HOLMES BEACH – Changes are coming to the school zone in front of Anna Maria Elementary School and drivers need to take note to avoid a ticket.
“This isn’t about making a buck, it’s about safety,” Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said of the planned camera system.
The system, being provided by Blue Line Solutions, is intended to catch drivers who speed through the school zone and who illegally pass school buses during school zone hours. City leaders in Holmes Beach are entering into the agreement through a piggyback agreement from one recently executed in Hollywood, Florida.
Though the speed limit on Gulf Drive is typically 25 mph, it drops to 15 mph when the yellow flashing beacon activates before and after school hours when there is more traffic in the area and kids are crossing the street.
With the new system, it will be easier to enforce the school zone speed limit with the system automatically generating speeding tickets for offending drivers. A representative for Blue Line, Dave Bocchino, said that the system uses artificial intelligence to identify illegal activity in the school zone and generate tickets, allowing for law enforcement services to be reallocated to other areas, if needed.
Bocchino also said that the system is funded by offenders, meaning that no charges will be billed to the city for the camera system, installation or services provided by Blue Line. The company recoups the cost of operation through an administrative fee charged and fines issued to traffic offenders. Rather than making money or “a cash grab,” he said it’s about making school zones safer for students.
A study conducted by Blue Line in the AME school zone showed 327 speeders over a five-day period going 11 mph or more through the school zone while the flashers were on indicating the lowered speed limit. Starting 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after the flasher times in the morning and afternoon, Bocchino said the study showed 1,300 drivers going through the school zone at speeds in excess of 11 mph over the speed limit. With the camera system, he said the company sees an average reduction of 90% in school zone speeding incidents.
Tokajer said the camera system would only be used to enforce speeding in the school zone while the flashers are on in the mornings and afternoons, when students are moving about in the area. He added that he’s spoken with representatives from AME who are in favor of the camera system.
Blue Line collects a $25 per incident fee along with a monthly fee of $2,500 per camera plus a $15-per-incident processing fee. All fees are subtracted from the gross amount of tickets issued through the system.
The camera system is being installed under a law passed by the state Legislature and approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis that allows camera enforcement of speeding and illegal school bus passing in school zones as of July 1, 2023.
Bocchino said in addition to the camera system and operation, Blue Line also offers an included public education component to help spread the word through the community that the camera system is in place and what to expect when driving through the school zone during school zone hours.
After meeting with several potential vendors while at the Florida Chief’s Association annual conference, Tokajer said that he selected Blue Line because the company has a local presence in Sarasota and charges less in administrative fees to offenders than some other companies.
In addition to the new system, Tokajer said that Director of Public Works Sage Kamiya also completed a Florida Department of Transportation study that shows the one-block-long school zone is not large enough to meet the department’s standards. When the cameras go in, he said the school zone will be restriped and extended by 100 yards to the north and 200 yards to the south.
Drivers won’t have to worry about the new system or the larger size of the school zone until classes resume in August.
Commissioners passed the first reading of an ordinance allowing for the regulation of the school zone. City Attorney Erica Augello said that the ordinance is required to enforce regulations in the school zone.
