‘The most dangerous street in Philadelphia’: Speed cameras will soon go live along Broad Street

Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority expects to finish installing automated speed cameras along Broad Street by the end of the month.

Once the work is completed, a total of 30 cameras will appear at 15 intersections between Old York Road near Montgomery County and League Island Boulevard near the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia.

“Assuming everything goes as planned, we will likely announce the date for the start of a warning period in early September,” said PPA spokesperson Martin O’Rourke.

There will be a 60-day grace period when the cameras go live. During that time, drivers caught speeding will be issued a written warning instead of a citation. After the grace period expires, drivers must be traveling at least 11 mph over the posted speed limit to receive a citation, which may run up to $150.

The speed limit along the vast majority of Broad Street is now 25 mph.

The new cameras are the first visible piece of a newly expanded speed camera program under Vision Zero, a citywide initiative launched by Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and severe injuries in Philadelphia.

State legislation signed into law in 2023 authorized automated speed cameras along five more corridors and up to five designated school zones. The measure also made permanent a pilot program launched on Roosevelt Boulevard, which is widely considered one of the city’s most treacherous roadways.

Data show that Broad Street, however, is now the most dangerous corridor amid what advocates consider a traffic safety crisis.

So far this year, a total of 60 people have been killed in traffic crashes in Philadelphia, according to city data. That puts the city on pace to again surpass the totals recorded in 2019 — the year before traffic fatalities surged in Philadelphia and nationwide.

Nearly half of this year’s fatalities were either pedestrians or bikers, with a handful of those deaths occurring on or very close to Broad Street. By comparison, two people have been killed on or close to Roosevelt Boulevard so far this year.

“Since we’ve made speed improvements and safety improvements on Roosevelt Boulevard, North Broad has actually emerged as the most dangerous street in Philadelphia. So it was our prime candidate for deploying additional speed cameras,” said Christopher Puchalsky, director of policy and strategic initiatives with the city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems.

Next spring, the parking authority is expected to start installing automated speed cameras along Route 13, which enters Philadelphia on Baltimore Avenue. The city also plans to install cameras along Allegheny Avenue, Christopher Columbus Boulevard, and Erie and Torresdale avenues.

Legislation authorizing speed cameras on those corridors has yet to be introduced in City Council.

In April, Council passed a measure approving seven potential locations for a five-year pilot to test the use of automated speed cameras in school zones. Similar to Roosevelt Boulevard, the city hopes to make speed cameras permanent along five of those zones.

“We understand we’ve gotta make the case to the General Assembly,” Puchalsky said.

Safety advocates don’t view the cameras as a panacea for the city’s crisis, but they do consider them among the more effective ways of deterring drivers from speeding.

The results on Roosevelt Boulevard are a big reason why. A study published last year found that speed cameras along Roosevelt Boulevard led to 95% less speeding along the corridor, where the PPA installed a total of 40 cameras at 10 intersections.

Opponents argue that it’s punitive, and in some cases regressive, to install speed cameras. They believe doing so can create profit-driven “speed traps” that arbitrarily increase the cost of driving.

The National Motorist Association maintains there are more equitable ways to deter drivers from speeding, including flashing beacon signs and speed feedback signs, which alert drivers to the speed limit and how their speed compares, respectively.

And unlike speeding tickets, which arrive in the mail weeks later, these “engineering solutions” send a direct message to drivers in real time about their behavior, making it more likely it will change, Executive Director Jay Beeber told WHYY News last year.

Some of the revenue generated by the automated speed cameras in Philadelphia will go to the parking authority for operating expenses, including the manpower needed to review the footage before citations are issued.

The majority will go to PennDOT, however. The state agency redistributes the funding to municipalities in the form of traffic safety grants. Those dollars are designed to “improve safety and reduce deaths and serious injuries resulting from speeding, not serve as a generator of revenue,” according to the PPA.

Priority is given to the municipality in which the cameras are located.