On December 10, 2008, the Mayor and City Commission enacted Ordinance No. 2008 3621, creating Article XI entitled “Dangerous Intersection Safety” of Chapter 106 of the Miami Beach Code, entitled “Traffic and Vehicles.” This provision authorizes the enforcement of red light infractions through the utilization of an automated image capture technology in an effort to reduce traffic crashes and resulting injuries.
Pursuant to this Ordinance, cameras were installed at nine (9) intersections in April 2010 and at a tenth (10th) intersection in September 2015.
In February 2016, Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 2016-046-KB for a Red Light Camera Enforcement System and Related Support Services was issued. Six firms submitted proposals that an Evaluation Committee reviewed and ranked. Due to several challenges during the review process, in December 2016, the Commission adopted a resolution rejecting all proposals. Prior to issuing a new RFP, the Commission suggested that an evaluation of the City’s photo red light camera program be conducted.
Florida International University's Lehman Center for Transportation Research submitted a proposal specifying the assessment approach for the nine (9) intersections with photo red light cameras and the intersections to be used as the control group. The cost for the assessment was not to exceed $13,500 with funds from the police departments PRL program to fund the study. The proposal was approved via Resolution No. 2018-30284 at the April 11, 2018 Commission meeting. Dr. Priyanka Alluri, Assistant Professor FIU Lehman Center for Transportation Research and primary contact for the study, worked with City staff in the Transportation Department, Police Department, and Organizational Development Department, to collect all required data. Dr. Alluri provided the completed evaluation to administration on December 7, 2018 and the evaluation results were discussed at the Neighborhoods and Community Affairs Committee (NCAC) meeting on the December 14, 2018 (see attached powerpoint presentation, study report, and LTC).
The before-and-after analysis highlighted the following:
- Crashes at the treatment intersections on an increasing trend similar to city, state, and national level crashes on an increasing trend.
- Significant sudden drop in all types of target crashes immediately after the installation of RLCs.
- Compared to the before-period, the after-period experienced fewer angle/left-turn/right-turn crashes, fewer sideswipe crashes, and more rear-end crashes.
- Sideswipe and angle/left-turn/right-turn crashes dropped immediately after the installation of RLCs and then continued to increase, but are still lower than the before-period.
- Rear-end crashes dropped immediately after the installation of the RLCs and then continue to increase.
In light of these findings, the Miami Beach Police Department recommends the issuance of a request for proposals to replace the current camera system, which has reached its end-of-life, and the addition of cameras at five (5) new intersections, thus making an additional five (5) intersections safer for our residents, visitors, and tourists.