Burien is pulling its red-light cameras in May but SeaTac is sticking with theirs for, at least, two more years.

SeaTac council members voted 5-1 March 14 to request a two-year extension of its contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, the same company providing Burien’s red-light cameras. Councilman Rick Forschler was the lone dissenting vote.

Burien lawmakers were told in February that Burien had spent about $85,000 in district court costs over the past three years for the photo enforcement program. SeaTac has its own municipal court.

Although Burien does not pay Redflex more than revenues received from tickets, finance director Kim Krause reported over a three-year period, there was an $18,973 deficit between costs billed by Redflex and ticket revenues.

Detailed financial statistics are not available in SeaTac but police chief Jim Graddon said the presence of the cameras have changed drivers’ behavior.

He told council members that in 2008, the first full year of the camera program, the city issued about 6,700 infractions at the three intersections with cameras. In 2011, the number dropped to about 3,100.

“The only conclusion is that people are paying attention to red lights,” Graddon said.

He also mentioned a “halo effect” where drivers are being careful at other intersections that do not have the cameras.

There are two cameras along South 188th Street at International Boulevard and Military Road South with another camera at International Boulevard and South 200th Street.

Graddon emphasized that the motivation behind installing the red light cameras was safety, not revenue.

He noted that T-bone accidents, where a vehicle smashes head on into the side of another vehicle, are down in SeaTac.

“A T-bone is about as bad as can be,” the police chief added.

Graddon did report that in 2011, SeaTac took in red-light camera infraction revenues of $39,000 over the estimated cost of the program.

Forschler countered that the accident rate at the three intersections was insignificant before the installation of cameras and remains insignificant now.

He cited a North Carolina study that found that accidents were more frequent at intersections with red-light cameras particularly involving rear-end, side-swipe and left-turn collisions.

Forschler noted that some studies show the cameras increase accidents while others show the opposite.

“I believe they increase accidents but we just don’t have enough evidence in SeaTac,” Forschler declared.
Councilwoman Pam Fernald noted that at International Boulevard and South 188th, there were 16 accidents before the cameras were installed in 2007. Six months after the installation, the accident rate had gone down to 10.

She added that Redflex tickets cost $101 while an officer-generated infraction costs $124.

“I’m not convinced we shouldn’t give this another try,” Fernald concluded.

Councilman Barry Ladenburg said the two-year extension is part of a “sweetheart deal” with Redflex.

After the two years, “all bets are off” and the city could negotiate with another company or pull the cameras, Ladenburg added.

Councilman Dave Bush said the cameras help to slow down drivers along that stretch of S. 188th Street, which is near four schools.

“It’s not about money, it’s about safety,” Bush emphasized.