Camerafraud comment:

Scameras coming down in a New Jersey town because officials disagreed about how to split the loot. What about safety? Such disagreements can only happen because it's all about the money.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/phillipsburg/index.ssf/2012/10/pohatcong_township_red_light_c_4.html
 
Pohatcong Township red light cameras at Routes 22 and 122 to be shut down
Published: Thursday, October 04, 2012, 6:30 AM     Updated: Thursday, October 04, 2012, 6:31 AM
 By David Foster | The Express-Times The Express-Times

Flashes at one of Pohatcong Township’s red light camera intersections will soon fade out.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation determined Tuesday the cameras at Routes 22 and 122 must cease processing citations Nov. 1.
The decision follows the failure of Pohatcong and Greenwich townships to reach an agreement about joint jurisdiction of one of the cameras.
Greenwich Township contacted the department in February with concerns some of the red light violations were occurring within its borders, while summonses were being issued by Pohatcong. The camera in Greenwich has generated more than $180,000 in revenue for Pohatcong in a year.
“The action taken by NJDOT is the result of Pohatcong officials' failure to make a good faith effort to resolve any of the many issues related to the cameras improperly operated within Greenwich Township,” Greenwich Township Mayor Joseph Tauriello said Wednesday.
Pohatcong Township Mayor James Kern III blamed the state.
“They approved the application in 2009 and didn’t look at the jurisdictional boundaries,” he said.
The state gave the neighboring municipalities about four months to reach an agreement before withdrawing the red light camera permit at Route 22 and New Brunswick Avenue (Route 122).
The township's other red light camera intersection, Route 22 and St. James Avenue (Route 519), is unaffected by the state's ruling.
Camera relocation
Pohatcong Township officials expressed disappointment with the state’s decision and regret the deadline for further negotiations wasn’t extended.
The township is not ruling out the possibility of re-establishing the cameras at the contested intersection or expanding the program to Route 22 and Greenwich Street.

Transportation department spokesman Tim Greeley in an email concurred that Pohatcong can move the red-light-running, or RLR, cameras to another intersection.
State officials cited as another reason for the cameras' removal the imminent signal improvement project at the Route 122 intersection. Improvements include double-red post-mounted signal indications, a revised signal design, an active “Signal Ahead” beacon and pavement markings.
“These revisions will have a tremendous effect on the RLR data collected at this site, and for that reason RLR must be deactivated,” NJDOT supervising engineer Dave Martin said in an email to Pohatcong and Greenwich townships.

Litigation and refunds
The department said the removal of the system will be the responsibility of the township or its vendor.
A spokesman for the camera provider, Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions, said the company will sit down with officials in coming weeks to discuss the options for removing the cameras.
“Keep in mind that this program is 100 percent violator-funded,” company spokesman Charles Territo said in an email. “No taxpayer money has ever been used in the installation or operation of this program.”
Since going into operation last September, the cameras issued a combined 25,389 violations through Aug. 31, according to statistics provided by American Traffic Solutions, which has a contract to operate the cameras through 2016. The Route 122 intersection generated 11,248, or 44 percent, of those violations, he said.
At $85 a citation, the municipal portion of the fine is $56.50 after the state collects $11.50 and American Traffic Solutions takes out a $17 fee. Pohatcong has received $1,434,479 in revenue, with $635,512 of that coming from the contested intersection.
From the specific camera located in Greenwich Township at that intersection, 3,236 violations have occurred. That equates to $182,834 in revenue for Pohatcong Township, which so far has not been shared with Greenwich.
Asked if the township plans to sue for some of that revenue, Tauriello said, “That is a matter that is being reviewed by our attorney.”
Kern said refunding the tickets at that intersection hasn’t been discussed.
“I don’t think it’s an issue about the citations coming back,” Kern said. “Regardless of where the cameras are, people are still breaking the law.”
 

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