Skip to main content

Ottawa implements red light enforcement

The city of Ottawa, Canada, has installed the first of five red light cameras that will be installed throughout the city in 2016 with 15 more to be installed in 2017. The 20 new red-light cameras will be in addition to the existing 34 red-light cameras currently in operation at locations across Ottawa. The city installs cameras at intersections based on collision rates. The program’s objective is to improve intersection safety by decreasing the number of red-light running occurrences. City officials b
October 5, 2016 Read time: 1 min
The city of Ottawa, Canada, has installed the first of five red light cameras that will be installed throughout the city in 2016 with 15 more to be installed in 2017.

The 20 new red-light cameras will be in addition to the existing 34 red-light cameras currently in operation at locations across Ottawa. The city installs cameras at intersections based on collision rates.

The program’s objective is to improve intersection safety by decreasing the number of red-light running occurrences. City officials believe collisions resulting from red-light running tend to be more severe than other intersection collisions because they usually involve at least one vehicle travelling very quickly. In 2014, there were 655 reportable angle collisions at signalised intersections in the city.

Related Content

  • Traffic sensors give cyclists green lights
    February 1, 2013
    Transport officials in Columbus, Ohio, are following in the footsteps of Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon and Berkeley, California and recalibrating their traffic signal sensors to accommodate the growing number of cyclists in the city. Nearly all the city’s 1,000 traffic lights are connected to road sensors that detect the presence of vehicles at the intersections and adjust the lights accordingly. Cycles are another story; they don’t contain enough metal to trigger the sensor. This has caused some cyclis
  • The twisting path to enforcement’s future
    June 5, 2014
    Survey reveals some division of views about enforcement’s future as Colin Sowman discovers. Technological advances and legislative changes pose many questions for those involved in road enforcement, ranging from the changing demands of privacy and data protection legislation to the practicalities on multi-speed enforcement. So to get the industry’s views ITS International took soundings on some of these bigger questions. In a world where many vehicles are fitted with GPS linked ‘black box’ telematics system
  • Auckland’s major road safety operation targets red light running
    May 16, 2016
    Red light running is the focus of a major two week long road safety operation, launching in Auckland, Nerw Zealand, this week, coinciding with the start of Road Safety Week. The operation, in Waitemata District of the city, is a joint initiative between Police, Auckland Transport (AT) and NZ Transport Agency. Police will target those motorists who take risks during peak morning traffic at four key high-risk intersections, which were selected because of their location, crash risk, traffic flow and ability
  • Countering truckers’ parking conundrum
    May 3, 2017
    Colin Sowman hears about a new truck parking information system being piloted across eight states. Legislation limits truck drivers’ hours with the result that they are often caught in a situation where they need to stop either for a break or an overnight rest. But as truck parking is in short supply, truck drivers spend an average of 56 minutes a day searching for available spaces and are often faced with the choice of driving beyond their permitted hours or parking illegally.