The Virginia Department of Transportation announced yesterday that it had added a $7.6 million ticket camera system to the Dulles Toll Road to collect an extra $1.2 million a year in unpaid tolls. Because the Dulles route has one of the lowest non-payment rates in the country, and the investment would take more than six years to recoup the investment in hardware -- not counting upkeep -- in unpaid tolls.

The device, however, is not intended to merely collect unpaid tolls. The camera will record all passing cars and impose a $25 ticket (called an "administrative fee") if sensors fail to register a toll road user's E-ZPass or Smart Tag. VDOT plans to collect even larger fines from anyone with three or more photo violations and block renewal of their motor vehicle registrations.