Speed cameras should be the first step toward improved transportation infrastructure across New York City. <\/p>\n
In one of his first acts after being inaugurated as mayor, Zohran Mamdani stood at the side of the Williamsburg Bridge and announced his first major improvement to transit infrastructure in New York: eliminating the notorious \u201cbump\u201d that has long rankled cyclists. Mamdani has moved quickly across the board on transportation, pushing speed limits down to 15 mph in school zones, accelerating red-light camera<\/a> deployment and showing a willingness to use every tool available to make streets safer. What else should rank highly on the mayor\u2019s list of transportation safety priorities?<\/p>\n Automated traffic enforcement would be a good place to lean in. The need for cities like NYC to take bold action has become increasingly urgent since February, after the Trump Administration cut<\/a> federal transportation grants for automated enforcement. We recently published an evaluation of New York City\u2019s speeding camera program in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/a>, finding that speed cameras produced large reductions in collisions and injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n When cameras are installed, they issue many violations in the first month, followed by a steep decline in the next few months as drivers learn about their location. This suggests that the cameras effectively deter speeding by changing driver behavior, a best-of-both-worlds scenario where financial penalties decline as safety benefits accrue. This is particularly striking given that NYC\u2019s speed cameras are so lenient: Violations carry a flat $50 fine with no points, compared to hundreds of dollars and upwards of three points for police-issued tickets. While critics worry that speed cameras will become revenue generators, indiscriminately taxing drivers rather than changing driving behavior and improving road safety, our research suggests the opposite.\u00a0<\/p>\n Critics have raised valid concerns about the surveillance implications of expanding automated enforcement. Indeed, in many jurisdictions, law enforcement\u2019s use of automated license plate readers has intensified domestic violence<\/a> and cyberstalking<\/a> by police. Additionally, the ever-expanding surveillance capabilities of federal immigration enforcement raise civil liberties concerns, particularly as other New York law enforcement databases feed into ICE systems<\/a>. <\/p>\n Cameras effectively deter speeding by changing driver behavior \u2014 a best-of-both-worlds scenario where financial penalties decline as safety benefits accrue.<\/p>\n These concerns can be remedied by requiring frequent deletion of traffic safety data, banning the application of facial recognition<\/a> technology and implementing firm firewalls between civil traffic enforcement and local or federal law enforcement databases. Such efforts could be given real teeth through civilian oversight mechanisms<\/a>.<\/p>\n The efficacy of speed cameras can also be improved through further policy reforms. State law limits implementation to school zones, and the relatively lenient penalties mean that \u201csuper-speeders\u201d<\/a> can rack up literally hundreds of tickets with few consequences. Additionally, scofflaws obscure their license plates to dodge camera tickets, a problem that has worsened<\/a> over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the City has policy tools at its disposal that could strengthen enforcement, like mandating the installation of speed-limiting devices<\/a> in vehicles that are frequently caught speeding, or cracking down on the distribution of fake license plates. Action is needed from Albany to both classify toll evasion as theft of services<\/a> and close a DMV loophole<\/a> that ties unpaid toll fees to surrendered plates instead of registered vehicle owners, allowing drivers to swap plates and avoid revocation. In the meantime, the City and State can scale up enforcement through their multi-agency ghost plate task force.\u00a0<\/p>\n The New York State legislature is also considering<\/a> the Stop Super Speeders Bill this session, which would require drivers with many camera violations to install speed limiters curbing their speeds on roads to within 5 miles of the legal limit. The city council passed a law in 2020 that would have required drivers with 15+ violations in a year to take a safe driving course or risk vehicle impoundment. But the de Blasio administration<\/a> slow-walked its rollout, and Adams only enrolled 1,605 drivers (against a target of 5,000), while failing to punish drivers who ignored enrollment notices (only impounding<\/a> 1.7% of noncompliant drivers). The program expired in 2021. The council should reinstate it<\/a> and ensure proper implementation.<\/p>\n Last year saw the lowest number of crash-related deaths since New York City started tracking traffic fatalities. <\/p>\n The City should also scale fine amounts according to the driver\u2019s ability to pay<\/a>. This concept is called a \u201cday fine,\u201d where penalties are scaled to daily income \u2014 and it\u2019s not completely new to New York City, as Staten Island implemented a pilot program<\/a> in the 1980s. For wealthy motorists, a flat $50 ticket is less than a slap on the wrist. In Scandinavia, some traffic tickets hit six figures<\/a>. On the other hand, fines should also be scaled downward for less affluent motorists.\u00a0<\/p>\n New York City\u2019s automated traffic enforcement program builds on past successes. Mamdani has inherited a city that has made real progress on traffic safety. Since 2014, when Bill de Blasio ran for mayor on a \u201cVision Zero\u201d<\/a> plan for no traffic fatalities, New York has seen consistently fewer<\/a> pedestrian deaths. Those gains continued under Mayor Adams. Last year saw the lowest<\/a> number of crash-related deaths since the City started tracking traffic fatalities. That can\u2019t be said for most cities, even those<\/a> pursuing Vision Zero\u2019s goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n What accounts for this improving, if imperfect, landscape? As our study shows, speed cameras are part of it, but increased enforcement is not the only approach. In 2024, the City removed parking spaces close to nearly 300 intersections, a practice that improves visibility for drivers and walkers, reducing collisions<\/a>. New York has also installed 23 miles of protected bike lanes, well short of the distance required by law<\/a> and promised by Adams<\/a>, but a considerable step toward safe cycling. The City also began lowering speed limits<\/a> to 20 mph across the five boroughs in 2024 after the State passed Sammy\u2019s Law, completing implementation<\/a> at the end of last year. Mayor Mamdani has already begun to use Sammy\u2019s Law more aggressively<\/a> than the previous administration<\/a>, reducing speed limits to 15 mph in 700 school speed zones.<\/p>\n Perhaps the biggest recent change to city traffic patterns has been the introduction of congestion pricing, the program that tolls drivers coming into lower Manhattan. Reducing traffic has cut crashes<\/a> in the tolled zone<\/a> by 14% and likely contributed<\/a> to 2025\u2019s record low traffic fatality count. Air pollution in the congestion relief zone also dropped<\/a> by 22%, with additional benefits extending citywide.<\/p>\n But what else can be done? Speed cameras are one element of a web of transportation and road safety good governance reforms that ideally work in tandem. One promising reform would be for New York State to follow jurisdictions like Connecticut<\/a>, which have earmarked funds generated from automated enforcement to go towards fixing structural design flaws on streets in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by traffic crashes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following the lead of cities from San Francisco to Oslo, New York could also adopt<\/a> a demand-based parking pricing system, which First Deputy Mayor Fuleihan said<\/a> the City would consider. Currently, 97% of New York\u2019s street parking is free; implementing meters and residential permits could generate over $1 billion in revenue annually, funding the mayor\u2019s free bus program. It would also reduce double parking and free up curb space, both of which would improve visibility and safety. Such reforms discourage automobile dependence and encourage public transit use while generating funds that can be used to redesign streets and expand the frequency and quality of transit service. This is the most promising direction for a Mamdani administration. Until city government can redesign New York at scale, however, speed cameras remain a simple and effective way to make walking, biking and driving in the city safer.<\/p>\n Aaron Stagoff<\/a> is a Sociology PhD Student at the University of Chicago and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow who studies the governance of policing and public safety in cities. Jonathan Ben-Menachem<\/a> is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Columbia University, where he researches the politics of the criminal legal system. Brenden Beck<\/a> is an associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University studying policing, city budgets, and housing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speed cameras should be the first step toward improved transportation infrastructure across New York City. 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