Jennifer Schultz
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Speed cameras in College Park were intended to save lives near the University of Maryland campus but have now become the moneymaker for a private camera vendor.
Since the City of College Park began operating speed cameras 24 hours a day in 2014 near the college campus not a single pedestrian had died on U.S. Route 1. At the same time, Optotraffic, the vendor for the city’s speed cameras, made $2.8 million in profits, according to a AAA Mid-Atlantic news release.
“In the aftermath of the unthinkable tragedies involving pedestrians, officials launched an array of traffic enforcement measures, resulting in a remarkable drop in pedestrian crashes along U.S. Route 1,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs.
The number of speed camera tickets also soared during this time. In 2014 approximately 38,000 of these tickets were issued. The next year, this number had skyrocketed to over 115,000 tickets being issued, a 67% jump.
Every time someone pays a $40 speed camera ticket to the city, the for-profit company earns almost 40 percent of the proceeds.
“The profit margin soared for the speed camera vendor and end-user manufacturer. Contracts should be structured so that the local agency pays a set fee to lease or purchase the equipment, plus a reasonable fee to the vendor,” Townsend stated.
When Maryland motorists and watchdog organizations began to complain, lawmakers outlawed the type of contract that College Park had with the photo-ticketing company.
The Maryland General Assembly passed the Speed Monitoring Systems Reform Act of 2014, which College Park must comply with by June of this year. The law prohibits payments on a per-ticket basis.
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