Pennsylvania transportation officials told lawmakers that pilot programs for the automatic enforcement of traffic laws have led to improvements in traffic safety over the last three years.

In a Senate Transportation Committee hearing on Monday, Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll said the programs, which allow the use of cameras in work zones and on school buses to catch violators, should be extended and expanded before they expire over the next several months.

“We have construction workers that we have to consider. We have school students that we have to consider. We have pedestrians and bicyclists that we have to consider,” Carroll said. “They often fall under the banner of vulnerable highway users…”

The PennDOT and turnpike commission programs will expire in February, state Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Clearfield, said…

Several pieces of legislation are pending, including a bill passed in the state House in June and now before the Senate Transportation Committee, that would extend and expand the programs to include speed cameras in new locations.