NYSDOT traffic counting cameras cause concern
With cameras installed on poles in numerous Rochester-area neighborhoods, residents are wondering what information is being collected and why.
Mary and Mark Mann noticed something strange while taking an evening stroll through their Brighton neighborhood earlier this week.
“I saw the chains all over the mast that we hadn’t seen before,” says Mary. “I looked up and thought, ‘Wow, what is that?’ My son said, ‘That’s a camera and it’s pointed at that circle there. That’s pretty interesting – we thought if it was a traffic object it would be pointing the other way.'”
Susan Cavanagh had similar thoughts when a camera was installed on a street sign right in front of her home in Penfield: “1) Who put it here? 2) What do they see and why is the camera pointed at a residential area and not a main road?” Cavanagh wondered.
Nicole Felts wanted to know the same thing when one showed up at the entrance to the cul-de-sac where she lives. “I looked up the number for the state Department of Transportation and called them – they said we had no idea what it was and told me to call Monroe County,” Felts says. “So I called the Monroe County Department of Transportation, no idea. They told me to call the city. I called the city of Penfield, talked to three different people in town and had no idea, they told me to call 911.”
Officials in many cities where these cameras are visible told News10NBC they did not know long in advance.
“I found out they were putting these cameras up last week when I started getting calls (from residents) out of the blue about it,” said Pittsford City Councilman Bill Smith.
After News10NBC began making calls seeking answers, the New York State Department of Transportation emailed the city government with information about the cameras.
“These are traffic counting cameras,” Smith said. “I asked them what they do. Do they take video? Do they actually record video activity in the neighborhood? And they said no, the cameras are just to keep a register or a list of how many cars are driving through.”
In a statement to News10NBC, a NYSDOT spokesperson said, “The traffic counters, installed along various roads in Perinton and elsewhere, are owned by a NYSDOT vendor and are operated pursuant to NYSDOT’s federally mandated and funded obligation to collect traffic volume data annually throughout New York State. Traffic counting cameras are now the industry standard and are considered safer to operate and more efficient than previous counters that often required workers to enter the roadway.”
“It’s a bit like Big Brother to me,” says Mike Mann. Both he and Mary think NYSDOT should have at least informed neighbors where the cameras were being placed and why, so there would be no confusion.
Aside from the lack of communication, both Cavanagh and Felts wonder why the state even bothers to count cars on dead-end streets and quiet roads.
In a follow-up statement to a list of other questions from News10NBC, the Department of Transportation spokesperson says, “Traffic counters – used solely to record vehicle counts – are placed on a select number of randomly selected streets each year. Local officials were notified in advance of the counter placement and NYSDOT anticipates that counting operations will be completed and cameras removed by the end of the summer.”
