New Red Light Cameras Coming Online

I've been looking at this thing forever. Are you sure it's a red light camera? There is only one of them (not the usual 4-way), it's a much smaller box than the usual self-contained setup, and there is no signage. Has the city mentioned anything about it yet?

There is one at Massachusetts and Rainier. The flashing light has surprised me on a number of occasions - not a good thing while driving IMO.

Despite what the city will tell you, red light cameras are a revenue generator for the city, period. The safety benefits of these cameras is questionable at best. A cursory search will reveal quite a bit of information about the controversial nature of these cameras. In my own research, I found that one major metropolitan city (Houston? I don't recall offhand which one) that had installed these cameras did so with a blatant conflict of interest with the provider. In this case, the provider and operator of the cameras was entitled to a cut of the revenue generated. So much for no profit motive. I have yet to be able to discover the nature of the contract under which the City of Seattle is operating, or even who they've chosen as a provider. This information has been omitted from any coverage or press releases I've seen on the subject.

In fact, a while back while I was serving on the City of Seattle Citizens' Telephony and Technology Advisory Board, I attempted to raise this issue with the board, as it clearly falls under their charter. I was soundly rebuffed by the city representative, Jill Novik of the Seattle Department of Information Technology. I don't mean to imply any conspiracy here or complicity on her part, but it was pretty clear to me that the city is not really interested in talking about the subject.