Automated cameras to ticket speeding drivers could be activated on Oahu by the end of the month, and state officials want to greatly expand the system.
Photo enforcement of speed limits at 10 intersections in urban Honolulu is expected to start with a warning period later this month or in early March after being authorized by state lawmakers last year.
State Department of Transportation officials also are seeking $10 million from the Legislature over the next two fiscal years to expand the program on Oahu and to neighbor islands with 187 camera systems that additionally would generate tickets for running red lights.
To handle such an expansion, the department wants to permit its own staff and state Department of Law Enforcement personnel to join county police departments in certifying evidence for speed and red light citations.
A bill to fund the expansion and broaden certification passed an initial committee hearing in the state House of Representatives on Tuesday.
“The addition of staff within the DOT and DLE will play a critical role in supporting this expansion and ensuring the consistent application of the law,” DOT said in written testimony on House Bill 697. “The DOT anticipates that the expanded program will require additional personnel to review evidence and process citations efficiently. Furthermore, authorizing DOT and DLE staff to manage this process will help alleviate potential staffing challenges within county police departments, enabling more effective enforcement and program implementation.”
HB 697 was introduced by four House members led by Rep. Darius Kila (D, Nanakuli-Maili). Kila chairs the House Committee on Transportation, which advanced the bill after an initial public hearing Tuesday where no one but DOT and the state Department of the Attorney General testified.
DOT estimates that $10 million would enable a contractor to procure and install 187 camera systems over eight years, and fund system operations for a decade.
If approved, sites for cameras would be selected based on criteria that include the number and type of crashes, posted speed limits and the volume of vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
DOT began rolling out a camera system only to ticket red-light runners in late 2022 as a two-year pilot project approved by lawmakers in 2020. The system covers 17 approaches at 10 intersections.
Operation of the pilot program was extended to July 31 after the two-year period ended Nov. 20, and DOT said the system has been successful in reducing red-light running as well as serious injuries and deaths stemming from drivers running red lights.
DOT said in a recent report to the Legislature that the number of major crashes at the 10 intersections dropped 69% to seven during the two-year period compared with 23 during roughly two years leading up to activation of the cameras.
During the second year of the program, DOT reported that 23,698 violation notices were generated and resulted in $1.6 million in revenue. During about the same period, it cost almost $1.1 million to operate the system.
In the program’s first year, DOT reported 11,789 violation notices, though during the first half of the year cameras were still being added to intersections.
A preliminary review of speed data collected by the red-light cameras at the 10 intersections, reported by DOT in mid-2024, showed that anywhere from 500 to 23,000 vehicles going over the posted speed limit at certain intersections in a given week.
Intersections with cameras include Pali Highway and Vineyard Boulevard, Likelike Highway and School Street, Vineyard Boulevard and Nuuanu Avenue, and King Street and Ward Avenue.
The upcoming addition of speed enforcement to the existing camera system comes more than 20 years after a camera-based speed enforcement pilot project directed by the Legislature began in 2002, only to be terminated after three months in response to a public outcry over the program, which was operated by a private contractor using vans parked along roadsides.
DOT has said that speeding has been a top contributing factor in motor vehicle fatalities over the last decade, and that automated camera enforcement is needed to reduce senseless deaths and injuries on Hawaii’s roadways.
In 2023, speeding was a major contributing factor in half of the 95 motor vehicle fatalities that year, according to the department.
DOT also said federal data suggests that automated traffic enforcement can reduce enforcement costs, reduce danger to enforcement officers and increase public perception that there are consequences to violating traffic laws.
When the existing camera system starts being used for speed enforcement, warnings will be issued for the first 30 days.
Under the law, citations may not be issued for exceeding the speed limit by less than 5 mph.
However, during the short-lived 2002 “van cam” program, the state Judiciary dismissed citations for exceeding the speed limit by less than 10 mph even though DOT’s threshold at the time was 6 mph over the limit.
Fines for automated speeding citations will be issued to the registered owner of the vehicle and start at $250 for a first violation. Fines rise to $300 and $500 for second and third violations, respectively, if committed within a year of the first violation. There is also a $10 surcharge if the speed limit is exceeded by more than 10 mph.
Unlike the van cam program, the contractor operating the current camera system does not receive a share of revenue per citation.
DOT representatives said the agency will post public notices about the exact date, when determined, for existing cameras to be activated for speed enforcement under the initial 30-day warning period.
