YOUNGSTOWN — A 22-year-old Youngstown State University student traveling west on Williamson Avenue on Tuesday morning, near the Rayen Early College Middle School, said she did not realize new traffic cameras were now in operation in front of her.

“I think there are pros and cons,” said Amelia, who declined to give her last name but said she works in the city, as well as going to school here.

“Obviously I don’t want a ticket,” she said after being told the tickets cost $100 to $150 but will not be issued until Feb. 17.

She does see some reckless driving on her commute into the city, so having traffic cameras in school safety zones “could be a deterrent,” she said.

Another young woman, Suzanne Ritchie, who lives in a house not far from the school safety zone, said she does not see a lot of incidents in the zone there but said she thinks the traffic cameras are a good idea.

SAFETY ZONES

Rayen Early College is one of 11 school safety zones where the traffic cameras came online Tuesday. The cameras will issue warning letters to everyone traveling at least six miles per hour over the 20 mph limit during the times when the school zone lights are flashing, meaning the speed limit is reduced because of the time of day.

A representative with Blue Line Solutions of Chattanooga, Tenn., said each school zone will have its own hours when the speed limit is reduced to 20 mph, and the hours will be posted in each zone.

At the Rayen Early College location, the sign says the school zone speed limit will be in effect 6:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. The sign is above the roadway close to the school.

A white sign there states: “Traffic laws photo enforced” and a yellow sign states: “School entrance.”

Also, just above the sign giving the reduced speed limits is an electronic “feedback” sign telling motorists how fast they are traveling.

The drivers coming past the school at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday all appeared to be driving 20 mph or less. No pedestrians were observed using the sidewalks near the school at 8:30 a.m.

The “feedback” signs are intended to “give advance warning of the upcoming school zone” in areas with traffic cameras, said Sgt. Jose Morales Jr. of the internal affairs division of the Youngstown Police Department. He participated in a news conference at the police department to announce the start of the traffic camera program.

The following schools were expected to have working traffic cameras starting Tuesday: Chaney High School on South Hazelwood Avenue, East High School on Bennington Avenue, East High School on East High Avenue, Kirkmere Elementary on Kirk Road, Rayen Early College Middle School on Williamson Avenue, St. Christine School on Schenley Avenue, Stambaugh Charter Academy on South Hazelwood Avenue, Valley Christian on Southern Boulevard, Volney Rogers Elementary on South Schenley Avenue, Woodrow Wilson Alternative School on Gibson Avenue and Woodrow Wilson Alternative School on East Indianola Avenue.

The remainder of the city’s 16 school safety zones will be brought into the program later as cameras become available.

WHEN FINES START

When citations containing fines are issued starting Feb. 17, the citations will be civil, not a traffic or criminal violation, Morales said. Points will not be assessed against the driver, and it will not be reported to a person’s auto insurance carrier.

The traffic cameras will be used on school days and at other times when students likely will be in the school zone, Morales said. That means speeding citations can be issued as late as 9 p.m. The arrival and dismissal times for each school will be posted so that drivers know when the lower school-zone speed limits will be enforced, he said.

The city will receive 65 percent of the money collected from the citations, with Blue Line receiving the remaining 35 percent.

Money collected from citations can be used only for school-safety resources, such as improvements to school zones and crosswalks near the schools, officials have said.

If a driver gets a citation, it will be mailed to the driver. It will contain a photo of the vehicle that was captured by the camera and indicate where the speeding was detected, Gina Sullivan of Blue Line Solutions said last week.

Sullivan said that when citations start being issued Feb. 17, they will occur when someone is 11 mph over the regular speed limit of, for example, 45 mph. They will be cited in a school zone if driving at least 6 mph over the limit in the “reduced-speed times, which is … when the lights are flashing” and the speed limit is 20 mph.