Chicago mayor adds 50 speed cameras to put $11.4M in his budget
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to add 50 new speed cameras to city streets during the coming year to add $11.4 million from fines and fees to his deficit budget.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to add 50 new speed cameras to city streets this year to raise an additional $11.4 million from ticketing drivers as he tries to balance his 2026 budget.
Chicago Department of Transportation administrators announced last week the agency was actively working to increase the number of speed cameras from 162 to 212 as part of Johnson’s budget plan.
The deficit stems from Johnson’s decision to eliminate 162 Chicago police positions related to the federal consent decree from his original budget before being compelled by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and decree monitors to refill the vacancies.
While the safety zone locations and installation dates for these new speed cameras have yet to be released, transportation administrators said they will examine crash data and requests from aldermen when making the decisions.
Johnson has claimed the expansion of speed cameras is aimed in large part at improving traffic safety, but his reliance on increased ticket revenues to balance his budget shows the truth: Chicago uses speed cameras to raise money.
Analysis of Department of Finance data corroborates that, showing Chicago collected as much as $933 million from ticketing drivers since the speed cameras were first installed in 2013. In terms of tickets, that’s more than three for every Chicagoan.
These speed camera revenues fell to their lowest level since 2020 last year with the city collecting at most $70 million from fines, about $32 million less than in 2023.
The timing of this revenue drop in conjunction with City Council proposals to add new speed cameras and lower the citywide speed limit last year indicate Johnson intends to continue the age-old Chicago tradition of balancing budgets by nickel and diming residents.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot employed a similar approach to close a $1.2 billion budget deficit by lowering the speed camera ticketing threshold to fine motorists going 6-10mph with a $35 ticket and drivers going 11-plus mph with a $100 ticket.
Johnson’s plan to rely on millions more in ticket revenues to avoid running a deficit also runs counter to his campaign pledge to phase out speed cameras as well as his original stance on the traffic devices being used as “an easy revenue grab by the city.”
Transportation officials said they will publicize the locations of these new cameras prior to installation and grant drivers a 30-day grace period after activation, during which the motorist will be issued a warning notice instead of a fine.
The locations of Chicago’s active speed cameras can be viewed here.