City to Bring Red Light Cameras to 450 New Intersections in ‘26

The NYC Department of Transportation is considerably ramping up its installation of red light cameras at various intersections, more than a year after the NYS legislature boosted a citywide cap on the devices.

The DOT says they expect to meet the new cap of 600—up from 150—by the end of the year. Over the next five weeks, they plan on installing 50 new red light cameras per week.

It is unclear how many of these will be located in Manhattan, as the DOT has not published the locations of individual red lights cameras in the past, which they’ve indicated is necessary to maintain the program’s efficacy.

“Red light running is one of the most dangerous behaviors on our city’s streets and puts all New Yorkers at risk. That is why we are taking immediate action to ramp up the city’s red light camera program,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement.

“We will pair this heightened enforcement with ambitious street redesigns to make our streets safer,” he added.

The legislation that increased the citywide red light camera cap passed in October 2024, as part of a three-year extension of the program, which was set to expire. It was spearheaded by State Senator Andrew Gounardes, who represents a large swath of western Brooklyn, and Bronx State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz.

The Assembly version of the bill also had strong support from Manhattan politicians, as it was co-sponsored by Upper East Side rep. Rebecca Seawright and (then) East Side rep. Harvey Epstein, who is now representing the area in City Council as of Jan. 1.

“I passed the law to expand the red light camera program for a simple reason: we know it works. The reality is, most drivers don’t run red lights. But those drivers, along with everyone else, are safer when the ones who do are held accountable,” Gounardes said, in a statement of his own.

The city’s red light camera system has been in effect for more than 30 years now, after it was first authorized in 1994 by then-Mayor David Dinkins. According to the DOT, intersections with the cameras have seen “a 73 percent decline in red-light running, a 65 percent decline in T-bone crashes, and a 49 percent drop in rear-end collisions.”

Furthermore, the agency says that drivers who receive “five or more red light camera violations in a year...are more than 100 times more likely to be involved in a crash that kills or seriously injures someone,” although “fewer than 0.5 percent” of vehicles rack up that many violations; the DOT says that this is attributable to initial violations deterring most drivers from continuing to behave recklessly.

Drivers who trigger red light cameras are given a $50 fine, with an additional $25 penalty handed down if they fail to pay the fine within 30 days.

The DOT has been seeking to expand the city’s red light camera system well before Oct. 2024, and the intersection cap of 600 is significantly less than a previous goal of more than 1,300 intersections.

As reported by Straus News in March 2024, then-Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez fought to pass legislation that would expand red light cameras to roughly “10 percent” of city intersections (the 1,300 figure).

That bill was also co-sponsored by then-State Assembly Member Epstein, as well as Upper West Side City Council Member Gale Brewer.