Observing that construction and operation of some of the Commonwealth's transportation facilities depend upon the financing of those facilities, at least in part, by tolls paid by the users of those facilities, the 1997 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, through the passage of House Joint Resolution No. 628 (HJR 628, see Appendix A), established the Joint Subcommittee to Study Photo Enforcement of Toll Collections, to consider whether use of a "photo toll" system would allow increased use of automated toll collection devices that would permit:

• reduced numbers of toll facility personnel, leading to
• reduced facility operating costs and
• increased traffic speed through automated toll collection lanes, contributing to
• increased convenience to facility users and
• increased facility capacity, while
• minimizing toll avoidance through the
• identification and punishment of motorists who use toll facilities without paying the required toll.