D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has a plan to hit dangerous drivers where it hurts: their wallets.
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2023, which begins in October, includes $9.4 million for the purchase and deployment of 170 new speed cameras, along with dozens more that would target drivers who run red lights and stop signs, illegally use bike and bus lanes, or pass school buses.
Bowser’s pitch to expand the traffic camera program comes as the city is experiencing a rise in severe traffic crashes resulting in deaths and injuries. Forty people were killed in traffic collisions in 2021, the most since 2007, and nine people have died this year — one more than at this time last year.
The expansion would build upon a $5 million pledge Bowser made a year ago to upgrade the city’s automated enforcement equipment. The District Department of Transportation said it is procuring equipment to replace 128 of the existing 137 cameras and add another 129 before the end of this year. A large share of the additional cameras will enforce bus lane rules, the agency said.
Bowser’s proposed budget, if approved, would ensure cameras are more widespread across the city, with as many as 232 new devices enforcing traffic rules on major commuter routes, residential streets and aboard buses.
“Everyone who moves around DC deserves safe roads,” Bowser tweeted last week when she proposed a $19 billion budget. “We’re investing in safer roads & sidewalks and doubling down on enforcement.”
Bowser officials tout the traffic cameras as an important tool in the city’s strategy to improve street safety. Her financial plan includes $10 million for road fixes that don’t require extensive engineering, such as the addition of speed bumps or re-striping of crosswalks, and $9.4 million to add 100 full-time crossing guards. Bowser also wants to spend $36 million over six years to support the city’s commitment to add 10 miles of protected bike lanes annually.
In addition to speed cameras, her plan would add 25 cameras that target motorists who violate no-passing rules for school buses, 17 cameras looking for red-light, stop-sign and overweight-truck violations, and 20 that would look for cars illegally using bus lanes and bike lanes.
Forty new full-time positions would be added at DDOT to oversee the increased volume of tickets that would accompany the expansion, according to budget documents. The department did not respond to questions about current staffing levels in the program, which is tasked with reviewing images from the automated enforcement devices and issuing tickets.
The current program is expected to yield nearly $100 million in revenue this fiscal year, including $87.6 million from speed cameras, according to the city’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer. No estimates were available about potential revenue from additional cameras. Under Bowser’s proposal, the number of speed cameras would triple from the 85 in place now.
The District traffic enforcement program, launched more than two decades ago, has earned a reputation as a revenue generator, with critics blasting city leaders as targeting commuters and depending too much on devices to enforce traffic laws. But some residents and advocates for safer streets support the program amid calls from local leaders for more enforcement.
A Washington Post analysis earlier this year of D.C. traffic-fatality data found that 2020 and 2021 — when driving rates were reduced during the pandemic — saw the lowest number of reported crashes but the highest rate of fatalities. About 10 people were killed for every 5,000 crashes, which is double the rate of 2019. Among those killed last year were two children under age 6.
“We hear a lot from parents who worry about walking their kids around the neighborhood, certainly from people who bike, and just generally people who are fed up with seeing aggressive drivers on their streets,” said Tom Quinn, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 3. “There’s concern about dangerous driving, and the traffic cameras are a tool for making our streets safer.”
But Ragina Ali, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said some motorists worry about the city setting up speed traps for the sake of generating revenue.
“While we are in favor of measures to address high-crash corridors and intersections, as well as save the lives of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists, it is difficult to convince anyone that the District’s automated program is about traffic safety and not revenue generation, especially as fatalities increase,” Ali said in a statement. “Quite frankly, the placement of 170 additional cameras without traffic studies only creates additional concern about the validity of the program, and the ability to effectively address the ongoing traffic safety problem.”
City Administrator Kevin Donahue last week told the D.C. Council the District would seek community feedback about the camera expansion and DDOT would place cameras “based on the greatest impact they can have in protecting pedestrians and preventing traffic crashes.”
Supporters say they also hope for measures to ensure motorists pay fines, noting that thousands of fines go unpaid each year. The city, owed about $500 million in unpaid parking and traffic fines, has few mechanisms to ensure offenders face consequences. Bowser’s plan also calls for more resources for the city’s towing and booting program.
One of the city’s eight stop-sign cameras has become a topic of discussion on neighborhood forums in the Friendship Heights area.
Neighbors have complained about receiving unwarranted tickets from the device at Fessenden Street and 44th Street NW. Some neighbors said they stopped fully and have asked about camera calibration. Others have posted videos at the intersection that show vehicles treating the stop sign as a yield sign.
“They’re getting cited for not stopping and they are shocked because they’ve driven that way their entire lives and now they’re getting a citation for it,” said Quinn, who represents the area.
The council is reviewing the mayor’s proposed budget over the next two weeks, with a review of transportation spending scheduled for April 4.