Numbers of speed cameras are set to quadruple as NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) takes over their operations from police, the transport agency has said.

There are currently under 200 “safety” cameras on the roads, but the agency is “looking at going to 800”, in response to questions at the joint Nelson Tasman regional transport committee, says Director of regional relationships Emma Speight.

The figure of 800 will be moved to “over a number of years”, says Speight.

NZTA is calling them "safety cameras" in a Cabinet-ordered attempt "to shift the public away from perceptions that safety cameras are an enforcement, revenue-gathering tool".

“This is an area in which we are very interested in your views,” Speight told councillors.

“We can certainly start putting them onto state highways in this region if you’d like them in particular locations.”

At present, police operate safety cameras in New Zealand.

However, responsibility for this is being transferred to NZTA.

The agency has plans to augment both the number and the type of safety cameras, which will include point to point (or average speed safety cameras) red light, cameras that can detect mobile phone use and seatbelt usage, and static cameras.

Average speed safety cameras work by calculating vehicle speed across the length of a road between two or more cameras.

The time taken for a vehicle to travel between the cameras is measured, and the average speed calculated.

The agency is already rolling out point to point cameras on six Auckland roads, NZTA announced in October.

A spokesperson, in response to questions from Stuff, says a formal handover has not yet occurred, and is expected to take place from around mid-2024.

Safety cameras are “proved to reduce the number of people being killed and seriously injured on our roads”, says Speight.

New Zealand has the lowest number of safety cameras per capita, and is “in the bottom third of the OECD” for road deaths.

There will be strong community support for cameras if they are focused on safety, and not revenue gathering, says Nelson mayor Nick Smith.

He will like to see the NZTA and council staff work on sections with black spots and accidents, where speed needs to be kept under control, says Smith.

However, the “temptation” for agencies under revenue pressure, is to “clip” lots of people on main highways in spots with large volumes of traffic where there wasn’t a substantive safety issue, he says.

According to the agency’s website, it is currently “establishing the systems, processes and capability to enable functionality” to transfer safety camera operations.

While it will also process offences for safety cameras operated by other road controlling authorities (RCAs), the police will still have an enforcement role in radar and laser detection.

Point to point cameras are already being used in Auckland, and around the globe, and are very effective at maintaining safe speeds that are signposted, says Speight.

“In areas where you're seeing significant growth, and we’re still getting crashes that are causing harm ... they can be really useful.”

The use of average speed cameras in New Zealand has been enabled by the recent passing of the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Act into legislation.

A six-month trial of mobile phone and seatbelt detection safety cameras was run across three locations in Auckland last year.

Data from the trial shows that of 12,870,563 vehicles, 199,515 mobile phone offences were recorded, and 43,444 seatbelt offences were detected.

According to the agency’s website, the use of safety cameras to enforce mobile phone and seatbelt offences is currently not permitted under the Land Transport Act 1998, and the Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport is exploring options to enable their use.

-Catherine Hubbard/Stuff.