By: Tara Kunkle
Since December 2008 there have not been any red-light camera violations issued in Middletown. Now officials are hoping to “green light” a contract for a new vendor. The Middletown City Council has approved a three-year contract with Redflex Traffic Systems of Phoenix, Arizona.
The new three-year contract includes an option for a three-year renewal which is being finalized for the red-light photo enforcement program. The previous vendor was a Maryland-based company called Traffipax Inc. They did not rebid due to the fact that the city has become dissatisfied with Traffipax and there has been a decrease in citations and revenues. In fact, one of the red light cameras hasn’t worked for months.
In 2008 from January 1st to October 31st the cameras generated $57,727 in revenues for the city, compared to $117,585 for the same time period in 2007.
Maj. Mark Hoffman from the Middletown police department said that any citations from the previous company should already have been resolved through the city’s municipal court. These citations do not result in points on a driving record. The police department has been working with the new company to figure out where red light violations cause the most accidents and will be installing cameras at these locations. Some existing cameras may be moved to other locations. In total, the city expects to have less than a dozen red light cameras in use.