Naperville may pull plug on red light cameras

Naperville appears ready to put the brakes on using red light cameras for at least a few more months.

Administrators will ask the council Tuesday to terminate its contract with Maryland-based Traffipax, Inc., for "nonperformance," City Manager Pro Tem Robert Marshall said Wednesday.

"The equipment is still not functioning to our capabilities and to our expectations," Marshall said.

Traffipax officials could not be reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon.

The city council approved a $1 million three-year contract with the company in September to install eight cameras at four intersections and hoped to eventually equip 10 to 15 intersections.

Cameras were supposed to be installed in January at the first two intersections -- Fort Hill Drive and Aurora Avenue and 95th Street and Book Road.

The city planned to give motorists a 30-day warning period before beginning to hand out $100 citations for traffic signal violations.

But Marshall said problems with the system put that all on hold.

"The system never worked to allow that to occur. It had delays and continually pushed those warning periods back, which got to the point where we felt we needed to talk to the city council for a recommendation to terminate the contract," Marshall said.

He said he has heard the vendor sent out warning tickets but neither the city nor police had the opportunity to view them.

If the city ousts Traffipax, it doesn't necessarily mean the end of the red light camera program. Marshall also will recommend Tuesday that the city put out a request for proposals to find a new vendor "with an emphasis on state and DuPage County routes," according to the agenda item.

The city was counting on some of the revenue from the citations to fill budget holes in the coming fiscal year. The cameras originally were projected to bring in $2.4 million, but Marshall said that prediction was reduced significantly in recent months.

"We're going to have to look for other ways to make up that deficit and we will do that," he said.

The city council will discuss the issue when it meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the municipal center, 400 S. Eagle St.