Democratic Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed at a Wednesday press conference that she is set to spend millions on new speed cameras across the U.S. capital in the city’s new budget.
.@MayorBowser: $9.4mil to add 170 new speed cameras in #DC. @wusa9
— Nathan Baca (@NathanBacaTV) March 16, 2022
Bowser’s new budget will spend $9.4 million on new speed cameras, according to a tweet from WUSA9’s Nathan Baca. The $9.4 million will fund the installation of an additional 170 cameras across Washington, D.C., Baca reported.
The budget also has an additional $9.4 million funding the creation of over 100 full-time crossing guard positions, according to Baca. The budget will reportedly see $18.5 million going towards a pedestrian bridge to Kingman Island. (RELATED: DC Has More Traffic Cameras Than Any Other American City)
Bowser’s funding for new speed cameras is in line with a strategy implemented by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg’s plan to achieve “zero deaths” on American roads included covering those roadways with speed cameras.
Buttigieg argued that speed cameras help to achieve traffic death “equity” by taking “racial profiling” out of the equation. However, Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot released a study in January that showed speed cameras have an outsized effect on low-income and minority areas.