City could lose major money without local speed camera ticket processing

• UPDATE: The transportation committee voted April 27, 2023 in favour of a local centre to process speed camera tickets.

A staff report from the City of Ottawa recommends launching a local centre to process speed camera tickets, claiming a backlog in Toronto will leave several millions worth of infractions unprocessed.

The report, which will be presented during the transportation committee meeting on Thursday, said the City of Toronto has joint processing centres for speed and red light camera infractions.

Ottawa and other Ontario municipalities pay to use those centres, but a backlog has slowed things down — and not on the roads.

The report states traffic infractions sent to Toronto are not consistently processed within the 23-day limit and, in 2022, only two-thirds of Ottawa incidents were processed.

Toronto centres have now initiated a cap of 250,000 speed camera-related charges they will process for Ottawa in 2023, which is just below 40 per cent of the projected charges for the year, the report said.

City staff also believe the cap could be permanent, which leaves major money on the table.

More cameras, more tickets to process

There are plans underway to expand the number of speed cameras in Ottawa. By the end of 2023, 40 speed camera locations should be set up citywide.

If the city launches its own processing centre, gross revenue in 2024 projects to exceed $66 million, according to staff. If the city continues to rely on Toronto, that would be limited to just $16 million.

In addition to new employees, a processing centre would also require a one-time start-up cost of $2.4 million, which would include facility retrofits and training.

The report states revenues generated from speed cameras would pay for new staff and a processing centre, which could be operational by early 2024.

The city report states the centre could also process tickets and infractions from other Ontario municipalities.