The legislature passed a bill keeping speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard and allowing expansion to other parts of the city

Roosevelt Boulevard’s speed-enforcement cameras would be authorized permanently and Philadelphia could install them on up to five other dangerous corridors in the city under a bill passed Wednesday night by the state legislature.

The long-awaited HB 1284 was sent to Gov. Josh Shapiro after the House approved bipartisan amendments written in the Senate after months of uncertainty and behind-the-scenes talks.

“I think it shows that this program saves lives,” Rich Lazer, executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which runs the system, said in an interview. “The numbers don’t lie; they speak for themselves. The expansion of this is going to be awesome for the city.”

Crashes on Roosevelt Boulevard dropped 36% from 2019 to 2021, compared with a decline of 6% in Philadelphia overall, a state study released in January found. Crashes with serious injuries or death declined 11% on the Boulevard while increasing by 16% elsewhere in the city.

Authorization for a trial of the cameras, which began operation on Roosevelt Boulevard in 2020, was set to expire Monday, Dec. 18. The bill also makes permanent the state’s use of automated speed enforcement in highway work zones.

“This outcome significantly advances safety, builds on the success of the Roosevelt Boulevard program, and will allow the city and commonwealth to save more lives on state roads,” said Nicole Brunet, policy director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, which focuses on traffic safety.

Brunet thanked State Rep. Ed Neilson (D., Philadelphia), who wrote the legislation, and Sen. Wayne Langerholc (R., Cambria), the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, who shepherded it in the Senate.

Amid an increase in fatal crashes in the city since the pandemic began in early 2020, including pedestrian hit-and-runs, the cameras have proved popular with safety advocates. Residents and elected officials in a number of neighborhoods are asking for them on their dangerous roads, such as Lincoln Drive, Ridge Avenue, and Cobbs Creek Parkway.

The new legislation also authorizes a test of automated speed-limit enforcement in five school zones in the city. It provides for PennDot, PPA, and the city to choose the roads and school zones that will get speed cameras based on analyses of crash data and technical considerations. City Council would have to authorize the placements by ordinance.

In addition, the state Local Government Commission was directed to conduct a two-year study on the effectiveness of automated speed enforcement and whether it should be available across the state. The legislation increases the size of signs warning motorists where speed cameras are in use and allows vehicle owners mailed citations to have them quashed if they can prove they were not driving at the time of a violation.

“We’ve been trying to pull the politics out of it and just put the data before people,” Brunet said. “That message rang true.”

This story has been updated to reflect final legislative passage of the speed-camera bill.