City Finalizes Procurement Process with Traffic Camera Safety Program Vendor
PAWTUCKET – The City of Pawtucket announced they have ratified and finalized a contract with Gatso-USA and will be implementing a school safety speed and red light program in the coming months.
Gatso was chosen through an RFP process back in January of 2018 and the contract was ratified by the Board of Purchasing this month after contract negotiations had been completed.
“We are pleased to bring the procurement process to a conclusion and feel we have negotiated a contract that will be beneficial to the city, enhance school safety and make our police department more efficient,” said Mayor Donald R. Grebien “In the coming months, we will be working with the vendor to educate the public, identify intersections and schools for the initial camera locations and train judicial and police personnel on the program.”
The camera safety program will be revenue neutral to the city and the vendor will bear all costs associated with equipment, camera installation, and signage.
The vendor will also be supplying computers to the police department and municipal court.
The police department will retain all powers and responsibilities and will make the final determination on if a violation occurred.
Motorists will also retain all rights of appeal through the judicial process.
The vendor’s role is to gather data and send it to the police department for review. The cameras will be pole mounted.
“We are well aware that speeding in school zones is a problem in the city while our police department resources are limited. We simply can’t put a police officer in front of every school every day,” added Mayor Donald R. Grebien. “This is not a new law, it is simply embracing new technology that stretches city resources and brings us in line with cities and towns throughout the country. The message is simple, don’t speed near schools.”
Last year the General Assembly passed legislation that revised the camera safety program. The changes included;
- lowering the violation from $95.00 to $50.00 for school speed violations;
- restricting school camera operations to school days only;
- and limiting operations from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm.
The City of Providence has had a red light program in place for over 15 years. Over 500 cities in the United States have some form of traffic camera safety program including red light, school speed or a combination of both.
Gatso plans to implement a robust advertising and awareness program in coordination with the City and will be running ads in the Valley Breeze and Pawtucket Times in January and February. Once the cameras and signage are installed, there will be a 30-day warning period where motorists will receive a notice in the mail instead of a violation with the goal of changing driver behavior before a violation occurs.
It is anticipated that camera and signage installation will be completed by February – weather permitting.