Gainesville, FL Mobility & Curb Rules: Red-Light Cameras (2026)
Key Facts
- Red-light camera intersections
- 16 listed, Sec. 26-32
- School zone speed cameras
- 17 campuses, Sec. 26-39
- Red-light authority
- F.S. § 316.0083
- School zone authority
- F.S. § 316.1896
- Red-light list amended
- Ord. No. 2025-170, 5-15-25
- School zone act adopted
- Ord. No. 2024-779, 6-5-25
Summary
Gainesville runs photo enforcement under two ordinances: the Gainesville Traffic Safety Enhancement Act authorizes red-light cameras at 16 named intersections under F.S. § 316.0083, and the Gainesville School Zone Speed Enforcement Act authorizes speed detection systems at 17 named schools under F.S. § 316.1896. Both acts supplement, rather than replace, officer-issued citations, and revenue the city retains funds camera administration and multimodal safety projects.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize and implement the use of traffic infraction detectors within the City of Gainesville's jurisdictional limits, in accordance with general law pursuant to F.S. § 316.0083. This Act will also supplement law enforcement personnel in the enforcement of red light signal violations and shall not prohibit county, state or local law enforcement officers from issuing a citation for a red light signal violation in accordance with normal statutory traffic enforcement techniques. ... The city commission finds that failing to stop at a red light constitutes serious threats to the public health, safety, or welfare of the community and such violations are irreparable or irreversible, and are itinerant and transient in nature.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 63).
Full Breakdown
The Gainesville Traffic Safety Enhancement Act, codified at Sec. 0083 at 16 listed intersections the commission has found pose a heightened safety risk, including University Avenue and Main Street, W University Avenue and W 34th Street, and SW Archer Road and SW 40th Boulevard. The commission's stated finding is that running a red light is a serious and irreparable threat to public health and safety. A companion program, the Gainesville School Zone Speed Enforcement Act at Sec. 008, covering 17 campuses such as Gainesville High School, Metcalfe Elementary, Westwood Middle School and Littlewood Elementary.
Both acts state the cameras supplement rather than replace normal traffic-stop enforcement by county, state or local officers, so an officer can still write a standard citation for the same violation. Money the city retains from either program funds administration of the detector systems and traffic-safety capital projects that improve multimodal transportation citywide, per Sec. 26-34 and Sec. 26-40. The commission most recently updated the red-light intersection list through Ord. No. 2025-170, effective May 15, 2025, and adopted the school-zone act through Ord. No. 2024-779, effective June 5, 2025.
Violations & Fines
A camera-detected red-light or school-zone speeding violation is processed as a traffic infraction under F.S. § 316.0083 or § 316.1896, separate from a standard moving citation an officer could still issue at the same location. Because the ordinances authorize detectors only at the specific intersections and school zones listed in Sec. 26-32 and Sec. 26-39, a citation tied to any unlisted location is not authorized by these ordinances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Gainesville intersections have red-light cameras?
Do school zone speed cameras replace police enforcement?
What happens to the money Gainesville collects from these cameras?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Gainesville
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