Washington, D.C., is now the most expensive place in the country for drivers caught speeding by traffic cameras. The nation's capital racked up a whopping $257.8 million in fines in 2025 — surpassing New York City and other major cities examined in a new study.
Here's what to know
According to The Washington Informer, the District topped Weisberg & Weisberg's October 2026 rankings for speed-camera penalties assessed per resident. The report said Washington issued 2,266,775 tickets, equal to $371.66 per resident, with an average fine of $113.73.
Researchers limited the study to cities with more than 100,000 people in states that permit automated speed enforcement. They then sorted the people by assessed fines relative to population instead of raw revenue. That means the per-resident figure is a population-based comparison, not a tally of what each person actually paid.
New York City, despite issuing nearly twice as many tickets, recorded $223.2 million in fines — below Washington's $257.8 million. Elsewhere in the rankings, Philadelphia was sixth at $46.8 million, Baltimore was fourth at $23.1 million, and Miami Gardens, Florida, placed third on a per-resident basis.
More background
Among individual locations, the northbound Potomac River Freeway camera near 25th Street NW stood out for revenue, bringing in about $25,100 in fines per day. Kept up for a full year, that pace would amount to more than $9 million from that one camera.
Separate data compiled by SpeedCams.us identified 377 documented enforcement locations in Washington.
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Violation counts were also heavy at several sites. Between September 2025 and August 2026, a camera on DC-295 near Exit 1 logged 94,375 violations. Another set of two cameras in the 2200 block of K Street NW generated more than 90,000 combined violations.
What's being done?
The issue has also spilled into Congress. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., introduced federal legislation that would shut down the District's automated enforcement systems, adding to the argument over the cameras' actual purpose.
As the Informer relayed, Perry stated, "Washington, D.C., is balancing its budget on traffic fines. It's not about safety. It's about revenue generation."
City officials are resisting those efforts. Mayor Muriel Bowser has forcefully opposed federal plans to dismantle Washington's roughly 550 traffic cameras, saying the city's finances rely heavily on keeping them in operation.
Where can I learn more?
Other cities are taking different approaches to dealing with traffic and its side effects.
• New York City officials say major change to traffic rules is already cutting congestion below 60th Street.
• In Manhattan, central business district tolling is reshaping commutes while testing a new pricing model.
• Across New York City, surprising health benefits are emerging as congestion pricing reduces daily traffic.
• In New York, an astonishing side effect of congestion pricing includes cleaner air around busy streets.
• In East Long Beach, parking nightmare shows how urban driving frustrations keep getting worse.
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