Shutters close on Cleveland traffic cameras

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Red-light cameras that have watched Cleveland traffic since 2008 went blind Wednesday night.

All city red-light cameras ceased operating "as of the end of the day on March 31," city finance director Michael Keith said.

It will take some time, though, before tickets generated from using the cameras are all processed and mailed, Mr. Keith said.

"We will continue to process those violations ... and Traffipax will continue to mail the citations and accept payments for 60 to 90 days afterwards," Mr. Keith said.

He said Traffipax, the vendor that provided the cameras and reviewed photos, will provide the city with a file of the unpaid citations.

"We have a target date of June 30 to be the last date for Traffipax receiving payments," Mr. Keith said.

Traffipax Inc., which operated the cameras at five intersections under contract with the city, asked in a Feb. 1 letter that the cameras be decommissioned and removed.

City Manager Janice Casteel said the monitored intersections have shown a decrease in accidents since the program began more than a year ago.

Many city officials have said the program was about public safety and not about revenue.

But the company's letter stated that revenue from the cameras was not enough to support the program.

The red-light camera program began Sept. 15, 2008.

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