Auckland Transport's red light cameras haven't worked for years

Friday, 25 May 2018

Red light cameras installed at dangerous intersections across Auckland, at ratepayers' expense, have not worked for years, or issued a ticket in nearly three years.

New Zealand, in fact, has only three working fixed red light cameras - one in Wellington and two in Auckland, with all three of them operated by police, data obtained under the Official Information Act show.

Those cameras issued a total of 2300 tickets last year.

In comparison, Melbourne has more than 230 fixed red light cameras and issued almost 80,000 tickets in the second half of last year.

Stuff counted 110 drivers run completely red lights in 90 minutes at this East Tamaki and Bairds Rd intersection in Otara recently. Only drivers who entered on the red were counted.

* This year's road toll expected to click over 400

* Red light runners: Hundreds of crashes, deaths escalating

Stuff reporters counted 110 red light runners at this notorious intersection on the corner of East Tamaki and Bairds Rd in Otara

* Auckland could add six red light cameras a year for the next decade**

Red light running in Auckland had become widespread and entrenched, AA principal advisor for infrastructure and motoring affairs Barney Irvine said.

Last year, five people in Auckland died in crashes involving running red lights, compared with a total of four deaths in the previous five years. Auckland's red-light crash figures have steadily climbed to 477 last year, compared with 387 reported crashes in 2012.

Nationally, nine people died in red light crashes last year compared with a total of eight for the previous five years. Wellington has had no deaths related to red-light running in the past six years.

This Lincoln Rd/Swanson Rd intersection is still notorious for red light running, even though it is 'monitored' by a red light camera. Installed last year, the camera is still in calibration mode and has never resulted in a single $150 fine.

Council-owned body Auckland Transport's efforts to stall the 'epidemic' saw red light cameras installed at 11 intersections in 2014 and 2017, at a cost of $1.2 million, but not one of those cameras has ever issued a ticket.

'These sites were developed by Auckland Transport, however, enforcement did not eventuate,' Superintendent Steve Greally, national manager road policing said.

The police website had listed the Auckland Transport cameras as operational, but following Stuff's questions, police updated the website to remove all reference to Auckland Transport's cameras and show only three police-run red light cameras, which are in enforcement mode.

Stuff reporters recently counted more than 250 drivers, including buses, trucks and vans, running completely red lights in 90 minutes at four notorious intersections in the south, west and north of Auckland. About 130 of the red light runners were at intersections that had Auckland Transport red light cameras.

Cyclists and school children were at particular risk, people said on Neighbourly.co.nz, with general agreement an epidemic of red light running was occurring in Auckland.

'I don't think any intersection can be singled out, as every intersection I stop at usually has at least one driver running a red light,' Jenny Hough of Mt Roskill said on Neighbourly.co.nz.

'The pressure to run red lights comes from the increasing frustration when attempting to traverse this city,' Richard Brown of Epsom said.

Auckland Transport installed its first 10 red light camera set-ups in 2008, with five cameras rotating between them. Some of these installations only ever issued a handful of tickets and some none at all.

Then, a further five red light camera poles were installed by the council in 2014 at a cost of $100,000 each, but have never resulted in a ticket. AT said these were intended to use the existing cameras that soon became outdated.

'The original cameras purchased in 2008 ran on an operating system that was no longer compatible with newer enforcement technology the New Zealand Police is using,' Randhir Karma, general manager network management and safety, said.

AT has now been allocated $8 million in the draft Regional Land Transport Plan for new red light cameras and is looking at installing six red light cameras a year for the next decade.

The cameras installed last year are using newer technology and have been in calibration mode since January, but Karma expected them to move into enforcement mode in coming weeks.

This all comes as a new report shows Auckland's road safety is reaching crisis point and the road toll in the city is out of sync with the rest of the country.

While calibration is complex and can take time, it was now time for AT to move on this, the AA's Irvine said.

'That we are caught between and old outdated system and calibration is not acceptable,' Irvine said.

Police emphasised they also caught red light runners as part of their regular duties.

'Police would like to note that red light cameras are not the only mechanism for enforcing red light running offences. Officer enforcement for failing to comply with red traffic signals, alongside other intersection offences, takes place on a daily basis,' Greally added.

However, the number of tickets issued nationally has been fairly steady at around 12,000 for the past 10 years.