Commerce City, CO Mobility & Curb Rules: Red-Light Cameras (2026)

Sec. 11-1202(b) of the Commerce City Revised Municipal Code amends Section 110.5 of the Model Traffic Code, as locally adopted, to authorize the city to use Automated Vehicle Identification Systems (AVIS) under C.R.S. § 42-4-110.5, the state statute governing photo radar and red-light camera enforcement. The amendment states that AVIS zones that are not residential neighborhoods, school zones, or construction, repair or maintenance zones will be designated as required by state statute and by city council through resolution, meaning the specific intersections and corridors where cameras operate are set administratively rather than printed in the Code itself.

Confirmation that the program is live, not merely authorized, comes from Sec. 3-1202(b), the Code's gasoline surcharge provision: the municipal court assesses a gasoline surcharge, used to buy gasoline for the police department, against every defendant convicted of any Code violation except red light violations captured through the city's red light camera program. That express carve-out for red-light-camera tickets only makes sense because the city is actively citing drivers through the program. Because Sec. 11-1201 strips the Model Traffic Code of its own built-in penalty classifications, camera-issued citations are processed under the general Chapter 1, Article III and Chapter 11 penalty structure: Sec.

11-1102 classifies most Traffic Code violations as traffic infractions rather than misdemeanors, punishable by a fine and surcharge up to the state-law cap under C.R.S. § 13-10-113, with no imprisonment. Any additional surcharges, such as the thirty percent court surcharge under Sec. 3-1201, apply on top of the base fine but not the gasoline surcharge carved out for these tickets specifically.