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It was about $119 million in 2016, including speeding tickets and red light violations. That’s up from $84 million in 2015.
Pointing out a device he reckons is a particularly high earner, one disgruntled driver explains to Euromoney the dangers of Washington’s rush-hour gridlock for red-light violations as he cautiously waits for traffic to clear before risking crossing the intersection.
In fact, the top-earning camera – near exit one on DC295 SW – notched up a startling $13 million in 2016, according to data obtained from the Washington Department of Motor Vehicles by DC Ward 3 councilmember Mary Cheh.
She is asking for the district’s Department of Transportation to look into the strategy behind traffic camera placement following complaints she has received from residents.
That $13 million is a healthy increase of 18% on the previous year, and doesn’t even include red-light violations. In all, 22 cameras boasted speeding ticket revenue of more than $1 million each.
For anyone wanting to visualize the numbers in the context of banking, the $119 million 2016 total makes the DC annual traffic camera business roughly the same size as Deutsche Bank’s average quarterly equity origination revenues that year (down 38% from 2015, by the way).
That comparison might not be especially helpful, but it seems somehow sobering.