Two San Antonio suburbs plan to keep red light cameras in...

When Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed a bill into law banning red light cameras, constitutional rights activists were practically dancing in the streets.

Not so fast.

Balcones Heights and Leon Valley, the only two San Antonio suburbs that use the automated traffic enforcement system, plan to keep clicking away for years to come.

The Northwest Side cities extended contracts with Arizona-based Verra Mobility in time to meet a Legislature-imposed deadline, allowing them to continue using the cameras for the length of their new agreements.

For Balcones Heights, that’s 15 years. For Leon Valley, it’s 20 years.

Despite claims by critics that the cameras cause more wrecks because people slam on the brakes when lights turn yellow, officials in both cities say safety is one of the main reasons they use the cameras.

“Since the safety cameras were first installed in 2007, traffic accidents at those intersections have fallen by 70 percent,” Balcones Heights Mayor Suzanne de Leon said. The city has 12 cameras. “The positive impact on pedestrian safety on heavily trafficked Fredericksburg Road and the I-10 frontage roads is immeasurable.”

Leon Valley just started using the system last year, and Police Chief Joseph Salvaggio also said there are fewer accidents at the 14 intersections where cameras are installed, many of them along Bandera.

Comparing nine-month periods before and after installation of the cameras, Leon Valley figures show a 43 percent drop in accidents, from 241 to 138, and a 65 percent decrease in “angled crashes,” from 48 to 17.

The systems aren’t universally praised by city officials; even in Balcones Heights and Leon Valley, council members have at times only narrowly approved red-light cameras.

The Balcones Heights City Council, which decided on a 3-2 vote in 2006 to begin using the cameras, approved two five-year extensions March 25, meaning the cameras could be operating until 2034.

The Leon Valley City Council also voted 3-2, on May 7 — the deadline set by the Legislature — to extend its 10-year contract another 10 years, which means it now runs through May 2038.

Heavy traffic

Salvaggio said his city handles some 60,000 motorists daily along Bandera, mostly from San Antonio and other cities. He said the cameras augment his force, allowing him to assign officers to other duties instead of monitoring for traffic violators at those heavily trafficked intersections.

There were 34 cities using the video surveillance systems in 2017, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. That dropped to 29 in 2018.

About 50 Texas cities were using the systems in 2011, the height of the trend.

Fort Worth, Austin and Houston are among the cities that have removed their cameras. This month, Fort Worth used an opt-out provision in its contract, which allowed the city to terminate its deal with Verra Mobility, previously known as American Traffic Solutions, without penalty because the state banned the cameras. The contract had been scheduled to run through 2026.

But the Houston suburb of Humble, with no such opt-out provision, plans to keep cameras operating through 2024 under its agreement with the same company.

Red light cameras have been at the center of heated debate for decades.

Proponents, including TxDOT and traffic policy experts, argue that they save lives and prevent accidents. But Abbott and other critics argue that they undermine the public’s right to due process and cause more rear-end accidents from people slamming on their brakes to avoid running a red light.

The camera systems in Balcones Heights and Leon Valley both have review and appeals processes aimed at providing fairness, supporters point out.

Photos or videos are routinely rejected if they are out of focus, do not capture a license plate image or are shot during a funeral procession, officials said. Citations are sent by mail to a vehicle’s registered owner, who can contest the citation or deny liability, naming someone else driving the car at the time.

And, truth be known, there’s not much in the way of enforcement for red-light camera tickets. Violations aren’t recorded on driving records, and they can’t be reported to insurance companies.

The bill Abbott signed strips out one more enforcement tool: Local and state authorities can no longer place a hold on vehicle registration renewals for nonpayment of the tickets. Still, most people pay them.

Where the money goes

When critics blasted the cameras as cash cows for cities, the Legislature put a $75 cap on the fine with a maximum $25 late fee in 2007. Before then, Balcones Heights had set its fine at $148.

And half of the net revenues generated by red-light cameras must go to a state fund for trauma care.

In addition, Balcones Heights Mayor de Leon said her city’s revenues from the cameras can fund only traffic safety expenditures, “which in Balcones Heights includes two traffic safety police officers,” she said.

Some of the roughly $25,000 per month in net local revenue also supports “street and expressway light bills,” Lorenzo Nastasi, the city’s director of economic development and public affairs, said in an email.

In Leon Valley, the estimated $35,000 per month in local revenue generated from the first year of camera enforcement has been used to fund four traffic officers and improvements to traffic lights and signs.

On June 4, the council voted to authorize a $48,400 allocation from the city’s red light camera fund to provide structural security upgrades to its 38-year-old City Hall, including bullet-resistant windows, doors and sheathing.

It costs Leon Valley more than $60,000 per month to lease and operate its 14 cameras.

The future

Salvaggio recently told the council the number of citations has gradually fallen, from nearly 7,000 in March 2018 to just under 3,000 in February.

If that figure keeps dropping, it could mean an end to the program. The Austin suburb of Round Rock abandoned its system in 2016 after tracking a drop in revenues.

State Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, said he co-authored the bill, then withdrew his name because he felt the state should allow cities to use the cameras, but with “due process elements” in place.

“I was convinced that despite their problems, they do change driving behavior. So I thought we should fix their issues, not eliminate the technology,” Bernal said Monday in a text. “There was a middle ground that no one was interested in.”

At last month’s Leon Valley council meeting, Mayor Chris Riley mentioned hearing “some grumbling about the red light cameras.” But residents have generally supported the program, officials said.

Local resident William Johnson said his wife got a ticket for running a red light and “hasn’t done it since.”

“I’m much more careful about timing on intersections,” Johnson told the council.

For those who still don’t like automated surveillance, Salvaggio has a simple solution: “If you want the cameras to come out, quit running the red lights.”

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA