Flim-flam is everywhere! In this article, the LA Times seems to be saying that new Red Light Traffic Control Cameras have doubled the city's income from traffic tickets. Reading past the headline however, reveals the city is being raped and robbed by the company that supplies the enforcement equipment and services.
The real story is the city nearly tripled the cost of a traffic infraction, and contracted with some company to install video cameras to catch red light violation perpetrators. however, the process of tripling the fines only seems to have doubled the income from the fines to the city. One suspects the rest has been siphoned off to the private firm who supplies the equipment. But there's more-- because now the average moving vehicle violation costs around $500, which makes it especially onerous to low-income drivers. The courts in LA are extremely backed up, and there's some indication the conviction rate on camera busts is only barely meeting the standards set forth in the contract. The company that originally won the contract with the city went out of business and is now owned by a competitor. And to top it off, there's no indication whatsoever that any of this has had any effect on LA's traffic problems. The only thing for certain is that more money from ordinary LA drivers is going into the pockets of the company that contracts out the services.
The privatization of government services is a bad idea! Period!
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