Drivers travelling along York Road near St. Davids Public School may have noticed what appears to be one of Niagara Region’s new speed cameras.

They would be right – sort of.

The region’s associate director of transportation planning, Scott Fraser, says that as part of its automated speed enforcement programming, it is rotating the use of the four speed cameras through 13 community safety zones the region had at the time program was approved.

“The housing and the pole are mounted permanently and then as each camera rotates, it’s inserted into that now pre-installed pole and housing,” Fraser said.

A speed camera is now live on Niagara Stone Road, near Crossroads Public School, and will be active until the end of March before it is moved to the York Road location.

The camera will then undergo a short testing period of less than a week, Fraser said.

“We have to reverify (that) the camera has been set up and installed properly,” he said. 

Signs notifying drivers of the speed camera’s upcoming installation have been posted to warn drivers travelling in both directions along York Road in St. Davids. 

There is a “moderate speed threshold,” Fraser said, that is not set by the region but rather by the province. It is also something that will not be disclosed.

“Anyone who’s concerned about receiving a ticket should be driving the posted speed limit on the road because the posted speed limit is the law,” he said. 

Under the automated system, no demerit points are issued, as is the case with tickets that the police issue.

Fraser said the region has been collecting data, such as the number of tickets or the number of fines being issued to lead-footed drivers, since the program — a part of the region’s Vision Zero road safety campaign — began last September. Fraser said that it is too early to determine the impact of the cameras.

“We are still collecting that information and analyzing it and we intend to come back to regional council in the early spring,” Fraser said. “That will be our opportunity to share a lot of the information around what road safety improvements we are seeing, the number of violations and so forth.”

Since the program came into effect, the region has been hearing from residents both for and against the cameras. 

“I think the community at large recognizes the importance of road safety and that this is a tool that we can use to improve that right across the region as part of our commitment to Vision Zero, which is eliminating fatalities and serious injuries on our road network,” Fraser said.

Under the program, fines are levied on the registered owner of the vehicle’s licence plate, regardless of who was operating the vehicle at the time of the infraction.

Fines will include the set fine for the speeding infraction, a victim surcharge of 30 per cent of the fine incurred and a $5 court charge.