Red Light in Buffalo

The New York state legislature is resisting efforts by the city of Buffalo to... well, buffalo more money out their citizens. Apparently, city officials didn't cover up their tracks when they were plotting how best to pilfer the cookie jar:

"Why does the city not have a red light program?" asks one document prepared by the Buffalo police. "It would be worth the city's time to see if this program has reduced intersection accidents and to see the amount of revenue it has generated in other cities like Baltimore, MD."

Another document shows a city proposal to "de-synchronize traffic signals in order to slow down traffic, especially along commercial strips." Immediately following this proposal, the city recommends installing speed and red light cameras to "Aggressively enforce speed limits and other traffic violations," committed by frustrated motorists.

According to the city budget, installing red light cameras will "have a positive impact on revenues collected for both the city and the state." Photo enforcement vendor ATS is hopeful it can land the contract with Buffalo to provide ticketing services...

So the city rigs the light sequencing to encourage red-light violations, then wants to follow it up with cameras. That, however, is not the worst of it:

ATS hired Patricia Lynch to lobby Buffalo to gain an advantage over other vendors. Lynch is also paid by the city of Buffalo to lobby on the city's behalf.

So she's being double-paid for the "job" she does? Sweet! Where can I land a "job" like that? Oh... that's right: politics.

But it's all about safety, you know...