Seattle City Council’s Transportation Committee on April 1 heard a briefing from Seattle Department of Transportation officials on planned expansions of automated traffic safety cameras and a forthcoming ordinance to align city code with 2024 state law changes.

The presentation from Asad Naimani, Chief Safety Officer, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), outlined the department’s plan to activate an expansion of school‑zone cameras this year and to complete safety and equity analyses required by state law before deploying full‑time, non‑school speed cameras in other neighborhoods.

The committee’s chair, Rob Sacca, said he had asked staff to pursue two parallel tracks: expedite transmission of the executive’s ordinance to align Seattle Municipal Code with the new state law, and prepare proviso‑lift legislation for $1,180,000 that the council included in the 2025 budget to fund non‑school camera deployment. “We will consider the ordinance and the proviso lift in parallel,” Sacca said.

Why it matters: the 2024 state changes broaden allowable camera types, require safety and equity analyses, and permit additional civilian review of citation packages. SDOT, Seattle Police Department (SPD) and Seattle Municipal Court each play distinct roles in the program: SDOT handles engineering siting and program evaluation, SPD administers the vendor contract and reviews potential citations, and the Municipal Court manages payment and fine‑mitigation processes.

What SDOT told the committee
- SDOT said it is prioritizing construction and activation of school‑zone fixed cameras this year. Naimani said SDOT plans to install cameras at additional school zones and expects roughly half of the planned locations to be activated before the 2025–26 school year, with the full expansion completed by the end of the year.
- SDOT described two different numbers referenced during the briefing: a Council Central Staff memo summarized budget materials as authorizing an additional 37 school‑zone camera locations, while SDOT’s presentation described planning for 19 additional school‑zone locations. SDOT attributed the difference to internal program scoping and the department’s data‑driven prioritization process.
- SDOT said it will complete the safety and equity analyses that state law requires before siting and constructing full‑time, non‑school speed cameras and expects to begin construction work for some non‑school locations late in 2025, with cameras likely becoming operational in 2026 depending on interdepartmental capacity and vendor scheduling.

Key program details SDOT shared
- Types in use: red‑light, school‑zone, bus‑lane, and block‑the‑box cameras; a “restricted lane” camera type used during the High Bridge closure has been deactivated.
- Performance metrics cited by SDOT: across six bus‑lane camera locations SDOT reported about 11,000 citations per month in total; block‑the‑box cameras at six locations generated about 1,700 citations per month. SDOT reported a recidivism (repeat‑citation) rate of roughly 30% for bus‑lane citations and about 10% for block‑the‑box citations.
- School‑zone results SDOT presented: locations with fixed school‑zone cameras had a drop in total crashes of about 50% and a 70% reduction in crashes during school operating hours; SDOT said more than 60% reductions in violations were seen over monitored periods and that about 90% of people who received a school‑zone citation did not receive another.
- Contracting and costs: SDOT said cameras are provided through a vendor contract administered by SPD; SDOT indicated the vendor charges SPD a monthly fee per camera on the order of about $4,000, and the city does not pay an upfront capital cost to the vendor for installation.
- Equity and mitigation: SDOT noted the 2024 state law explicitly requires safety and equity analysis for new deployments and allows jurisdictions to adopt an “ability‑to‑pay” approach and to reduce penalties for first violations by people receiving public assistance. SDOT said Seattle Municipal Court already implements penalty reductions for qualifying individuals.

Public comments and council concerns
- Community speakers urged caution and specific protections: Clara Kanter, speaking for Whose Streets Are Streets, urged SDOT to pursue physical traffic‑calming engineering before enforcement, to set lower fines or first‑offense warnings, to improve accessible payment options (she said the current community‑service option is effectively prohibitive for many), and to strengthen data‑privacy protections. Kanter noted outreach with BIPOC communities and asked that camera revenue be directed to physical safety improvements.
- Committee members emphasized a balanced approach that pairs engineering countermeasures with cameras. Councilmember Kettle and Vice Chair Hollingsworth both voiced support for a data‑driven, equity‑focused program and for pairing enforcement with on‑the‑ground traffic‑calming measures and parking/traffic management.

Actions and next steps
- Direction to staff: Chair Sacca directed council staff to draft proviso‑lift legislation to release the $1,180,000 in budgeted funds for non‑school camera deployment and requested expedited transmittal of the executive’s local ordinance to align city code with state law. SDOT said it will publish implementation guidance setting siting criteria, community‑engagement frameworks, and annual performance metrics.
- Studies and timing: SDOT will finish mandated safety and equity analyses for full‑time speed cameras, publish implementation guidance, complete evaluation of bus‑lane and block‑the‑box camera performance, and proceed with the school‑zone expansion this year. SDOT said non‑school full‑time camera construction could begin late in 2025 but noted cameras may not be operational until 2026 depending on power, permitting and SPD review capacity.

What the committee did not decide
- No formal council vote was taken on any ordinance or provision at the committee meeting. The committee heard the executive’s plan and received public comment; the chair requested staff work on proviso‑lift language and expects the executive ordinance to be transmitted to the council for committee consideration.

Ending note
SDOT and committee members framed automated cameras as one tool in a broader safe‑systems approach. Committee members repeatedly stressed pairing cameras with physical traffic‑calming and on‑street enforcement where appropriate, and SDOT said it will treat cameras as temporary measures to be paired with engineering improvements and reassessed annually.