Bernalillo County’s digital traffic cops are sticking around.
County commissioners voted on Tuesday, March 11 to approve the budget for a speed enforcement program and create a full-time program coordinator position in the Operations and Maintenance Department.
The commission created the program in February 2023 and launched it in August 2024, with drivers getting citations after a 30-day warning period.
This program is intended to be self-sustaining, city staff said, with the net proceeds from citations used to cover the costs of running it.
The program started with contractors providing an administrator, two certified law enforcement officers and a hearing officer. Tuesday’s action brings the program in-house.
Elias Archuleta, deputy county manager for public works, said there are seven speed cameras operating within the county, with three more expected in the next couple of months and more planned for the longer term, along with a mobile speed camera.
The budget for the program is set at $985,939, which is the revenue brought in so far.
Commissioners said speeding vehicles are among the top concerns brought to them by constituents.
Archuleta said county staff frequently field such inquiries and that his department uses speed humps, feedback signs (which display the speed of passing vehicles) and other methods to slow drivers down.
He said the speed cameras have had a noticeable impact on certain areas, including a stretch of Paradise Boulevard in the North Valley.
Archuleta told commissioners that drivers have paid more than 17,000 citations to date.
“We’re getting about 40% compliance,” he said. “So if we back that number up, we’ve issued close to 34,000.”
Archuleta said a decline in the number of paid citations indicates that drivers are changing their behavior. He said the number was 4,500 to 5,000 a month, but only about 3,400 were paid in February.
The county is required by law to give the state half of its net revenue from speed cameras.
Commissioner Walt Benson acknowledged the cameras are not popular, but said the goal of the program is making the streets safer.
“First of all, slow down,” he said.
Benson said those with low income can request to perform community service to offset the fines.
The measure passed unanimously.