Published August 14, 2026 at 5:30 AM EDT

Automated red-light cameras are being introduced to some of Pittsburgh’s busiest intersections.

Two years after city councilor Erika Strassburger introduced the bill, the city implemented their Automated Red-Light Enforcement (ARLE) program.

“While we have worked for over a decade now to make our intersections safer through engineering, through traffic calming, through other methods,” said Strassburger, “what's really been lacking here has been enforcement.”

This program intends to limit traffic incidents by changing driving culture through increased enforcement. All the while, not taking additional resources from local police departments or creating more driver-officer interactions — which Strassburger said have escalated in “harmful ways” in the past.

Two years ago, Pittsburgh signed on to the Vision Zero initiative, or the strategy of working year after year toward a vision of a world with no deaths or serious injuries from traffic crashes.

From 2019 to 2023, Pittsburgh had 759 crashes and seven deaths from red-light-running incidents in the city.

“I don't think we want to drive in a city where there are speed humps or traffic calming on every street,” she said. “At some point, we also just need enforcement, and we need people to understand that there will be a consequence for driving unsafely.”

Another aspect from Pittsburgh’s Vision Zero framework includes the creation of a fatal crash response team. After a crash, engineers, public safety workers, and elected and city officials would arrive at the scene to see what can be done to improve long-term safety in that area.

Two red-light cameras are currently live in the following intersections:

• North Dallas & Penn Avenues (Point Breeze)
• Saw Mill Run Boulevard & Woodruff Street (Mount Washington)

Drivers who run a red, or fail to stop before turning right on one, will be issued a warning for the first sixty-days of ARLE. Starting Oct. 11, violators will be cited and given a $100 ticket.

Over the next few months, four more cameras will be added to the following intersections:

• Anderson Street & East General Robinson Street (North Shore)
• South Negley Avenue & Fifth Avenue (Shadyside)
• Chateau Street & West End Bridge (Chateau)
• Browns Hill Road & Parkview Boulevard (Glen Hazel)

Each will have a 30-day warning period before citations are given. The ARLE program intends to add more cameras each year for a total of 21 in the city. Intersections with cameras will have signage posted.

Money collected from fines will be put towards maintaining the program to make it revenue neutral. All additional revenue will go to the state’s ARLE Fund, supporting grants for intersection improvements across Pa. According to Strassburger, state law and city ordinance prohibit the city from making this program a revenue generator.

“We have heard this program get called a cash grab, or a cash cow or a revenue generator, so I want to clarify — that is far from the truth.”

Red-light cameras were constructed and will be maintained by the Arizona-based company Verra Mobility. They were awarded a five year contract by city council in 2025. According to Strassburger, this is not a cause for surveillance concern.

“This is not Flock. This is Vera Mobility,” she said. “They have a very strict policy, not only included in our memorandum of understanding and contract with them, but also within their own data retention policies and software.”

Red-light cameras will record an infraction occurring, send it to a member of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for human-review and the Pittsburgh Parking Authority will issue a ticket by mail. Drivers will have 30 days to pay or dispute the citation. Enforcement applies to any license-requiring vehicle, including motorcycles. This infraction will not impact a driver’s license or insurance.

All data is owned by the city and will be destroyed after 30 days. It does not include facial recognition software.

“People have become accustomed to driving unsafely and with no penalty, and this is hopefully going to change that,” said Strassburger.