Committee discusses automated traffic enforcement vendors, data needs and due-process questions

The Columbia Transportation Committee spent substantial time reviewing plans for automated traffic enforcement (ATD) after the Board of Selectmen authorized drafting an ordinance and urged staff to prepare an RFP for potential vendors. Committee members emphasized using crash and fatality data to identify camera locations and discussed whether the town should prefer vendors on the regional CROG prequalified list or accept other bidders.

Members described a typical enforcement workflow: a vendor screens photos for readable plates, municipalities or hired staff perform an initial screening, tickets are issued with an online appeal option, and a second-stage in-person appeal would be handled by a local committee. The chair said the vendor typically “reviews the photo in the first screen to make sure it's clearly you can read the license plate” before sending packets for processing. Several members raised legal concerns after a Florida court decision: one asked whether civil citations confer the same due-process protections as criminal proceedings and recommended the town obtain an opinion from the town attorney before moving forward.

Committee members also pressed for transparency in vendor qualifications. Members noted CROG’s prequalification includes only a few firms, and that some vendors not on the list have argued their courtroom-oriented software offers advantages. The committee discussed asking CROG for the basis of its prequalification decisions and for staff to include data-collection methodology in any RFP so camera-site selection remains objective.

The discussion produced no formal vote to adopt a procurement strategy; members asked staff to draft clear RFP language and return with additional information at a future meeting.