Speed and red light enforcement in Lethbridge, Canada
The city of Lethbridge in Alberta Canada has always been subject to heavy traffic flows going through the city. Both commercial traffic, with trucks coming from the nearby US border and going to Calgary and Northern Alberta and with vehicular traffic, characterized by commuters from the surrounding countryside moving to Lethbridge and, especially in summer, for tourists heading to Calgary and the rocky Mountains.
To control and moderate these massive traffic flows in 2010 the city began a speed and red light enforcement program.
The results showed an unexpected and substantial number of infringements, in just two years the city recorded:
- over 20.000 red light infringement
These impressive numbers have led the city to select three new sites to try to further reduce the infractions and make the city safer for its citizens
Two sites are on Mayor Magrath at the city entrance and one site is on 43rd in the industrial area.
After a trial and testing a period with various instruments, the units from Sodi Scientifica, Autostop HD, on pole with inductive loops where selected. Several where the reasons that led to this choice:
The repositioning of the CPU/Camera group from one site to the other it is done by the operators themselves without the use of ladders or elevators.
- ease of use; city employees (civilians) without specific technical knowledge do in fact run the systems
- flexibility; the Autostop HD allows the CPU and camera to be moved between sites thus reducing the acquisition costs (three sites and one CPU/Camera Group) leaving the deterrent effect of each location.
The repositioning of the CPU/Camera group from one site to the other it is done by the operators themselves without the use of ladders or elevators.
The choice of inductive loops has been dictated by the peculiar meteorological characteristics of the area, Lethbridge is in fact subject to heavy winter snowfalls and strong winds throughout the year, making the use of non-intrusive systems (cameras, virtual sensors, etc…) not recommended.
