All you sheeple that still think traffic cameras are about safety-raise your hand.
Matthew Benson
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 19, 2008 12:00 AM
Attention lead-footed drivers: Don't slow down now.
The state is counting on you.
Gov. Janet Napolitano is banking on an estimated $90 million in ticket revenue that she expects the state to receive next year from its deployment of photo-enforcement equipment on highways statewide.
With the stable of 100 cameras, which state officials hope to begin installing July 1, it's expected that motorists will rack up $124 million in fines in the first year alone. About $34 million of that would go to overhead and the system's administrator.
In fiscal 2010, with system's first full year, state officials anticipate the issuance of 13,250 citations and net state revenue of $120 million. The estimates are based on calculations made by the vendor, Redflex, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Napolitano and DPS officials have long maintained that the program is aimed at improving traffic safety, not making money.
State Rep. John Kavanaugh, R-Fountain Hills, doesn't doubt the governor's intent. But he said he's "disturbed that the introduction of photo radar on state roads is so closely joined to revenue generation" and called the program's timing with the budget deficit "bad public relations."
But Rep. Steve Farley sees speed cameras as one way the state can act like a business by addressing a need and turning a profit at the same time.
"It seems like a smart idea to me," the Tucson Democrat said. "Why not be able to improve safety and at the same time take money from people breaking the law? We do that with parking tickets all the time."