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Municipalities across Alberta have been using photo radar to generate cash rather than make roads safer, Alberta Transportation Minister Brian Mason said, commenting on a long-awaited report released by the provincial government Thursday.

The province is updating its guidelines after a review on automated traffic enforcement found that photo radar has only marginally improved traffic safety.

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“I’m not going to say we’re going to shoot the cash cow, but we’re going to put it down humanely,” Mason told Postmedia prior to the report’s release.

In addition to short-term changes such as banning photo radar within a certain distance of speed limit “transition zones,” the province will give municipalities one year to prove their automated enforcement is increasing safety.

“If they can’t do it, we’re not going to let them continue in those locations,” Mason said.

“The ultimate hammer is we can suspend their photo radar program altogether.”