Whitecourt Director of Community Safety, Lee Hardman, presented the 2023 Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) Annual Report to council at their regular meeting on Monday, April 22, providing the following highlights:
According to page three of the report, 3,810 notices were issued for speeding, and 34 red light notices were issued in 2023; while 7150 contraventions were issued for speeding, and 65 red light contraventions were issued in 2023.
“Just a note here on page three,” says Hardman. “The difference between notice and contravention in the report; notices are actual violations, those are the actual tickets that are issued, versus the contraventions were observed but not ticketed.”
Hardman says contraventions are issued due to a variety of reasons such as obscured license plates and issues caused by weather such as snow build-up.
The report also provided data on collisions in Whitecourt from 2021 – 2023.
“There were 176 collisions in Whitecourt last year,” says Hardman. “Which is around that average for the three-year cycle. No fatal collisions happened in Whitecourt in the last year either.”
Automated Traffic Enforcement generated over $202,000 in Whitecourt in 2023. Officials say this money is not treated as revenue, rather, it is reallocated to enhancing crime prevention and education, along with other community projects.
In 2024, the contract for ATE in Whitecourt will transition from Global Traffic to Conduent Enforcement Solutions.
Councillor Serena La Pointe expressed concerns that there was not enough ATE in school zones in the past. Hardman says this new contract will allow the Community Safety Department to receive more reports with more information, as well as have a more hands-on approach to selecting locations for ATE.
“I have already had those conversations with the new contractor,” explained Hardman. “Which is, we would have that direct input every month as to where these locations would be, which is not currently.”