The Colorado Department of Transportation is making millions of dollars from drivers weaving in and out of the toll lanes, the agency told Denver7.
CDOT charges $75 every time a driver costs the double white line, and if the person doesn't pay in the first 20 days, the fine doubles to $150.
Fines have now added up to nearly $4 million since the Safety Enforcement Program went into effect.
CDOT is catching drivers swerving into the express lanes with cameras tracking drivers. You can see some along C-470.
The pole cams, sensors and artificial intelligence-assisted software were set up by the company BLISSWAY.
The cameras can capture data from the front and rear of a vehicle and from multiple angles and locations, BLISSWAY said.
And they deliver “near-perfect lane enforcement and occupancy validation,” according to BLISSWAY.
The total number of fines is expected to go up when the system is installed along every express lane.
Denver7 Traffic Expert asked CDOT Deputy Director of Communications - Policy and Programs Tim Hoover, when the cameras would be installed in the I-25 South Gap.
"Right now we're looking at sometime later this year, and we hope to get it done this year.," Hoover said.
"We've only launched the safety enforcement program on a few corridors, and we want to make sure that we have plenty of practice at it before we try to simultaneously launch tolling and launch safety enforcement."
Even thought the technology is only in a few places right now like C-470 and I-25 up north and in the mountains, the state has sent out more than 160,000 citations.
And the citations are working, CDOT said, pointing to how the agency has seen violations drop by 60%.
CDOT leaders hope that rate continues to drop.
The agency noted it is not authorized to enforce speeding - only weaving, but Hoover said CDOT has found speeding is closely associated with weaving over solid lanes.
"We think that those things are likely to help with reckless driving - speeding - it's all going to help to a degree," Hoover said.
Hoover emphasized CDOT doesn't want the money from the fines. The agency wants people to drive safely and for CDOT not to have to collect any fines.
But as long as there are fines, CDOT thinks the money will likely be used for education and advertising to tell people not to weave in and out of the toll lanes.
