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A new Illinois Policy Institute study finds that over the past
four years, local governments across the state netted at least
$500 million in red light camera ticket revenue, bringing the
overall total drivers have been forced to pay out since 2018 to
$1.56 billion. Of that amount, cameras in Chicago proved to be
the greatest source of income at $915.5 million.
“My only worry is them getting tired of all this and causes a
lot of them to leave the state,” state Rep. Dan Ugaste,
R-Geneva, told The Center Square. “That's my worry and that's
part of the reason why I even got into public office, because of
all the good people I know who were just tired of bad policy and
are deciding to leave because of it. Too high taxes,
overregulation of business, and lack of opportunity for them and
their kids, it’s a bad formula and we’re just heading down the
wrong path.”
Ugaste said red light cameras should only be installed in areas
where there are large traffic safety problems.
“If we have that information and if it shows a decrease in
incidents or accidents, then it's worthwhile,” he said.
“Otherwise, these are just new revenue generating devices for
local government and that's not supposed to be the intent.”
As recently as 2022, at least 527 red light cameras peppered the
state, 300 of them in Chicago, where authorities also operate an
additional 169 speed cameras that issued another 1.56 million
tickets worth $102 million to the city in 2023.
Ugaste said he isn’t surprised by the findings of a Chicago
Tribune study that uncovered that the Illinois Department of
Transportation determined more than half of the intersections
where cameras were installed were among the safest in the state
before cameras were erected.
In addition, over the past several years, at least seven public
officials across the state have been charged in connection with
a bribery scheme tied to the cameras.
“The long list of public office holders who have found
themselves facing corruption charges related to all this, I
don't know that it's any different than anything else,” Ugaste
added. “A corrupt official is a corrupt official and they're
going to find a way to try and get money from something they
shouldn't. It's just, Illinois has a long history of officials
thinking they're in government to get rich off of it rather than
be public servants.”
In 2023, lawmakers passed legislation outlawing campaign
contributions from the red light camera industry and barring
lawmakers from seeking employment across much of the industry
within two years of leaving office.
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