Red Light Cameras To Circle City Hall

At first, only Northeast Philly’s residents had to deal with red light cameras on the Boulevard. Now they’ve slowly been creeping around the city, collecting big fines for the state, big contracts for the red light camera companies and big campaign contributions for the politicians (from the red light camera companies).

And now they’re going to put red light cameras outside City Hall, because it will lead to instant free hilarity when a politician gets a fine in the mail and attempts to get out of it.

Councilman Jim Kenney is talking about the rampant red-light running around City Hall. He says a pedestrian could get hit: “Especially in some of the blind spots, when you step off the curb around Dilworth Plaza, and people are speeding up and you can’t see them coming until they’re right on top of you. We need to modify the behavior, and the cameras have clearly modified behavior in other parts of the city. And I think it’ll do it around City Hall.”

Yeah, cameras, the complete behavior-modification system. I can’t wait ’til they start to have these things for pedestrians. It might not happen until 2070, but there will be riots.

Next Location for Phila. Red Light Cameras: Around City Hall [KYW 1060]
Photo by functoruser used under a Creative Commons license

Parking Authority Shockingly Politicized

As Obama talks about race and Eliot Spitzer bangs call girls, you think the local papers would attempt to up the ante on scandals. Nope! Today’s Daily News details all the money going to Republicans from red light cameras in Northeast Philly.

Some lobbyist for the firm that runs the red light cameras gave most of his money to people who now have approved red light cameras. And now he’s donating to Democrats as well, because the red light camera program needs to be expanded.

Yes, this is how politics work, especially in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Why single out the Parking Authority as an inept patronage bureaucracy (or whatever) when you can say that about everything?

Red lights mean green for GOP [Daily News]