Speeds drop by 15 km/h thanks to road camera in this Mississauga neighbourhood

A speed camera set up in a west Mississauga neighbourhood reduced speeds by an average of 15 km/h over several months.

Now, the City councillor for the area wants specific information about speed cameras more readily available so he and his colleagues can in more timely fashion pass on to residents the message that the speed enforcement tools work well.

On Wednesday (June 14) at Mississauga City council, Ward 6 Councillor Joe Horneck sang the praises of the Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) camera that spent the past four months tracking and ticketing speeders along a section of The Credit Woodlands near Springfield Public School, just north of Dundas St. W.

The posted speed limit in the area is 40 km/h.

Horneck said that particular camera is now being moved on to a new location, as per the City of Mississauga’s rotating ASE camera program, in hopes of yielding similar results.

“It was really effective. The speeds that staff were able to provide me (showed) we had a decline of 15 km/h, so it shows the effectiveness of the program,” said Horneck.

The councillor noted that prior to the installation of the camera back in February, the average speed was 51 km/h on the stretch of neighbourhood road.

By the end of the ASE camera’s run at the location, Horneck continued, the average speed had dropped to 36 km/h.

“That’s excellent,” said Horneck, who went on to ask senior staff on Wednesday if, moving forward, they could more regularly and in greater detail provide speed camera numbers to councillors.

Specifically, Horneck wants to know immediately at the end of a camera’s run how effective it was.

“I think it would be very effective for us to have neighbourhood specific knowledge about what’s happening at a specific (camera) location,” the councillor said. “We take the flack from people who get tickets, and (it would be nice to respond), ‘Well, that specific camera has reduced speed by X.’

“I think it would be a very effective thing for councillors to have that data…” to show people that the cameras are effective and they are helping reduce speed.

Staff said they’ll work to address Horneck’s request.

Ward 6 Councillor Joe Horneck wants to arm councillors with more specific information related to speed cameras so they can better inform residents. 

In May, speed cameras popped up at five new locations across Mississauga, bringing the total to 16 active devices currently in use to record and ticket speeding drivers in Community Safety Zones.

Under the City of Mississauga’s ASE camera program launched in 2021, officials aim to have as many as 22 cameras operating at any given time.

Due to various issues, though, that number sometimes drops below 22 for short periods.

Under the program, drivers speeding through Community Safety Zones (near schools) and other speeding hot spots have an image of their licence plate recorded by the camera and the registered owner of the vehicle is sent a ticket by mail.

Earlier this year, insauga.com reported that the number of active speed cameras in Mississauga had more than doubled in the space of a year.

In January 2022, there were only about nine cameras up and running.

As of March 17 of this year, there were 21 cameras in operation with several moved to new locations in January and February.

A quick glimpse of where speed cameras are active (green) and soon planned (orange) in Mississauga. For more details, visit the City’s website. (Image: City of Mississauga speed camera map)