Legislation introduced Thursday in City Council would bring speed cameras to a handful of school zones throughout Philadelphia.
The bill authorizes automated enforcement outside the following schools:
- Visitation B.V.M. (along Lehigh Avenue between B Street and Kensington Avenue)
- John B. Stetson Middle (Allegheny Avenue between A and B streets)
- KIPP North Philadelphia Charter (16th Street between Cumberland and Huntingdon streets)
- Widener Memorial (Olney Avenue between Broad and 16th streets)
- Northeast High (Cottman Avenue between Algon and Glendale avenues)
- High School of the Future (Girard Avenue between 39th and 40th streets)
- William L. Sayre High (Walnut Street between 58th and 59th streets)
If the proposal is approved, the cameras would only be activated when the 15 mph school zone signs are flashing, according to the legislation.
Like the enforcement devices currently in place on Roosevelt Boulevard, the cameras would snap photographs of any vehicle going more than 11 mph over the limit. Drivers would receive tickets in the mail costing between $100 and $150, depending on their exact speed.
The bill’s primary sponsor, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, hopes the automated enforcement system will be operational by the end of the year, according to his office. A warning period of at least 30 days would precede any fines, and the bill requires warning signs to be posted in the zones.
Council officials said the schools were selected based on an analysis of crash data by the city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems.
Though seven institutions are listed in the ordinance, the 2023 state law authorizing a school-based speed camera pilot in Philadelphia stipulates that automated enforcement cannot be active in more than five zones at one time.
Staff from Thomas’s office said they want state lawmakers to renew the program or make it permanent. Without further action in Harrisburg, the five-year pilot initiative will expire in 2028.
The same law removed an end date for the Roosevelt Boulevard speed camera and permitted Philadelphia to expand the program, which is managed by the Philadelphia Parking Authority, to five additional corridors.
Pedestrian-involved crashes on the Boulevard have decreased 50% since automated enforcement went into effect five years ago, and the number of speeding violations has dropped 95%, according to the city.
Cameras are expected to go online along the length of Broad Street sometime in March, officials said earlier this year.
In January, Mayor Cherelle Parker signed legislation authorizing automated enforcement on Route 13, which runs concurrent with parts of Baltimore Avenue, 38th Street, Powelton Avenue, 33rd Street, 34th Street, Girard Avenue, Hunting Park Avenue, Levick Street, Robbins Street and Frankford Avenue.
A hearing on the school zone legislation is scheduled for March 11, and a final Council vote could be held as early as March 20.
