City of Hamilton staff are recommending waiting until the end of the year to decide whether to adopt photo radar to catch speeders and aggressive drivers in school and community safety zones.

Automated speed enforcement (ASE) has unknown financial risks, so staff want to wait until the fourth quarter of 2020, says a report going to the public works committee Monday.

"Instead of immediately implementing an ASE program in Hamilton, staff recommend a period to allow assessment of other ASE implementations," it says.

On Dec. 2, the Province of Ontario released its regulations allowing municipalities to use photo radar for school and community safety zones where the speed limits are under 80 kilometres an hour.

The Ministry of Transportation has a 180-day review period.

Municipalities have been waiting to learn the criteria since the province passed the Safer School Zones Act in 2017.

In Hamilton, crash statistics show speeding and aggressive driving are factors in about half of all collisions. The city has approximately 150 school zones.

If there were 200 locations where photo radar could be used, the number of devices needed could be "significant." The report says staff would likely suggest mobile devices that remain at particular locations for four-week periods.

Should council decide to go ahead with automated speed enforcement, staff estimated two mobile camera systems could possibly generate 25,000 tickets.

The cost of the equipment, administration and public awareness initiatives for this would be about $2.45 million. If the city generated revenue from 25,000 tickets at $70 each, the net costs were estimated at $700,000, the report says.

Such an influx of tickets could also impact the provincial offences court schedule, likely meaning additional staff would need to be hired.

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