Traffic Cameras No Longer So Profitable

Resistance to photo-enforcement has taken some of the money out of the biz

As an increasing number of cities decide to drop the use of red light cameras and speed cameras, the photo enforcement vendors are beginning to feel the pinch. The second-largest provider of automated ticketing machines, Redflex Traffic Systems, admitted Thursday to Australian Securities Exchange investors that the firm's profit in North America has slipped 10.1 percent in the past twelve months.

In 2011, Redflex pulled in $103 million from operations in the United States and Canada. For the financial year ended June 30, 2012, that figure was just $92 million. The severity of the drop is masked by exchange-rate fluctuations. In 2011, Redflex lost $17 million due to a 12 percent rise in the value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar. That means the real value of the plunge in Redflex revenue is closer to twenty percent.