Updated 4:05 p.m.
State transportation officials are studying possible Honolulu intersections for the red-light camera pilot program.
The Department of Transportation said it began conducting engineering studies in January at 14 intersections to determine whether installing cameras is feasible and can increase safety.
The studies are expected to be completed in March. Then the DOT will finalize 10 intersections and begin installing cameras.
Gov. David Ige approved the two-year pilot program under Act 30, passed by the state Legislature, in 2020.
Statewide between 2015 and 2020, there were 1,879 crashes caused by red-light and other traffic signal violations, the department said.
The pilot intersections were chosen based on crash history and site suitability.
The cameras will take a photo of the rear license plate of a vehicle that enters the intersection after a light turns red. Then a citation will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle.
"We're putting this in place to make sure that we improve safety on the system," said Ed Sniffen, DOT deputy director for highways.
Sniffen says while fatalities on state and county roads have been declining in recent years, he hopes the pilot program will help further reduce the number of fatalities by "changing the culture" of drivers.
"This is a safety thing. We're putting [the cameras] there and hoping that we never issue a citation because that means everybody's yielding to the stop signal and following the law."
Sniffen says the DOT will warn drivers of the cameras with signs and educational campaigns.
The state is studying the following locations:
- Likelike Highway and School Street
- Vineyard Boulevard and Palama Street
- Vineyard Boulevard and Liliha Street
- King Street and River Street
- North King Street and Beretania Street
- Pali Highway and Vineyard Boulevard
- Pali Highway and School Street
- King Street and Ward Avenue
- Kapiolani Boulevard and Kamakee Street
- Beretania Street and Piʻikoi Street
The state is also looking at King Street and Middle Street, King Street and Kohou Street, Vineyard Boulevard and Nuʻuanu Avenue, and McCully Street and Algaroba Street as alternative locations.
More information can be found here.
