Menlo Park Docs - Main Page - Illegal Red Light Cameras

Some of Menlo Park's tickets can be ignored. If your "ticket" does not have the Superior Court's name and address on it, it is what I call a "Fake Ticket." For more details, see the Fake Ticket section on the Your Ticket page.

If you have a ticket from Menlo Park - even one you already have paid - be sure to read the "San Mateo County Information," which is Docs Set # 4 on the San Mateo Documents page - and contact me!

This table made by highwayrobbery.net, using official monthly reports of citations actually issued. Those source documents are available at:

Cust. Mgmt. Reps. Apr. 2008 - Mar. 2009
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. Apr. 2009 & Aug. 2010
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. Sep. & Oct. 2010
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. Nov. & Dec. 2010
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. 2011
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. 2012
Also see ticket counts in Set # 2, below.
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. 2008 - Oct. 2012 Grand Totals
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. 2012 - 2013
Cust. Mgmt. Reps. 2011 - 2013

[ ] indicates a footnote.
[1] Except where noted otherwise, totals and percentages are as provided by the City.
[2] YTD = Year-to-date total.
[3] Un-used columns are to allow for later expansion of City's system.
[4] Any figures in red type (or, if you are looking at this table in black and white, the upper figure when there are two or more figures in a cell) are what the city calls Total Violations (total incidents photographed by the camera), and due to time limitations may have been posted here only for selected months or locations. If there is sufficient public interest, the remaining months will be posted. The figures in black type represent the sum of genuine citations issued (those filed with the court) plus any Nominations mailed (not filed with the court, a.k.a. Snitch/phishing/fake Tickets).
[5] See Set # 3, below.
[6] The camera enforcement is believed to be on traffic on the first-named street, but the direction of enforcement (north, south, east, west, thru, left) is not yet available.
[7] If you have a left turn ticket at Bayfront/Willow, see the expanded version of Defect # 9 - C, and Docs Set # 3, below.
[8] Per City staff, a defective sensor at Bayfront/Willow was replaced on 11-22-10. It may have been responsible for the low number of violations recorded during September and October.
[9] Citywide total for this month is by highwayrobbery.net.
[10] Data for this month was requested on 12-9-12.
[11] According to the MPPD, the cameras on were inoperable because the re-paving on El Camino destroyed the in-ground sensors, and damage by a hit and run at Bayfront/Willow.
[12] This report was generated just a few days after the end of the month, so the number of tickets issued may be low.
[13] Proposed new camera. See Set # 9, below.

Menlo Park Docs Set # 2
"Late Time" Graphs

The City has provided bar graphs of Late Times, etcetera, for all four of its cameras.
These graphs track violations recorded, not tickets issued.
Where there is a large number of long Late Time violations in a curb lane, it is believed to indicate heavy ticketing on right turns.
(The curb lane will be the lane with the highest lane number.)

The picture above is an example from another city.

Ticket Counts May 2009 to Feb. 2010 & Bar Graphs - 6-Month Intervals
July 2009 Bar Graphs ECVA-01
July 2010 Bar Graphs & Ticket Counts Mar. 2010 to July 2010
July 2011 Bar Graphs (received in April 2013)
July 2012 Bar Graphs

Bar graphs are available for more than fifty other cities - see the list in the expanded version of Defect # 9.

Menlo Park Docs Set # 3
July 2010: Bayfront/Willow Yellow Lengthened

On July 2, 2010 at 10 a.m. CalTrans lengthened the yellow for the westbound Bayfront/Willow left turn to 3.5 seconds, up from 3.0.
As a result, violations dropped by about 80% - see the Ticket Counts table, above.
Flipping these numbers over, we can see that the missing half second increased ticketing fivefold.
At Bayfront/Willow, approx. 3000 drivers were ticketed unfairly. Approx. $1.3 million in fines.
If you have a pre-change ticket with a Late Time of 0.60 second or less, call the City and ask them to dismiss it. And if they refuse, take it to court.
See also a letter highwayrobbery.net wrote to the local assemblyman (who was elected to the State Senate in Nov. 2012).

It is also interesting to note that between February and March 2010, something caused the number of raw violations at Bayfront/Willow (in the table above, the figures in red) to double. And, it happened again between May and June of 2012.

Menlo Park Docs Set # 4
The Contract, Etc.

2006 Contract

The city council approved a five year contract with RedFlex on Dec. 5, 2006. It will expire in May 2013, unless renewed.

The 2006 contract includes an illegal "cost neutrality" clause, whereby the city will not have to pay RedFlex the full rent if there aren't enough fines to cover the cost. See Subsection B. of Defect # 10.

The 2006 contract also says: Definitions. "Warning Period" means the period of thirty (30) days after the Installation Date of the first intersection approach. (Emphasis added.) See Defect # 6.

In May 2013 the City and RedFlex signed an agreement to continue the program for two months, to allow time for contract negotiations.

This list of contracts and amendments was up-to-date as of 5-10-13.

Menlo Park Docs Set # 5
Status Report

At the Oct. 12, 2011 meeting of the City's Transportation Commission, the police made a presentation about the red light cameras. The video of that meeting is available on the City's website.

Menlo Park Docs Set # 6
Encroachment Permits

Some of the City's cameras are located on CalTrans right-of-ways, so are operated under an encroachment permit obtained from CalTrans. HighwayRobbery.net obtained these documents from CalTrans, via a public records request.

Issued Permit, 2007

Some other cities operate cameras under encroachment permits. For more information about those cities and about CalTrans' criteria for the issuance of an encroachment permit, see the CalTrans section on the Links page.

Menlo Park Docs Set # 7
How Much They Get

To see how much fine money the Court sends to the City, go to Docs Set # 4 on the San Mateo Docs page.

Menlo Park Docs Set # 8
Info on City's Website

There is program info at the police department's website.
If the link does not work, drill down:
www.menlopark.com>
city departments>
police>
online resources>
red light photo enforcement

Menlo Park Docs Set # 9
2013: Proposed New Rolling Right Cameras

Emails between the City and RedFlex (obtained via a Public Records Act request) reveal that they are thinking about putting one or two cameras at the corner of Bayfront and Chilco, and that rolling right turns could be 97% or more of the violations.
In the emails the sergeant who runs the camera program acknowledged that most of the violations are for right turns, but she didn't seem to be concerned about the fairness of that. Rather, she worried whether the high rate of violations would be "sustainable." The RedFlex sales rep - who formerly was a lieutenant with the Fremont police and ran the camera program there - was quick to reply:

"I can say that most intersections that have right turns enforced continue to produce consistent numbers."

Menlo Park Docs Set # 10
More Coming

There may be some more Menlo Park information posted in the next few weeks. Mark your calendar to remind you to come back here and look!

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RED LIGHT CAMERAS
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