After several months of planning, D.C. SNAP benefit recipients are now eligible to get some of their traffic and moving violation fines, such as running a stop sign or a red light, reduced from $100 to $50.
Officials say about 1,500 SNAP families have the potential to have their lower level traffic fines cut by 50% under the new pilot program. The lottery program officially began last week and will likely run for several months.
Charlie Wilson is with D.C. Vision Zero program, which seeks to lower traffic deaths.
“This pilot will apply to tickets that cost $100 or less, and you get 50% off that ticket,” Willson said to WTOP after city officials briefed reporters on the program Tuesday. “The goal is to maintain the effectiveness, getting folks to slow down, while also giving low-income folks a discount.”
Willson said that drivers eligible for SNAP benefits will be able to apply to have one ticket of $100 or less reduced by 50%, if the request is submitted within 30 days of when the ticket was issued.
The program only applies to tickets issued to drivers whose cars are registered in D.C. Drivers will only be eligible to have the fine for one ticket reduced.
From now through the next several months, officials will send SNAP recipients an additional form with specific instructions on how to apply for the program.
The pilot comes after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser created a multiagency task force on automated traffic enforcement in 2023. The task force created recommendations to maintain or increase the program’s effectiveness while minimizing the financial burden, according to Willson.
Sam Quinney is director of The Lab at D.C., which is part of the city administrator’s office and oversees pilot programs.
“People get those tickets. We want them to change behavior and understand that. But that $100 means something very different for a low-income resident, versus a middle or a high-income resident,” he said. “The most common example is just a speeding ticket for 11 … to 15 miles an hour.”
The program will run until 3,000 people sign up, and Willson and Quinney anticipate that should be take until November. Then, they will do an assessment and look at the results.
Willson said traffic enforcement cameras are already a part of the city’s efforts to reduce traffic crashes, and this incentive gives them another option.
WTOP’s Scott Gelman contributed to this report.
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