Photo: Ford, Brad
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) announced today its contract with NovoaGlobal to supply and operate Portland’s Speed and Intersection Safety Camera program.
The safety camera program is a critical component of Portland’s Vision Zero program, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. Oregon state law allows cities to use speed and intersection safety cameras to improve traffic safety. The program is funded by the revenue from camera citations and traffic safety diversion class registration fees.
NovoaGlobal will be the City of Portland’s sole supplier and operator for the Speed and Intersection Safety Camera program, as well as PPB Traffic Division’s two mobile speed enforcement vans. The 32 cameras are composed of 15 speed safety cameras, which enforce only speeding; and 17 intersection safety cameras, which enforce both speeding and traffic signal compliance.
NovoaGlobal currently operates in the United States and South America, including Washington, D.C., Tacoma, and Beaverton. Their comprehensive traffic safety solutions—including red light, speed, and school zone speed enforcement—offer turnkey programs to help combat the ongoing crisis of traffic-related injuries and fatalities.
Work is underway to install its industry-leading technology at Portland’s 32 existing camera locations and two mobile vans. The new camera installation work is projected to be complete by November 1.
As part of this transition, the city will add three additional locations to its safety camera network:
- SE Powell Boulevard at 34th Avenue (westbound)
- NE 82nd Avenue at Fremont Street (southbound)
- NE 82nd Avenue at Klickitat Street (northbound)
The city initiates a 30-day warning period before new cameras begin issuing citations.
In addition, the city will install two speed safety cameras on SE Powell Boulevard at or near 60th Avenue by January 2026. Two cameras to be installed on SW Barbur Boulevard in the 5900 to 6100 blocks are also in the design phase.
This fall, PBOT and PPB will undertake a camera expansion planning process to expand beyond the 40 existing and planned locations. New locations are selected based on traffic crash data and site suitability. All of Portland’s safety cameras are on Portland's High Crash Network which represents just 8% of Portland’s streets but accounted for 70% of deadly crashes in 2022.
Speeding is deadly
Speeding is a top contributing factor to deadly crashes across the Portland region. Even small increases in speed can significantly increase both the risk of crashing and the severity of injuries when a collision occurs. A pedestrian hit at 20 mph has a 20% chance of severe injury or death, while a pedestrian hit at 40 mph has an 80% chance of severe injury or death.
Speed and intersection safety cameras in Portland are an effective and popular way to reduce dangerous speeding. Since the first speed safety cameras were installed in 2016, speeding at all camera locations dropped 59% and top-end speeding (more than 10 mph over the speed limit) dropped 88%.
In addition to local success, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration completed an international survey of automated enforcement and found that speed safety camera enforcement reduces injury crashes by 20 to 25%. A more recent study from the public health network Cochrane found that speed safety cameras reduced total crashes by up to 49% and deadly and serious injury crashes by up to 44%.
In PBOT’s Nov. 2024 survey of nearly 2,000 Portlanders, 82% of surveyors expressed support for Portland’s intersection safety cameras, 76% supported Portland’s speed safety cameras, and 72% supported Portland Police’s mobile vans.
The cameras are part of PBOT's multipronged safety strategy with roadway redesign, speed limit reduction, and education. This integrated strategy has dramatically decreased both speeding (a primary cause of Portland traffic fatalities) at camera locations. The 85th percentile speed (also known as the prevailing speed) at Portland’s speed safety camera locations dropped by 10 mph or 22% between 2015 and 2024.
By leveraging the most advanced automated technology available, the city will continue its efforts to make Portland’s streets safer for all.
Source: Portland Bureau of Transportation