Tampa City Council on Thursday will take its first of two votes on 18 proposed school zone cameras expected to generate millions of dollars for the city.
City records show a study from RedSpeed, the camera contractor hired for the job, found the suggested sites averaged between 200 and 3,000 speeding violations a day, depending on the location.
“Well, it will slow everybody down, you know,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said. “People that didn’t agree with the red-light cameras, they’ve reduced our crashes, and what I say to everyone, too, is that as you’re driving down the street and the light turns yellow, for most people, your first thought is, ‘Is there one of those cameras here?'”
However, there are concerns that cameras alone won’t slow down speeders.
“The idea is if somebody gets a ticket driving through, they’re going to get a ticket, but they still drove through too quickly and they put somebody in danger,” Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson said.
It’s one reason why Carlson is calling for a more comprehensive approach to school zone safety.
“The city is projecting a $10 million surplus in the first year that these cameras are online,” he said. “So, instead of making it just punitive, I’d like to make sure that there are bigger signs, flashing signs, ideally elevated crosswalks for kids to cross, better markings. One of the proposals that has been used in other cities to have a flashing triangle farther away so people see it.”
10 Investigates tracked state data that shows for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, cities and counties across Florida generated nearly $16 million from school zone cameras. Hillsborough County came in second only behind Miami-Dade County, raking in $1.7 million from last July through April 2026.
When asked if this would be a cash grab for the city, Carlson said he wanted to see and learn from the upcoming discussion on Thursday. Mayor Castor said her answer was no.
“That’s a shame that people look at it in that way. I would say that if the flashing lights and the markings in the street and the fact that you’re going by a school during school hours doesn’t get your attention, then a citation, a $100 citation that comes in the mail will get your attention.”
Carlson said the city should seek a solution beyond tickets.
“Our goal should be that we don’t collect any fines, because if we tell people that there’s a school zone, people should slow down, and if they slow down before they get there, we won’t have any tickets and people won’t have to worry about paying them,” he said.
Mayor Castor said drivers will only get tickets if they’re caught driving more than 10 miles over the speed limit.
There have also been concerns about RedSpeed sharing data with another public safety company called Flock, which is known for its automatic license plate readers.
While data from Flock cameras can be used for surveillance, Tampa’s police chief said in a memo earlier this year that city code prohibits RedSpeed from sharing data with Flock.
Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay News. Like her on Facebook. You can also email her at emorrow@10tampabay.com.