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Do speed cameras produce net benefits? Evidence from British Columbia, Canada

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  • Greg Chen

    (City University of New York)

  • Rebecca N. Warburton

    (University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)

Abstract

Traffic collisions kill about 43,000 Americans a year. Worldwide, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death by injury and the ninth leading cause of all deaths. Photo Radar speed enforcement has been implemented in the United States and many other industrialized countries, yet its cost-effectiveness from a societal viewpoint, taking all significant impacts into account, has not been reported. This paper fills this gap, reporting on a Photo Radar traffic safety program introduced in 1996 in British Columbia, Canada, and incorporating the results of rigorous statistical analyses on speed and crash impacts into a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis from both societal and sponsoring-agency perspectives. The study reveals that the Rhoto Radar Program cost C$27 million per year in 2001 Canadian dollars (?US$21 million) and generated benefits valued at $142 million per year (?US$109 million), for net societal benefits of C$115 million per year (?US$88 million). It was estimated that the sponsoring agency saved C$38 million (?US$29 million) annually in claim costs. These results are robust to plausible alternate assumptions. Societal net benefits become negative only if the reduction in injuries and fatalities is one standard error below the expected value, or if private travel time is valued at or above C$15 per hour. Agency claim cost savings are greater than program costs under all scenarios tested. These results are likely applicable to jurisdictions in developed countries with similar traffic infrastructure: Greater use of highway photo radar speed enforcement would be good public policy. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management

Suggested Citation

  • Greg Chen & Rebecca N. Warburton, 2006. "Do speed cameras produce net benefits? Evidence from British Columbia, Canada," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 661-678.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:25:y:2006:i:3:p:661-678
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.20196
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Retting, R.A. & Kyrychenko, S.Y., 2002. "Reductions in injury crashes associated with red light camera enforcement in Oxnard, California," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(11), pages 1822-1825.
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    Cited by:

    1. Egbendewe-Mondzozo, Aklesso & Higgins, Lindsey M. & Shaw, W. Douglass, 2010. "Red-light cameras at intersections: Estimating preferences using a stated choice model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 281-290, June.
    2. Federico Masera, 2022. "The economics of policing and crimeThe economics of policing and crime," Chapters, in: Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Vanin & Juan Vargas (ed.), A Modern Guide to the Economics of Crime, chapter 2, pages 12-29, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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