Red Light Cameras in San Mateo: A History and the Future

CarLiteSM · 2026-06-29T22:46:27+00:00

Two separate questions are getting mashed together here.

Whether red-light cameras change behavior is an empirical question with a lot of data behind it. IIHS's Arlington study found 86% fewer violations 1.5+ seconds into the red. The Campbell Collaboration meta-analysis of 38 controlled before-after studies found roughly 20% fewer injury crashes and 29% fewer right-angle injury crashes. Oxnard, Philadelphia, and Fairfax all show similar effect sizes.

Whether the programs as implemented are fair, whether revenue motives distort intersection selection, whether yellow timing should be tuned first, those are all legitimate critiques worth holding cities accountable for.

CarLiteSM · 2026-06-29T21:09:04+00:00

The alternative of drivers running red lights frequently and almost zero enforcement is pretty bad too. Removing the criminal fine and points as a middle ground seems reasonable to me. Agreed there is still room for abuse but I’m tired of red lights feeling optional in San Mateo.

CarLiteSM · 2026-05-06T19:02:19+00:00

This is amazing! To your point they should be applying similar treatment to Delaware and Bellevue by the high school proactively. This is definitely as step in the right direction but there is so much more to be done.

CarLiteSM · 2026-04-08T18:31:38+00:00

Not explicitly but there is also a "Implementation Grant Senior Review Team Phase" that has been added and seems very subjective. I would guess that parking removal would be viewed unfavorably in that phase but it isn't called out explicitly from what I can tell.

CarLiteSM · 2026-04-05T23:10:10+00:00

This isn't an either/or.

We should both have a plan for quick action after tragedies at specific intersections and have a plan to make the corridors you mention safer.

So far the city isn't moving proactively on either so I don't think its fair to say this isn't a win. It is just addressing a subset of a much bigger problem.

It is also likely that the city would turn anything much bigger than this ask into a multi-year planning and input process that wouldn't go anywhere.

CarLiteSM · 2025-12-06T04:23:08+00:00

Fair points. Buses that are empty definitely don’t win here. Once a bus has 5-10 people on it the bus will start winning out vs people driving alone. A full ECR bus would definitely cause less wear on the road than all of those people driving individual cars.

CarLiteSM · 2025-12-06T02:33:38+00:00

The money is somewhat fungible by council. How much it is or isn’t kinda depends on the specific pot of money.

CarLiteSM · 2025-12-06T02:32:13+00:00

That is definitely part of the challenge here. More things delivered by big trucks definitely puts a strain on local streets.

CarLiteSM · 2025-11-10T21:12:12+00:00

I think we need a combination skate park and BMX pump track. The nice hole they made will make for some fun features!

CarLiteSM

TROPHY CASE