Fairfax County, Va, Oct. 23, 2002 /BBNewswire/ -- The police and county government of Fairfax, Va. don't like the fact that more and more commuters are using public transportation and have decided to do something about it.  They have launched operation "Trainwreak" in an effort to make Northern Va commuters stop using VRE and get back into their cars and drive to work.  The reason for this is a dire revenue drop in the taxes that Fairfax County has been collecting since the "Internet Bubble" popped.  Fairfax County police and government officials have decided that the best way to make up for the short fall is by aggressively ticketing VRE commuters for small parking infractions in county parking lots which the county continuously makes smaller and smaller. The long term goal is to get more drivers on the road so that Fairfax county police can issue more "high dollar value" tickets for moving violations and for gasoline taxes as commuters try to weave their way through the choked highways of the Washington DC metro area.
  Operation "Trainwreak" will consist of the entire Fairfax County OTC (Office of Traffic Control) comprising of 40 highly trained police officers.  These officers will drive through the 4 county owned VRE parking lots in 15 minute intervals looking for new parking violations, and thus, more revenue.  The county is implementing a new $476.5 million dollar computer system to ensure that OTC officers have access to the latest parking laws.   Virginia Governor Mark Warner (D) has endorsed operation "Trainwreak" as a great way to increase state revenues.
 

Credits:  OTC Officer P.A. Wight (EIN 8393) for background information