If you’ve recently driven or walked along Baltimore Avenue, you may have spotted new traffic safety signage near Clark Park and key intersections along the corridor (see photo).
The City’s Office of Transportation & Infrastructure Systems (OTIS) and the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) have officially expanded automated speed enforcement (ASE) to Route 13, which runs through West Philadelphia along Baltimore Avenue. Cameras have been installed across high-risk stretches to curb dangerous driving and protect pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders.
Under the program, speed cameras will monitor traffic to enforce the posted 25 mph limit. The official 60-day warning period began on August 1, and live fine issuance will take effect starting September 30, 2026.
Speed cameras will capture violations for vehicles traveling 11 mph or more over the posted 25 mph limit (36+ mph):
• 11–19 mph over limit: $100 fine
• 20–29 mph over limit: $125 fine
• 30+ mph over limit: $150 fine
In addition to Baltimore Avenue, automated speed camera enforcement (ASE) expanded across several key high-injury corridors in Philadelphia, including Broad Street, Roosevelt Blvd., and designated school zones.
State law requires revenue generated from automated speed enforcement cameras to be reinvested into local road safety and Vision Zero infrastructure projects.
For more details, visit philapark.org/speed-cameras.
August 14th, 2026 at 2:35 pm
Now, if we could get 85th percentile speed limits, all would be OK. This is a joke otherwise.
August 16th, 2026 at 2:21 pm
These devices and camera tickets do not preserve due process and the presumption of innocence. Any defendant attempting to fight these tickets has to prove their innocence. This is just another Philly money grab as they produce 20 million more for the city to waste
August 16th, 2026 at 6:19 pm
We also need cameras on 49th Street.
August 17th, 2026 at 5:44 pm
The “safety” lobby constantly blares “Everyone Speeds!” It’s not true.
Data from NHTSA’s own Fatality Analysis Reporting System [https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars] have demonstrated that only about 2% of traffic fatalities are caused by drivers exceeding the speed limit.
The 85th Percentile Speed is the gold standard of the engineering community. It holds that the primary consideration for traffic control is represented by the actual measured, safe-for-conditions speed of the public, which rationally regards its own safety as paramount. Except for the suicidal-for whom there can be no limits-drivers always seek to avoid collisions and bodily injury.
The 85th Percentile Speed is the safest speed with the most compliance. Yet, officials continue to post too-low limits to make it easy to write tickets. Money is more important to them than safety.
From the report: “The speed limit should be set at the speed driven by 85% to 90% of the free-moving vehicles rounded up to next 5 mph. This results in speed limits that are not only acceptable to a majority of the motorists, but also fall within the speed range where accident risk is lowest. ”
“No other factors need to be considered since they are reflected in the driver’s speed choice.”
Traffic laws that are based upon the behavior of reasonable motorists are found to be successful. Low-posted limits encourage wholesale violations, have no public support, and usually fail to bring about desirable changes in driving behavior.
Speed cameras are an enforcement-for-profit racket, not a safety program.
August 31st, 2026 at 10:09 am
We need more safety cameras like these! People treat Baltimore Ave like a speedway, swerving around the trolley and blowing red lights. These cameras are totally different than the Flock cameras, since they don’t record continuously, they are only triggered by speeders. State law requires the money from these tickets go directly to more safety upgrades like crosswalks and speed bumps, so it’s a good way to get speeders to pay the costs of these safety upgrades.
September 4th, 2026 at 10:51 am
great upgrade for neighborhood safety! get these 85th percentile freaks out of here!
September 6th, 2026 at 1:28 am
Fact checking.
In the final 2024 FARS files, 4,420 of 39,254 fatalities—11.3%—occurred in crashes where at least one vehicle was explicitly coded “Exceeded Speed Limit.” Counting every NHTSA speeding category, including too fast for conditions and racing, gives 11,288 fatalities—28.8%.
(ChatGPT)
Also you can go 35 mph without a ticket – which is pretty fast. What you cannot do is go 50mph at 3am (try walking around late at night and see how bad people drive).