PAC Filings from Baytown Camera company front group Showing Andy Taylor as the person appointing the treasurer. Note their sole stated purpose is to oppose us having a vote on the cameras.
PAC Filings from their College station Effort, note the contributions from American Traffic Solutions, (ATS) which is the camera company and their vendors, All contributions come to over $70,000! Note the name of their PAC mimics their Houston PAC (keep Houston safe).
See the Sales Pitch the red light camera company presented to Baytown city council. Businesses know what motivates their prospective clients, notice what is emphasized in bold by the red light camera company. Is it Safety? No, it is the revenue collected, the high number of tickets issued and the low number of people requesting hearings. It is easy to see what they thought the city wanted to hear. Notice even in the sales pitch the red light camera companies admit that in their example city accidents were not reduced and neither were the number of injury accidents. They don't even bother to hide it when they try to sell cities on the revenue aspects.
Email From TXDOT confirming that the ITE timing forumla based on the approach speed is the standard to be used when setting the yellow change interval. Texas Transportation code governing red light cameras mandates that yellow change intervals be set according to TMUTCD guidelines.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has received
> your e-mail dated April 28, 2009, regarding: "Could you
> either send me the specific guidelines for determining the
> yellow times or a link to an online publication for
> this?" We offer the following response to your
> inquiry.
>
> State law requires TxDOT to adopt a traffic signal manual.
> We have adopted the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
> Devices (TMUTCD), which regulates traffic signals that we
> install on our roadways. The TMUTCD can be viewed at the
> following website: http://www.txdot.gov/txdot_library/publications/government/project_development/traffic_operations.htm
>
>
> According to Section 4D.10 of the TMUTCD, "the
> duration of each yellow change interval shall be determined
> using engineering practices. Engineering practices for
> determining the duration of yellow change and red clearance
> intervals are found in ITE's 'Traffic Control
> Devices Handbook' and in ITE's 'Manual of
> Traffic Signal Design'." The TMUTCD suggested that
> a yellow change interval should have a duration in the range
> of 3 to 6 seconds. The longer intervals should be reserved
> for use on approaches with higher speeds. A common formula
> for calculating the duration of yellow change interval is:
> Y = T + V / (2a + 64.6g) , where
> Y = yellow change interval in seconds
> T = perception/reaction time of driver in seconds
> (typically taken as 1.0 second)
> V = approach speed in feet per second
> a = deceleration rate in feet per second per second
> (typically taken as 10 feet per second per second)
> g = approach grade, percent of grade divided by 100 (add
> for up-grade and subtract for downgrade).
> Officially, the yellow time interval is determined using
> engineering judgment as stated in Section 1A.09 of the
> TMUTCD.
>
> For more information on signal timing, the Federal Highway
> Administration has an on-line resource entitled "FHWA
> Traffic Signal Timing Manual" ( http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop08024/index.htm
> ).
>
> I hope that this information is helpful. If you have
> further concerns or need additional information, please
> contact me at XXXXX@dot.state.tx.us
> or call me at (512) 506-XXX
>
> Best Regards,
> Adam
>
>
>
> Adam S. Chodkiewicz
> Traffic Management Section - Signals Branch
> TXDOT - Traffic Operations Division
More to come soon!