*Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with clarification from NovoaGlobal.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The city’s attempt to curb speeders with automated cameras installed on some streets seems to be working, according to data the city released Thursday. But the promising results only come from one street, and the analysis lacks detail.
The newly released data shows “a significant decrease in speeding along Gibson in just the first few months of the Automated Speed Enforcement program,” according to a press release from the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). The data comes from NovoaGlobal, the Florida-based company that has been helping APD try to reduce speed.
The city has at least ten cameras placed throughout a handful of Albuquerque streets. Two, located on Gibson Boulevard S.E., seem to be capturing an increasing number of drivers slowing down.
According to APD, data from the camera operator, NovoaGlobal, show a 70% decrease in the number of speeders going more than 20 mph over the 40 mph limit. And the number of speeders going more than 10 miles-per-hour over the limit has decreased by 50%.
But it’s not clear exactly what those numbers mean. The report doesn’t actually say how many fewer cars are speeding way over the limit. A 70% decrease could mean several cars or several hundred cars, we just don’t know.
KRQE News 13 reached out to NovoaGlobal for more detailed numbers. But we didn’t hear back as of the time of publication.
The report also shows that the average speed on Gibson, near the cameras, has gone down by 4 mph to 6 mph. The report has graphs to back up the data, but the x-axis isn’t labeled, so it’s not clear over what time period that decrease occurred.
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Charts included in the report from NovoaGlobal do not have labels on the axes, but APD says the horizontal axis represents weeks – and NovoaGlobal clarifies that it’s weeks since the beginning of 2022. These show the drop in average speed captured by the two cameras on Gibson. The vertical axis appears to be miles per hour.
KRQE News 13 asked APD for more information. Rebecca Atkins, an APD spokesperson, says the data comes from September 27, 2021 through August 14, 2022. Atkins says the numbers along the bottom of the charts represent weeks. Carlos Lofstedt, from NovoaGlobal, told KRQE News 13 that the horizontal axis counts weeks since the beginning of 2022.
Several months ago, KRQE News 13 reported that some data seemed to show that drivers weren’t slowing down, despite the presence of cameras. Some of the highest speeds were recorded on Gibson. One vehicle was photographed going 150 mph.
Now, this latest data does seem to show a drop in the number of speeders way above the limit on Gibson. As for the other streets with automated cameras, Atkins from APD says they’re waiting on NovoaGlobal to send reports.
And the city seems to be gearing up for even more cameras. “Due to the success of the program, the City is exploring other locations,” Atkins says. “Hopefully in the near future, we’re going to see quite a significant increase in more cameras being installed throughout the city.”
Those would likely go in locations that APD and the Department of Municipal Development determine. Atkins says she doesn’t know exactly where more cameras would go, but the latest one was installed on Central Avenue and New York Avenue, near the ABQ BioPark.
Atkins also points out that APD is no longer issuing warnings to speeders caught by the cameras. More information on the automated enforcement can be found on the city’s website.
