The red-light and speed cameras in the Illawarra caused speeding motorists to fork out a whopping $5,342,641 in fines.

That's up from $4.5 million in 2015.

The money doesn’t end up in the government coffers – speed camera revenue goes to the Community Road Safety Fund and is spent on road safety initiatives.

One single camera brought in $1,874,551 in fines in 2016 – 35 per cent of the Illawarra’s total.

That camera?

It’s the northbound camera on the M1 Princes Motorway at Gwynneville, just south of the University Avenue overpass.

That camera finishes in top spot each year and has pulled in more than $1 million before but this year’s $1.8 million is its biggest figure yet.

In second spot – by a long, long way – was the red-light speed camera at the Gladstone Avenue intersection in Wollongong.

That camera pulled in $603,643, which was around $100,000 down on last year’s figure.

Rounding out the top three was the red-light speed camera at King Street in Warrawong, with $401,557 in fines.

While that northbound camera on the M1 Princes Motorway brings in the cash, its southbound counterpart doesn’t perform anywhere near as well – in 2016 it ended up in 13th place with $115,629 in fines.

Another perennial performer is the camera outside the Illawarra Grammar School on the Princes Highway.

The camera monitoring southbound motorists – the ones travelling downhill – finished in fifth place with $319,372 in fines.

Those motorists passing TIGS on the way into the city are heading uphill and apparently found it much harder to speed – they contributed $157,338 to the region’s total.

When it comes to the cameras that bring in the least amount of money, the northbound camera on the Princes Highway at Bulli finished in last place with $55,399.

The second-worst was the camera catching northbound speeders along the flat stretch of Memorial Drive at Corrimal, which brought in $68,130.