A little followup to yesterday’s post about NoPhoto, an Indiegogo fundraiser for a flash that confounds red-light cameras: the city of Washington, DC has smashed its previous record-setting rake on its traffic cameras, pulling in $85 million in its fiscal 2012. Alan Blinder writes more in the Washington Examiner, discussing whether the city has come to think of its traffic cams as cash-cows:
“This year, we’ll have more revenue than ever and more citations than ever before,” said John Townsend, of AAA Mid-Atlantic. “They’re closing holes in the budget.”
Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells, a sponsor of the proposal to lower fines, leveled a similar accusation.
“The administration and some of my colleagues view this as a way to make money for the government,” Wells said. “The funding is there to reduce the fines. The question is will my colleagues see this as a windfall to fund their pet projects?”
But the District government is far from the only local government to boost its bank account with camera tickets.
D.C. rakes in $85m from traffic cameras
(Thanks, Marilyn!)