Senate committee advances expanded automated speed and red-light camera program with funding, guardrails

The Senate Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts on Thursday voted to pass House Bill 12-31 with amendments to Ways and Means and Judiciary, moving forward a package to expand red-light and automated speed enforcement and to phase implementation over time.

The measure, as amended during the committee’s decision session, incorporates funding and operational language from House Bill 11-66 and sets a phased rollout of camera locations, directs certain funds toward Safe Routes to School priorities, and includes limits on use of camera images and data.

Why it matters: supporters said automated enforcement can reduce crashes and protect pedestrians and bicyclists, while the judiciary and others warned the program would create a sudden increase in case volume unless systems and staffing are modernized. The committee’s amendments try to balance public-safety goals with operational capacity and privacy safeguards.

Committee chair’s package of amendments directs the Safe Routes to School advisory council and a highway safety body to recommend camera locations; sets a minimum speed-over-the-limit threshold (left in the amendment text as a numeric placeholder to be fixed in later drafting); adopts restrictions against facial-recognition uses of camera images; and folds the appropriation and program-implementation language from HB 11-66 into HB 12-31 to form a single program authority and funding path.

Judiciary representatives repeatedly urged a slower rollout and automation before citations begin to flow. “The initial startup is what our current hurdle would be,” said Rokai with the judiciary, noting that district-court staff now receive paper citations and must “eyeball each entry to make sure that these are accurate and processed accordingly.”

Department of Transportation staff described a staged expansion: “So right now, we have 10 locations or 10 intersections that ... can be turned into speed to to issue warnings immediately. And there’s 10 in October at the latest [that] will be starting to issue citations,” a DOT representative said, adding that moving to additional sites will cost roughly $2,000,000 for equipment and the resources needed for police, prosecutors and the judiciary.

Advocates said automated enforcement is one tool among many. Trinity with Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice told the committee that Hawaii’s 2024 roadway deaths and rising pedestrian fatalities make additional safety measures urgent, while also recommending stronger protections for fairness and due process.

The committee accepted language to preserve fines and court funding needed for implementation, but also added directions to dedicate new revenue (including a proposal discussed in committee to adjust vehicle weight taxation) to Safe Routes to School projects; final funding language will be finalized in Ways and Means and Judiciary.

The committee also deferred a separate bill, HB 11-66 (an appropriation for automated speed enforcement), folding its content into HB 12-31 and deferring detailed code reorganization to later drafting in Ways and Means and Judiciary.

What’s next: HB 12-31 passed the committee “to pass with amendments” and will go to Ways and Means and Judiciary for further drafting and review. The committee set privacy and operational guardrails in its amendments but left numeric thresholds and some code cross-references to be resolved in the next drafting round.

Ending note: Committee members signaled continued oversight during implementation, emphasizing the need to automate citation transfer and to phase camera activations so district courts and enforcement partners can absorb new case volumes.