AI cameras to catch illegally parked cars on AC Transit lines
OAKLAND, Calif. - AC Transit has installed AI cameras on 100 buses across all routes to capture drivers stopped in a bus-only lane or blocking a bus stop. Eventually, violators will be cited.
Starting Wednesday, the agency begins a 60-day warning period, sending notices to drivers caught in bus zones.
The cameras are an upgrade and expansion from an existing program.
Robert Lyles, Media Affairs and Strategic Initiatives Manager for AC Transit, said these cameras are more effective than the ones they’re replacing.
"It records a 10-second video with one of the cameras and then it captures a single image of the license plate of the vehicle," Lyles said.
Then, those images are turned into an evidence package for Alameda County sheriff's deputies, who will determine whether the driver needs a ticket.
For the next 60 days, violators will get a notice in the mail if they’re caught stopped in the bus lanes.
After the 60-day period, they’ll start sending citations.
"This is not about revenue, this is about correcting behavior," said Lyles. "What we need is safe access for the bus at the bus stops and the bus-only lanes."
The existing program began in 2020, when AC Transit put cameras on the buses on its most used route, the Tempo line running from uptown Oakland to San Leandro. Bus drivers had to click a button to capture violations on those cameras.
Now, artificial intelligence will take the image for them on 100 buses dispersed across all lines.
The buses are set up to pick up on ADA-accessible ramps at the bus stops. Lyles said when a vehicle is stopped in a bus lane, it causes buses to skip over that bus stop, causing frustration for riders, especially those that are disabled and elderly.
Latrice Clark, a rider in Oakland, said she welcomes the change.
"The next bus stop is way down the street and when [the buses] go around, they’re not going to wait for us. They just keep on going to the next stop," said Clark.
AC Transit found that between mid-June through July, the AI cameras on the Tempo line captured about 1,100 potential violations, or evidence packages, to send to law enforcement. Nearly 800 of those resulted in citations.
When the manual cameras were tracked during the same time frame in 2023, only 22 citations were issued.
"We saw a 35-fold increase in effective citations over this time last year," Lyles said.
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Some residents expressed concern for their privacy.
"It definitely peaks up those worries," said Jos Harbinger of Oakland, who said anyone using AI needs to incorporate an ethical standard.
AC Transit assured riders the program follows California privacy laws, and that facial recognition will not be used.
"If the camera captures an event that is not determined to be a violation by law enforcement, those images and video are destroyed within 15 days," said Lyles.
Violators will receive a $110 ticket in the mail beginning October 7.
Bay-area based AI company Hayden AI is absorbing the cost for installation and operation in a partnership with AC Transit, and the profits from citations will be split.