DOT: Gloucester Township Using Right Formula

Gloucester Township indicated in its application to become part of a New Jersey pilot program for red-light cameras that it would use the yellow-light timing formula mandated by legislation on the program, a state Department of Transportation spokesman said Wednesday.

It's that application that spared the township's red-light camera program from a suspension-of-ticketing directive handed down by the DOT this week, the spokesman said.

Gloucester Township is one of four towns included in the five-year pilot program that was not part of the DOT directive to shut down red-light camera ticketing programs. The township has a total of 10 cameras monitoring red lights at four intersections along Blackwood Clementon Road.

The others are Deptford Township, East Brunswick and North Brunswick—each of which has just one intersection monitored by a camera.

DOT spokesman Tim Greeley acknowledged Wednesday that it was an oversight on the DOT's part that allowed 21 of 25 municipalities to enter the pilot program while using a different, yet nationally accepted, formula to determine yellow-light timing for at least one of their intersections.

DOT did not conduct its own analysis of yellow-light times in the 25 towns with intersections monitored by cameras to determine which were to receive the directive to suspend ticketing operations, Greeley said.

It was Gloucester Township's certification it would use the formula mandated by the pilot-program legislation in its application alone that spared it from making this week's suspension list.

"We relied on the professionally certified applications that were submitted by the municipalities," Greeley said.

Gloucester Township's application was prepared by municipal engineering consultant Remington & Vernick, of Haddonfield.

The pilot-program legislation requires a yellow signal of at least three seconds if at least 85 percent of the approaching traffic travels at speeds of 25 mph or less. For each 5 mph increase in vehicle speed above 30 miles per hour, the minimum duration of the yellow light must be increased by 0.5 seconds.

Gloucester Township Business Administrator Tom Cardis noted Wednesday that yellow lights at Blackwood Clementon Road's camera-monitored intersections are tested and re-certified every six months.

Opponents of red-light cameras have decried the township's participation in the pilot program as nothing more than a revenue grab. Proponents have argued the cameras make Blackwood Clementon Road safer, though only limited data has been presented to date supporting that notion.

DOT announced Tuesday evening that it had ordered 19 of 21 towns to stop issuing tickets from all red-light cameras, while two municipalities were told to stop issuing tickets based on alleged violations caught at single intersections.

Those towns reportedly were using the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices formula, which, according to DOT, requires a minimum duration of the yellow light to equal one-tenth of the posted speed limit on the approaching road.

DOT has notified the 21 affected towns of the variance in the formulas, and directed each to perform analysis that conforms to the formula in the legislation.

"If the analysis shows that the duration of a yellow light meets the minimum duration as required by the legislation, municipalities will be permitted to issue violation notices for violations that occur during the suspension period, and continue issuing violation notices," a DOT press release states. "If the analysis shows that a signal does not display a yellow light long enough to meet the formula in the legislation, that intersection will be removed from the pilot program."

The suspension order affects 63 of the 85 intersections statewide where red light cameras are operating or have been approved for operation.

Affected municipalities have till Aug. 1 to conduct their traffic analyses and submit certifications to DOT.