Drop in photo radar tickets means speeders getting message: Winnipeg police

Drivers seem to be getting the message about speeding in photo-enforced school zones in Winnipeg, and police say that's going to cost the service almost $900,000 in revenue by the end of the year.

The number of speeding tickets doled out in Winnipeg has dropped in recent months, in particular in school zones, police revealed earlier this month.

Winnipeg Police Board chair Scott Gillingham said at the time that he wondered whether the decline was due to drivers genuinely adjusting their habits in school zones, or whether police were simply enforcing speed restrictions less.

Police believe drivers are slowing down, causing the reduction in fines, according to the Winnipeg Police Service's quarterly financial report, which is on the agenda for the police board meeting on Friday.

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Police predict that pattern will continue and believe it could cut into general revenue.

"Due to a reduction primarily in photo enforcement revenue, our total revenues will drop by $889,000," the report states.

"As the summer months are the greatest sources of traffic enforcement revenues, there may be still an opportunity to make up the [year to date] shortfall but with the expectation that drivers are adjusting their driving habits in these areas, it may be unlikely to have this occur."

Police have generated 1.64 per cent less general revenue because of the slump in tickets, but the photo-enforcement program has saved $273,000 on operating costs and "non-salary accounts."

In 2015, the photo-enforcement program added cameras in several school zones. That hasn't been expanded in 2016, which could also contribute to the "downward trend" in revenue generated through tickets later this year, the report adds.