WINNIPEG - December 5, 2008 – Since July 2008, the City of Winnipeg has been conducting a Diamond Lane Photo Enforcement Research Project at southbound Osborne Street at Mostyn Place to research the feasibility of using photo safety technology to monitor compliance of Diamond Lanes. Preliminary results of the research project  indicate:

• The presence of photo enforcement technology (in the absence of actual issuance of offense notices) appears to have affected driver behavior at Osborne Street and Mostyn Place and reduced Diamond Lane violations by approximately 66%. 
• The actual number of violations has dropped from approximately 300 per day (between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday) to about 100 violations per day.

“These initial results look very promising and it appears photo technology may be a very efficient and cost effective way of enforcing Diamond Lane traffic controls,” says Director of Winnipeg Transit, Dave Wardrop, “However, further data will be collected over the remainder of the trial and a complete analysis will need to be made at its conclusion, before deciding on any course of action.”

Three key project objectives are:

• To test whether photo safety technology could be used for the enforcement of Diamond Lane traffic controls.
• To gather statistics on actual traffic violations occurring in the Diamond Lane on southbound Osborne Street at Mostyn Place.
• To evaluate the impact of this technology on driver behavior.

The photo enforcement technology is used to capture images of vehicles not adhering to the Diamond Lane restriction during the 15:30 to 17:30 (3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.) time period. Diamonds Lanes are reserved for buses, cyclists and right-turning vehicles only. 

This location was selected based on 1) a high number of Diamond Lane violations occurring per day during the restricted 15:30 to 17:30 time period Monday to Friday; and 2) the difficulty for Police to enforce traffic violations at this site. The photo technology at this location is not being used to issue tickets to motorists.

When motorists illegally use Diamond Lanes, transit service is negatively impacted in terms of travel time and reliability. As well, traffic not complying with Diamond Lane traffic controls can pose serious safety risks to motorists and pedestrians. Failure to comply with reserved lane traffic controls could result in a minimum fine of $190.00 and two demerit points.

Funding for the Diamond Lane Enforcement Research Project is provided by the federal Public Transit Capital Trust (PTCT). Manitoba received $32.6 million through the PTCT for projects that enhance transit service in communities across Manitoba.