Sydney speed cameras earning $500,000 every day

Sydney's long-suffering motorists - already frustrated by choking congestion, long delays and roadworks - are being forced to fork out almost half a million dollars a day in fines from speed and red-light cameras.

A whopping 502,934 tickets have been issued this financial year, which means the Baird government will collect about $180 million - or $493,150 a day - for the year to June 30.

The revenue from traffic cameras is more than double the $78 million collected in 2010-11, and well up on last year's total of $153 million.

It has led to calls for a more rounded approach to road safety, including a greater police presence, rather than just whacking motorists with ever-increasing fines.

The current penalty for a car exceeding the speed limit by up to 20km/h is $254 and three demerit points

"The NRMA is alarmed by the increase again in the revenue from speed camera fines," NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said.

"We know that while cameras have a limited role to play, ultimately if we're going to change bad driver behaviour what we need is a constant and increased presence of clearly marked highway patrols."

As of March 31, $55.8 million of the 2014-15 fines was still outstanding, including $24 million subject to payment arrangements.

The current penalty for a car exceeding the speed limit by up to 20km/h is $254 and three demerit points. An additional $13.6 million has been collected from motorists fined for using mobile phones or not wearing seatbelts so far this year.

The surge in speed camera revenue is being driven by a massive increase in the use of mobile cameras, which soared from 900 hours a month to 7000 last year.And there are 145 red-light cameras now in use, compared to 125 in May last year.