Orlando Reviews Bids to Add Red-Light Cameras at Up to 80 More Intersections

Orlando started reviewing vendor bids Thursday to expand its red-light camera program from 25 intersections to as many as 80 more, a move that could change where and how often drivers across the city get ticketed starting as soon as 2027.

City staff laid out the plan during a committee meeting, walking through what a management company would be responsible for under a larger version of the program. Orlando currently runs 45 cameras at 25 intersections. Officials say the 80 locations now under consideration were picked using crash data, with a focus on intersections where cars are more likely to T-bone each other after someone runs a red light.

Two spots on the list stand out. Bumby Avenue and Amelia Street has no camera today but made the shortlist. Colonial Drive and Maguire Boulevard, which already has a camera and has generated citations, is being considered for additional coverage.

What the current program brings in

The numbers behind the existing 25 intersections give a sense of what's at stake if the program roughly triples in size. In the last reporting year, Orlando's cameras issued more than 60,000 violation notices and generated about $7.1 million, split between the city and the state.

Nothing about where the money goes would change under the expansion. Revenue is split between the city and the state, as it is now. What would change is the number of intersections where a driver can get caught on camera.

No installation date yet

City officials have not set a firm timeline for putting new cameras up. They say they hope to have at least some of the expanded locations operating in 2027, but the vendor selection process now underway has to wrap up first, followed by site engineering and permitting at each intersection.

Not every one of the 80 candidate sites is guaranteed a camera. The list represents locations the city is evaluating, not a finalized installation order. Officials say final site selection will continue to lean on crash history, meaning intersections with the worst records of red-light-related collisions are likely to be prioritized.

Drivers split on whether it helps

City officials maintain the cameras change driver behavior and reduce the kind of broadside crashes that happen when someone blows through a light. Not every resident is convinced. Some drivers worry that seeing a "photo enforced" sign at the last second pushes people to speed up and try to beat the light instead of slowing down, rather than easing off.

That tension, between slowing drivers down over time and triggering split-second decisions in the moment, has shadowed red-light camera programs in Florida for years. Orlando's expansion will test it at dozens of new corners at once.

The vendor review is still in its early stages, and city staff have not said when a contractor will be chosen or when the full list of final intersections will be made public. For now, Bumby and Amelia, and the stretch near Colonial and Maguire, are the clearest signals of where the city is looking first.

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