Fairfax County police say they have reduced traffic speeds an average of 8 mph following installation of photo speed-monitoring cameras in 10 locations last year, and soon will begin installing a total of 50 more in school zones in all nine magisterial districts.
The pilot program “was a big success and we learned lots of lessons,” assistant police chief Bob Blakley said at the July 23 Board of Supervisors’ Safety and Security Committee meeting.
Starting Feb. 10, 2023, nine of those initial cameras were placed in school zones and one in a Route 28 work zone. Police on May 29 this year relocated one of the cameras to Blake Lane in Oakton, where a speeding car crashed into another vehicle in June 2022 and went up on the sidewalk, killing two Oakton High School students.
Drivers must be traveling at least 10 mph above the speed limit to receive a civil infraction. Seventy-one percent of citations issued were for motorists traveling between 35 and 39 mph, 22 percent went to those driving between 40 and 44 mph and 7 percent to ones going 45 mph or faster.
Police recorded average traffic speeds that were between 16 and 27 percent slower at most of the locations, compared with pre-program levels.
The sole exception was a 3-percent increase on Soapstone Drive near Terraset Elementary School in Reston, but officials said that posed little cause for concern, as the average speed there rose to just 25.7 mph.
Of the 25,184 citations paid – which were about 78 percent of those issued – 20,765 were paid through the county’s vendor and the remaining 4,419 were sent to the court system.
County police overcame challenges during the pilot program. Because camera flashes rendered low-light photos to be unreadable, police fixed the problem by installing filters over the flashes.
Violation notices and summonses initially were mailed separately, sometimes allowing motorists only two or three days to pay, Blakely said. Police later streamlined this process with the court system and began mailing summonses immediately, he said.
The camera program has brought in about $400,000 in net revenue this year, said deputy county executive Tom Arnold.
The first phase of the program’s expansion, involving 50 cameras, will begin in September. Police will locate the equipment as directed by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) officials. Police expect to install about 10 cameras per month, with the entire process taking five months.
County officials originally entertained the idea of shifting the equipment other locations to spread the deterrent effect, but Blakley cautioned against this, saying motorists might begin speeding again in some locations if they knew the cameras had been removed.
Supervisor Patrick Herrity (R-Springfield) wanted more nuance in deciding where to place the cameras. He said traffic already often slows to a crawl near some of the school locations where additional cameras are being proposed.
“We only have so many cameras, and need to put them where they ought to be,” he said.
Supervisor Jimmy Bierman countered that drivers sometimes become more aggressive when stuck in bad traffic.
The pilot camera program did not require any additional staffing, but county police in fiscal 2025 obtained funding for a police sergeant to monitor the violation-certification process. State law mandates that sworn police officers certify all violations.
This year’s budget also pays for a management analyst II, who will serve as the program’s manager.
As with the pilot program, county police plan to conduct a public-information campaign, and will implement a 30-day warning period before citing motorists, Blakley said.
Starting in fiscal year 2027, the second phase of the photo speed-monitoring program will install a further 30 cameras.
Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville) called the camera program “really great stuff.”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing these at every single school in my district,” he said. “Nobody should be speeding in a school zone.”
As if additional speed cameras in fiscal year 2026 weren’t enough of a deterrent for motorists, FCPS has partnered with Verra Mobility to begin operating cameras this fall on the stop arms of 50 school buses. These cameras also will be operated in each magisterial district.
Violations will be validated and prosecuted similarly to the speed-camera program, officials said.
