HARRISBURG — Will cameras that catch people running red lights finally get the green light from the Legislature?

A bill that would allow Pittsburgh and other larger cities to install red-light enforcement cameras won approval from the state Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday. It now moves on to the full Senate. But similar legislation pending in the House faces an uncertain future, according to its sponsor.

The Senate bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, authorizes Pittsburgh and third-class Pennsylvania cities with populations of 18,000 or more and full-time police forces to deploy the cameras. Other cities that would be authorized to have cameras include Erie, Altoona, New Castle, Johnstown and McKeesport.

It passed in a 21-5 vote, but only after state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, denounced it as “nothing more than a revenue-generating activity. It has nothing to do with public safety,” he said.

Philadelphia is the only Pennsylvania city where the cameras are legal now. The Legislature authorized a pilot program starting in 2005 along Roosevelt Boulevard, a 12-lane highway with intersections that had been rated among the most dangerous in the U.S.

During the fiscal year ending March 31, the cameras generated 141,571 citations and 8,257 warnings at 19 intersections. That was up from 127,514 citations and 5,605 warnings the previous year, when 15 intersections had cameras. But the average number of citations per intersection declined from 23 per day during the 2009-10 fiscal year to 20 per day in 2010-11.

Still, the program generated $7.6 million in net income, which goes to a fund for pedestrian safety improvements throughout the state.

Once installed, the cameras within several months typically bring about a 50 to 60 percent reduction in red-light running, said Christopher Vogler, manager of red light photo enforcement for the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

The systems use sensors in the pavement to detect when a vehicle enters an intersection after the light has turned red. If

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