12/1/2006
Virginia: Toll Cameras Cost More Than They SaveVirginia toll cameras will cost more than the amount they will collect in unpaid fines.
![Dulles toll camera](/rlc/pix/dullescam.jpg)
The Virginia Department of Transportation announced yesterday that it had added a $7.6 million ticket camera system to the Dulles Toll Road to collect an extra $1.2 million a year in unpaid tolls. Because the Dulles route has one of the lowest non-payment rates in the country, and the investment would take more than six years to recoup the investment in hardware -- not counting upkeep -- in unpaid tolls.
The device, however, is not intended to merely collect unpaid tolls. The camera will record all passing cars and impose a $25 ticket (called an "administrative fee") if sensors fail to register a toll road user's E-ZPass or Smart Tag. VDOT plans to collect even larger fines from anyone with three or more photo violations and block renewal of their motor vehicle registrations.