Oakland's Speed Cameras Are Now Issuing Warnings, Fines Coming Soon

Automated speed cameras began issuing $0 citations as warnings to speeding drivers in 18 locations across Oakland on Wednesday, city officials said.

For the next 60 days, the 35 speed cameras — two at each of the 18 locations, except on Seventh Street at Broadway, which is a one-way street and will have only one camera — will issue warnings to drivers who travel 11 miles an hour or more over the speed limit. By mid-March, drivers in Oakland caught speeding at camera locations will receive fines starting at $50.

Oakland is now the second city in the state to make good on AB 645, a 2023 state bill that authorized six cities in the state to pilot the cameras for five years in a bid to slow speeding drivers and make streets safer.

The cameras are located along high-injury corridors, the 6% of Oakland streets that account for 60% of severe and fatal collisions. City officials said every week, two Oaklanders are killed or seriously injured in a traffic collision and that these crashes disproportionately impact people of color, seniors, children and people with disabilities.

San Francisco, the first city to implement the pilot, has reported dramatic reductions in speeding drivers at 33 automated speed camera locations since the cameras first went online last March, according to an initial evaluation by the SFMTA. That study of 15 camera locations in the city showed an average 72% reduction in speeding vehicles 6 months after the cameras were first installed.

George Spies, a co-organizer with Traffic Violence Rapid Response, a pedestrian safety organization based in Oakland, told KQED he supports the automated speed cameras, but said the most effective way to reduce vehicle speeds is to redesign streets to make them slower and safer.

“ We don’t want to see any city use automated speed cameras as an excuse not to proceed as quickly and as forcefully as possible with making streets safer through infrastructural change,” Spies said.

Spies added that he believes automated speed enforcement removes bias that may be present when a police officer conducts a traffic stop.

“ We don’t want to see that kind of enforcement continue because it leads to all sorts of really problematic outcomes,” Spies said.

Oakland contracted Verra Mobility, an Arizona-based smart transportation company, to administer the program. AB 645 sets in place several privacy protections, including that the camera footage may be retained only for five days if no violation is issued, or 60 days if a violation is issued, and that the Oakland Department of Transportation will collect it and may not be shared or used for any other purpose.

Spies said he believes privacy concerns with the speed cameras have been adequately addressed, as opposed to a recent controversy in Oakland, when federal agencies gained access to data collected by automated license plate readers operated by Flock Safety.

Oakland officials said notifications of violations will be mailed to the registered owner of a speeding vehicle within two weeks of the violation. Citation amounts vary by how fast a driver is speeding, with the maximum fine capped at $500 for driving 100 miles per hour or more over the speed limit. The program offers discounted citations for people who are on public benefits or are low-income.

AB 645 also authorized the cities of San José, Glendale, Long Beach, and Los Angeles to implement automated speed camera programs, but those cities have yet to install the cameras.