HOUSTON -- Note: The following story is a verbatim transcript of an Investigators story that aired on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, on KPRC Local 2 at 10 p.m.

Local 2 Investigates looks at the future of Houston's red-light cameras.

Similar cameras are now turned off or sitting idle in other cities across Texas. Will Houston follow?

Tonight, Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis finds out why the city is waiting to call Houston's program a success.

It was a mayor's surprising vote that help put Lubbock's red-light cameras in the dark.

"I will be casting a vote to take down these red-light cameras," said David Miller, mayor of Lubbock.

Less than a year after a dozen red-light cameras went up, the city of Lubbock turned all of them off.

"I'm glad that finally common sense has prevailed on this issue," said John Leonard, a member of Lubbock City Council.

Public outcry and conflicting studies whether Lubbock's cameras actually increased accidents helped force the city council to end its program.

In Dallas, one-fourth of its red-light cameras are now off-line and no longer taking pictures or issuing tickets. That's because so many people stopped running the lights, there wasn't enough ticket money to pay for the cameras.

Dallas city council is now rethinking its plans to add 40 more cameras later this year.

"What happens across the state does have some impact," said Pat Trahan, with Houston Mayor Bill White's office.

However, Trahan says Houston's program is set up differently than both Lubbock and Dallas.

He says it appears fewer drivers are running red lights in Houston, but says the true measure of success will be revealed by researchers at Rice University.

"We're waiting for results of a study to help us determine if we have been successful in modifying people's behavior," said Trahan.

The mayor's office initially told Local 2 Investigates a draft of the Rice University study was expected in January. Right now, there's no word on when it might be finished.

Whatever the study reveals, the mayor's office is not ruling out changes.

"If we find, for example, that we are successful in modifying behavior and see enough reductions at any given intersection that it warrants us putting the apparatus at a more dangerous intersection, then that would be something we'd consider in the future," said Trahan.

Last year, Local 2 Investigates researched accidents before and after red-light cameras at 10 Houston intersections.

We found mixed results.

The city says accidents are just one of the many things the Rice study is measuring.

We'll keep watching to see when you'll be able to see the results.

More Information:

• List Of Houston-Area Red-Light Cameras