Dive Brief:

• Verra Mobility is finalizing a new contract to expand New York City’s automated traffic enforcement program, company President, CEO and Director David Roberts said on Wednesday’s earnings call. 
• The city’s program is authorized by New York State, which had previously limited red-light cameras to 150 signalized intersections. Last year, the state expanded the program to allow 600 such intersections. 
• “Automated enforcement cameras have proven highly effective at changing driving behavior to reduce speeding, red-light running, blocking bus-stops, and driving overweight vehicles on the [Brookyn-Queens Expressway],” New York City DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

Verra Mobility manages the current red-light program, and in March the New York City Department of Transportation selected the transportation technology company to manage the expanded program. 

Roberts said he expects the new contract to have a five-year term with a five-year renewal option. He estimated the total contract value at $963 million. The DOT will purchase the cameras and other equipment from Verra Mobility, adding some $20 million to $30 million in revenue for the company in 2026 and 2027, he said.

The city’s request for proposals asked companies to address challenges such as the increase in ghost cars: vehicles that can’t be traced by traffic cameras and toll readers because their license plates are forged or altered. The DOT expects Verra Mobility to upgrade the automated traffic enforcement equipment it has already deployed in the city to meet those standards as well. The DOT expects Verra Mobility to install up to 250 red-light cameras by the end of this year, Roberts said.

Verra Mobility committed to using 32% minority- and women-owned business enterprises for the program and made a commitment to community partnerships and education, according to the city’s DOT. 

San Francisco’s speed safety cameras, also supplied by Verra Mobility, saw speeding decline by an average of 72% at 15 sites where before-and-after data were available, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which administers the program. San Jose, California, recently announced its intent to award its speed safety program to Verra Mobility, Roberts said.

In its third quarter, the company secured several additional contracts, Roberts said on the call: with Phoenix for a speed program, Seattle for a school bus stop-arm program, and Auburn, Washington, for an expansion of a school zone speed program.