What’s next for Cedar Rapids, other cities with traffic cameras turned off?

Most of Iowa’s traffic cameras are turned off, and so is their revenue.

The Iowa Department of Transportation this week, operating under guidelines put forth in a new state law, rejected most requests from cities and counties to operate fixed automated traffic enforcement cameras in their jurisdictions.

Of the 348 requests for permits from 28 Iowa cities and counties, only 11 fixed traffic cameras were approved by in just five cities, including only four in Cedar Rapids.

The state’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency was unable to determine the full breadth of traffic camera use in Iowa before the new law — House File 2681 — was passed earlier this year, but the agency’s partial analysis determined the cameras produced at least $17 million in revenue for the communities in the 2023 budget year.

Any traffic cameras that were denied a permit were required to be turned off Tuesday. With that goes any revenue from citations generated by those now-silenced cameras.

In many Iowa communities, revenue from traffic camera tickets was used to fund public safety positions.

Cedar Rapids data

Cedar Rapids installed automated traffic cameras in 2010. The city monitored nine locations — including four on Interstate 380 for speed only around the S-curve downtown. According to Cedar Rapids’ most recent annual report on traffic cameras, crashes on the S-curve have decreased since the cameras were deployed there.

In the three years before the cameras were deployed, an average of 5.3 crashes per month were recorded there. Since 2019, the average has been 2.8 crashes per month, according to city data.

The newly rejected traffic cameras in Cedar Rapids issued a total of 64,445 speeding citations in 2023, most of which — 45,342 — came from the northbound speed camera on I-380 at J Avenue, according to the city’s end of year report for 2023.

Speeding citations cost between $75 and $500, depending on how fast the vehicle is driving, and $18 of every paid citation goes to camera vendor Sensys Gatso USA. The rest goes to the city. For red light citations, Sensys Gatso receives $22 per paid citation and the city receives $78 per paid citation.

But only about 60 percent of the citations issued since 2019 have been paid as of the end of 2023.

Sensys Gatso did not respond to a message from The Gazette asking about the financial impact to the company.

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Revenue generated from the cameras is used to fund police officer positions in Cedar Rapids. The city’s budget for fiscal 2025, which began in July, includes $7.21 million in traffic camera revenue — $5.48 million of which is being used to pay for 41 police officer positions. The other $1.73 million is going toward service provider and collection costs.

City leaders have not yet released information detailing how much of that revenue is generated by the now-rejected cameras, and how they anticipate the city budget will be affected.

City officials said they do not track ticket revenue generated by each traffic camera.

The Iowa DOT also rejected all five requests from Marion for fixed cameras. The city in 2023 installed stationary cameras at two locations — Highway 100 and East Post Road; and Highway 13 and Highway 151.

The Iowa DOT approved a higher percentage of requests for permits for mobile traffic enforcement cameras. Of the 209 requests for mobile camera locations statewide, the state approved 143 and denied 66.

Both of Cedar Rapids’ requests for mobile locations were approved. Marion requested permits for 54 mobile locations; 29 were approved and 25 denied.

Cities with populations of 20,000 or more can issue citations from mobile cameras, but cities with populations of 20,000 or fewer can issue only warnings from mobile cameras.

Iowa DOT: Most cameras not ‘least restrictive’ solution

The new state law directs the Iowa DOT to determine if a traffic camera is “appropriate and necessary and the least restrictive means to address the critical traffic safety issues at a location.”

The Iowa DOT’s most-used justification for denying fixed automated traffic camera permits was that the camera was not the least restrictive means. Under the law, “least restrictive” is defined as “protecting people’s rights, interfering with the freedom of individuals to the least possible extent,” and that “all other methods to control speeds at a location have been exhausted or impractical.”

“Least restrictive” was the justification in 62 of its 128 denials of fixed traffic cameras.

Another 39 cameras were denied because they were deemed “not necessary,” and the final 27 denials were issued to cameras that were not in operation before this year. The new law required any camera not in operation before this year be denied until at least 2026.

Cities and counties can appeal or reapply

Municipalities that received rejections have an opportunity to appeal the ruling.

According to Iowa DOT officials, a city or county must submit a written explanation of the issues and any supporting information to the department. Once an appeal is received, the Iowa DOT has 30 days to respond. The department director’s decision on the appeal is final.

A city of Cedar Rapids spokesman said the city is discussing its options.

Any permit request that was denied can reapply in 2026.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com; (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com