Municipalities save millions through traffic monitoring

Controls - Municipalities save millions through traffic monitoring

Traffic offenders in Bavaria paid fines amounting to at least 14 million euros in 2023. This was the result of a survey conducted by dpa among the eight largest Bavarian cities. The final revenue is likely to be much higher. However, the Police Administration Office will not publish a Bavaria-wide overview of all fines and penalties imposed for several months. This was announced by the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior on request.

As of January 2023, 982 of the 2056 Bavarian municipalities organized traffic monitoring themselves or in cooperation with other municipalities, the ministry added. This is a good fifth more than in the previous year, when 801 municipalities had taken over traffic monitoring themselves.

In Bavaria, fines are paid as revenue to the Free State and local authorities, depending on who is responsible for local traffic monitoring. If this is the municipalities themselves or as part of special-purpose associations, they must bear the costs, but are also allowed to keep the fines. The municipalities are free to assign the task to the local police. In this case, the fines go to the Free State.

In Munich, municipal traffic monitoring has one stationary unit and six mobile measuring units. Revenue from speed enforcement amounted to a good 2.5 million euros up to and including October. According to the state capital, the so-called complaint rate has remained at a very similar level for years. This means that if more speed cameras are used, more speeding drivers are caught.

Nuremberg, Erlangen and Fürth have jointly outsourced their traffic monitoring to a special-purpose association that operates six mobile measuring units. A spokesperson for the association said: 4.1 million euros in fines were collected in this way up to October for offenses in the Nuremberg city area. In Erlangen it was just under 900,000 euros, in Fürth just over 800,000. 2023 was not yet able to make a statement about the costs. In the previous year, the costs accounted for around half of the income in each case.

In the first ten months of the year, slightly fewer infringements than usual were recorded, the spokesperson said. However, there was no discernible trend. Whether traffic monitoring could also have an educational effect on drivers was considered uncertain by the association. Certainly, individual measuring points could be temporarily "calmed down" by regular measurements. However, traffic monitoring is not about collecting as much money as possible, according to the association. "The aim is rather to improve road safety."

Augsburg had collected almost 2.8 million euros in fines by mid-November. According to the city, it has increased its fleet of mobile speed cameras by two this year and now operates a total of six units. In particular, speed cameras are used in front of schools and kindergartens, in 30 km/h zones, other traffic-calmed areas and at accident blackspots. The city also follows up information from citizens about specific danger spots. It is not possible to say anything specific about the costs, writes a spokesperson. "However, the department does cover its costs."

Ingolstadt does not carry out traffic monitoring itself, but has left this to the police. No separate revenue statistics are compiled specifically for the city, according to the police headquarters of Upper Bavaria North. The police operate stationary systems at three busy junctions in the city. Officers are also on the road with five measuring vehicles in the city and surrounding districts such as Eichstätt and Pfaffenhofen.

As there were far fewer drivers on the road during the corona pandemic, it is hardly possible to make any statements about traffic trends, writes a police spokesperson. However, a declining speed level can be observed for the current year. "The offense rate of road users checked fell from 2.02 to 1.57 percent compared to the previous year." The police suspect the reasons for this are the increase in fines, which was introduced at the end of 2021 as a result of a new catalog of fines, and the rise in fuel prices.

With its six mobile and semi-stationary systems, Regensburg had generated almost 1.5 million euros in revenue from fines and penalties by the end of November. According to the city, the costs for monitoring the flow of traffic are estimated at around 1.6 million euros. However, more precise figures will not be available until the new year.

Würzburg has targeted speed cameras primarily in 30 km/h zones. According to the city, the vast majority of those caught were traveling at a moderate to medium speed, i.e. between 11 and 20 km/h too fast. Outliers (e.g. 100 km/h in urban areas) are the absolute exception. Such cases occur at most once a year, the city said. By the end of November, two speed cameras had generated a good 1.2 million euros in revenue. No statement is yet possible for the three permanently installed speed cameras.

On the other hand, running costs for personnel and administration amounted to around 900,000 euros. The income still covers the running costs. The acquisition costs of the devices could also be covered by the revenue.

As the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior explained, the extent to which municipalities monitor their traffic varies. For example, some are only active in stationary traffic, i.e. in the punishment of parking offenders, others only in speed enforcement, some in both.

The Bavaria-wide overview of fines and warnings is expected in the second quarter of 2024. According to a ministry spokesperson, however, it will not be broken down by offense, but only by whether the fines and warnings were issued for stationary or moving traffic. Consequently, "monetary considerations" do not play a role here. In 2022, the Free State and local authorities collected a good 117 million euros in fines. Of this, 62 million was for stationary traffic and 55 million for moving traffic.