Seattle committee previews ordinance, proviso lift to expand automated traffic safety cameras

Seattle City Council’s Transportation Committee on April 1 heard a briefing from Seattle Department of Transportation officials on planned expansions of automated traffic safety cameras and a forthcoming ordinance to align city code with 2024 state law changes.

The presentation from Asad Naimani, Chief Safety Officer, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), outlined the department’s plan to activate an expansion of school‑zone cameras this year and to complete safety and equity analyses required by state law before deploying full‑time, non‑school speed cameras in other neighborhoods.

The committee’s chair, Rob Sacca, said he had asked staff to pursue two parallel tracks: expedite transmission of the executive’s ordinance to align Seattle Municipal Code with the new state law, and prepare proviso‑lift legislation for $1,180,000 that the council included in the 2025 budget to fund non‑school camera deployment. “We will consider the ordinance and the proviso lift in parallel,” Sacca said.

Why it matters: the 2024 state changes broaden allowable camera types, require safety and equity analyses, and permit additional civilian review of citation packages. SDOT, Seattle Police Department (SPD) and Seattle Municipal Court each play distinct roles in the program: SDOT handles engineering siting and program evaluation, SPD administers the vendor contract and reviews potential citations, and the Municipal Court manages payment and fine‑mitigation processes.

What SDOT told the committee - SDOT said it is prioritizing construction and activation of school‑zone fixed cameras this year. Naimani said SDOT plans to install cameras…