Niagara Region Expanding Automated Speed Enforcement Program

April 29, 2024

Niagara Region’s Automated Speed Enforcement Program is showing a positive trend in road safety benefits prompting the Region to expand the program to further improve road safety.

Preliminary data has shown that implementation of the program is seeing results in both slowing down drivers and reducing the number of speeding vehicles across the region.

The program achieved a 13 per cent average reduction in speeds and saw the speeding violations per hour decrease by 67 per cent, based on data collected before, during and after the initial deployments of Automated Speed Enforcement cameras. It was also found that areas with an Automated Speed Enforcement camera continue to see the benefit of slower driver speeds even after the cameras are removed.

Encouraged by the early program results, Niagara Region will be expanding its Automated Speed Enforcement Program. Expansion of the program will see the following changes:

• Four speed enforcement cameras will be added to the program in each of 2025 and 2026, adding to the existing four cameras
• The rotation of speed enforcement cameras will expand into 12 more Regional Community Safety Zones, adding to the current 13 zones, beginning in 2025
• The rotation of speed enforcement cameras will expand to Community Safety Zones in the local municipal road network beginning in mid-2025 to early 2026.

The costs associated with the Automated Speed Enforcement Program and its expansion will be off-set by fines collected through the program. Should collected fines exceed program costs, net fines will be invested exclusively into road safety measures as part of the Vision Zero initiative.

The Automated Speed Enforcement program is an important component of the Region’s Vision Zero initiative which is focused on the reduction and eventual elimination of serious injuries and fatalities on the Regional road network.

Quotes

“We are encouraged to see that results of the Automated Speed Enforcement Program are showing positive trends in terms of reducing speeds and the number of drivers speeding. Even moderate changes in speed can make a huge difference in safety when it comes to vulnerable road users. Lowering driver speed is a key factor in achieving the goals of our Vision Zero initiative to reduce and eventually eliminate serious injuries and fatalities on the Regional road network.” - Frank Tassone, Director Transportation Services

 “Regional Council is committed to the Vision Zero program and supporting programs that help achieve its objective of safer roads in Niagara. As Councillors, far too often we hear concerns from constituents about drivers speeding through communities across the region. The promising early results of Niagara’s automated speed enforcement program gives us confidence to move forward with expansion of this initiative giving us one more tool in the toolbox toward safer roads.”  - Jim Bradley, Regional Chair

Media contact

Janet Rose
Niagara Region
289-668-3629
janet.rose@niagararegion.ca