It happens in a flash and on King Edward Avenue it doesn't take long to catch a red light runner.
According to data obtained from the city of Ottawa, red light cameras on King Edward and St. Patrick and King Edward and St Andrews issued the most red light camera tickets in 2016. The two locations issued a combined total of nearly 3,000 tickets. Each red light camera ticket is $325.
"Red light cameras help with the reduction of right angle collisions," said Phil Landry, the Director of Traffic Services for the city of Ottawa. "They are usually at high speeds and cause the most injuries as well."
The first red light camera was installed in Ottawa in 2000 as a pilot project. 17 years later 48 cameras are currently installed with a plan to increase that number to 54 by 2018.
The city of Ottawa is also working on securing an agreement with the Quebec government to get access to its vehicle database. That system would allow the city to ticket Quebec drivers. In the first five months of 2017 the total number of red light camera violations not issued because the license plate was from Quebec was approximately 1,750.
"We're working with the SSAQ ... we have provided them all the information," Landry said. "We don't have an update as to when that will be completed."
The city of Ottawa was hoping to reach an agreement with the Quebec government sometime in 2017.
The table below identifies the number of violations issued per site in 2016 in order of the top 5 sites.
- King Edward Ave and St. Patrick St 1894
- King Edward Ave and St. Andrew St 1096
- Bronson Ave at Carling Ave/Glebe Ave 950
- Bank St and Heron Rd 797
- Carling Ave and Richmond Rd 753
