The Land Use, Housing and Transportation Standing Committee continued discussion of resolution 2024-R41 asking the administration to study installation of photo speed-monitoring devices at high-risk intersection segments and to identify additional locations citywide. The committee voted to continue the paper to the May 20 meeting and requested a written recommendation from staff within 30 days.

Major Armstead of the Richmond Police Department told the committee the city currently operates 26 cameras at 13 school-zone locations; those cameras run during school hours (two hours before and two hours after school), and the department currently assigns four part-time officers and one full-time officer to validate citations and manage the program. Armstead said validating vendor citations requires sworn officers because they must check driver records and access secure systems. He also said the staffing and processing for 24/7 high-risk intersection enforcement would be "a big process" and could require additional personnel.

A Department of Public Works representative (Cara) said the existing 26 school-zone cameras operate through a vendor called Conduit Solutions and that the city will soon ask council to establish a special fund for camera revenues and operations. Cara explained red-light cameras are planned for up to 22 locations and that current vendor contracts (procured via RFP) are limited to a combined scope up to about $5,000,000 and roughly 50 locations covering school zones and red-light camera sites.

Public works staff told the committee that cameras at "high-risk intersection segments" are treated differently under recent state code changes: revenues generated by those high-risk camera citations flow to the Commonwealth Transportation Board'9s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), not directly back to the locality. As a result, cities would need to front infrastructure and vendor costs for HRIS camera installations and then seek state HSIP reimbursement; that makes HRIS deployment contingent on procurement and budgeting and may limit the program's sustainability without advance city funding.

City transportation engineer Mike Sawyer urged council to view automated enforcement as one tool in the city'9s Vision Zero safety approach and to direct any revenue toward built-environment safety improvements such as speed tables and curb extensions.

Committee action: the committee voted to continue resolution 2024-R41 to the May 20 Land Use meeting and requested the administration send a recommendation before that date; staff said the recommendation would not include a full dollar amount until procurement is complete.