Speed camera starts ticketing in January

By Casandra Turnbull

The newly installed Automated Speed Enforcement camera on Silver Street has yielded some shocking results during its first month in operation.

During the Administration & Operations Committee meeting last week, County bylaw presented an update on statistics from the camera, that was installed on October 1st. It has recorded 4,700 violations in the first month These violations did not result in traffic tickets, but they will as of January 2025. The violations would have amounted to over $200,000 in revenue; however, a county staff report reiterates on numerous occasions the goal is to create safe streets, not collect revenue.

Motorists will be ticketed based off a fixed amount set by the county’s ASE program committee People travelling between 0-19 km over the speed limit will be ticketed $5 per km they are over. If they are caught travelling 20-29 km over the posted speed limit, the fee is $7 50 per km over the limit and those speeding in excess of 30-49 km over the posted limit will look at a $12 per km fine.

Finally, anyone flying 50 km or more over the posted limit will be charged $19 50 per km they are over The fines will be swift.

The camera is located in front of North Ward School on Silver Street.

As a reminder, that stretch of street (located between two stop signs just 500 feet apart) is a Community Safety Zone and the newly posted limit is 40 km/hr.

This pilot camera was placed on Silver Street as it was identified as an area of concern because of ongoing complaints filed through the Brant Safe Streets program. Through data collected by the County’s Brant Safe Streets Strategy, there’s an increased prevalence of speeding in Brant. A review of speeding data from 23 locations in school and community safety zones found that on average, 59% of drivers were driving over the speed limit. The average speed of drivers was approximately 5 km/h over the speed limit, with the 85th percentile speed being 51.7 km/h.

Additional cameras are planned for 2025, their locations not yet disclosed

Funding to operate the program, including the creation and ongoing maintenance of a processing centre, will come directly from revenue generated by the tickets Staff predict the annual revenue from the Silver Street pilot project to generate enough revenue in the first year to cover all operating expenses.