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A red light camera on McCarter Highway at Market St in Newark is shown in this file photo. The state's red light program expires in December, and lawmakers are debating whether to renew it, or even expand it.

(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — New Jersey's red light camera program is at a crossroads.

Unless the state Legislature and Gov. Chris Christie take action by mid-December, the five-year-old pilot program will expire and the cameras at 73 intersections will go dark.

State Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, the Legislature’s foremost camera critic, wants to let that happen.

But Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the influential chairman of the transportation committee, said he was considering legislation not only to renew the program, which for now has cameras installed in 24 of the state's 565 municipalities, but to allow other cameras to capture speeders in school zones and at construction sites.

The debate comes as companies that operate the cameras face critical headlines over technical glitches in New Jersey and accusations of bribery in Illinois.

"I am the only person in the state — certainly in the state Legislature — who has taken a critical, serious look at how effective these things have been," said O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth). "If anyone else had been paying attention, we would have had this program revoked and would have stopped ripping off our residents and constituents two years ago."

But Wisniewski said honest debate about the effectiveness of the cameras had taken a back seat to "overheated rhetoric."

"We have lots of cars, lots of traffic and we need to find ways to make motoring safer. If we can create enforcement mechanisms that will deter people from violating the law, we ought to with an open mind look at using them," Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said. "People driving too fast in construction zones put workers’ lives in danger. People going too fast in school zones put children’s lives in danger. No doubt about it."

Representatives of Xerox State and Local Solutions, a company that run cameras in other states that are equipped to clock speeders, have held discussions with New Jersey officials about speed cameras.

A company spokesman, Carl Langsenkamp, said the meetings were to "provide education on the use of speed cameras in construction work zone/school safety zones."

But the cameras have touched off controversies in some cities. Last year, Baltimore conducted an audit of its speed cameras, run by Xerox, and found they had an error rate of 10 percent.

So far, no one — including Wisniewski — has introduced a bill to renew the red light camera program or expand it.

Mayor Richard Gerbounka of Linden, a retired police officer whose town has five red light cameras, said he not only wants to keep them, but to install speed cameras as well.

"If you don’t violate the law, you won’t get a ticket and you won’t pay a fine," Gerbounka said. "It’s just that simple."

Then there is the question of revenue. The Linden cameras produce about $1.2 million a year for the town.

Gerbounka said the revenue was important, but not as much as "safety and changing driver behavior."

A study by the state Department of Transportation that was released in March found that the 22 intersections where cameras had been installed for two full years showed a significant reduction in collisions. But O'Scanlon said the study was flawed, noting that it never accounted for a control group of intersections without cameras that also saw a reduction in crashes.

O'Scanlon was given more ammunition this month when towns in New Jersey were asked by the state Judiciary to throw out 17,000 alleged infractions captured by cameras operated by American Traffic Solutions — one of two companies that operate in the state — because drivers were never notified.

And the former chief executive of New Jersey's other red light camera operator, Redflex, was indicted this month for allegedly paying off Chicago officials to win contracts with the city.



"John Wisniewski says we need to find ways to enforce the law," O'Scanlon said. "My answer to that is we first need to make sure that the law is based on sound engineering criteria and that the law is reasonable."

A poll conducted by AAA in March found that 56 percent of the respondents supported red light cameras, although in 2007 — before the program existed — 77 percent of those questioned were in favor of the concept.

Other lawmakers aren’t rushing to show their support for the program either.

"We intend to take a look at the concerns that have been raised before deciding how to proceed," said Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), who decides which bills get posted for a vote in the Assembly.

Spokesmen for Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who would also have to put the bill up for a vote, and Gov. Chris Christie did not respond to a request for comment.

Even Wisniewski acknowledged the political will to renew the program might be elusive.

"The issue really starts with this: Is it possible to have an honest debate about the merits of this program?" he said. "If it’s not possible to have an honest debate about it, it may be that this is a program that’s going to expire. Because despite whatever merits there may be, it’s become so politically charged that you really can’t have a debate."

Correction: :An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that half of the $1.2 million in revenue produced by Linden's red light cameras is split with Union County, and that some goes toward camera maintenance and state programs. The $1.2 million figure is actually the net revenue Linden receives after all expenses.

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