Vail could soon start issuing automated tickets to frontage road speeders
The tickets will be $40 and there will be no points against a motorist's license if one is issued
John LaConte/Vail Daily
The ordinance was approved on April Fools’ Day, but it’s no joke: Go more than 10 mph over the speed limit in Vail, and an AI system could soon start issuing speeding tickets automatically to the vehicle’s owner.
The Vail Town Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an effort from the Vail Police Department to use an automated vehicle identification system for speeding enforcement on South Frontage Road adjacent to Village Center Drive, and North Frontage Road near Zermatt Lane.
With the ordinance now approved, the Vail Police Department will apply for a permit with the state of Colorado that would authorize the program and delineate where the system can be implemented.
Vail Police Department Operations Manager Chris Botkins described the automated vehicle identification system as an evolution of camera enforcement technology that has been used by towns and police departments for years.
“If you can remember in years past the photo radar that was used at traffic lights and things like that, this is essentially version 2.0 of that, using a lot of AI, video, and a lot more technology to enforce speed enforcement,” Botkins told the council on Tuesday.
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‘Force multiplier’
Botkins said the frontage road locations were selected because they allow the town enough space to give drivers proper notification that they are being recorded, and also because the police department has lots of data indicating that people speed in those locations.
In the North Frontage Road location, which is in West Vail near City Market, “there’s people crossing the road to get to their parking on that side, it’s a dangerous area,” Botkins said.
And in the South Frontage Road location, which is near the Vail Village parking structure, “a vast majority of the cars are speeding there,” Botkins said. “And it’s not a lack of effort from the police department, that’s a very difficult place, based on the volume, to conduct traffic enforcement.”
“So this would be, essentially, a little bit of a force multiplier for us,” Botkins added.
Both locations would only monitor vehicles headed westbound, Botkins said, and motorists will be notified 300 feet before entering the corridor in which the enforcement will take place, as well as 300 feet ahead of the camera itself.
“So that should give the motorist and the public ample time to know they are being recorded in that area,” he said. “So hopefully they’ll slow down.”
Vail Police Chief Ryan Kenney pointed out that there will be no points against a motorist’s license if a ticket is issued. The tickets will be $40, Kenney said, administered through a third party service which retains a portion of the program’s revenue for its fee.
“It’s a low fine and no violation,” Kenney said.
The program’s set-up costs are expected to be quickly covered by its revenues earned, Kenney said.
“After 100 violations, the system pays for itself,” Kenney said.
Easily expanded
The South Frontage Road enforcement corridor will be from the Sandstone roundabout to Ford Park, and the North Frontage Road corridor will be from the West Vail roundabout to the post office.
But the automated vehicle identification system won’t be set up throughout the entirety of those corridors, Botkins said.
“The cameras and what would be authorized by the state would be sections within that roadway,” Botkins said. “The reason it was written like this is because if we were to expand this program in the future, we wouldn’t have to amend the ordinance, we would essentially just get another permit from the state to put up more cameras.”
Some expansions of the program, however — like setting up enforcement corridors in neighborhoods or school zones — would not require extra permitting.
“So if we were to expand it, we could put it into residential neighborhoods as well,” Botkins said.
