used to be! Yesterday, Mayor Annise Parker annouced the red light cameras were to be turned back on effective immediately and after a testing period tickets would again be issued.
Last November, Houston voters voted against red light cameras and the City of Houston turned them off. But in June of 2011, U.S. District Judge, Lynn Hughes ruled the red light referendum violated the city charter and should not have been placed on the ballot.
At the end of the day it all gets down to money. The green stuff that supposedly makes the world go round. The city of Houston’s contract with American Traffic Solutions (ATS) for the operation of 70 cameras and 50 intersections runs through 2014. The city is in the midst of a budget crunch and if they cancel the contract with ATS it could cost the city $16 million. The revenue generated by the tickets issued is also big money. Since 2006 when the cameras were installed, 800,000 tickets have been issued generating over $50 million in fines.
The closest red light cameras in the Spring Texas area are located at F.M. 1960 & Texas 249. During a 12 month period from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, 6,268 citations were issued at these two intersections. Here’s a map and list of the locations of the 70 red light cameras in Houston that have been turned back on, again.
