AI cameras MISTAKENLY TICKETED around 3,800 drivers in New York for “blocking” bus lanes

12/09/2024 / By Ava Grace

In New York City, cameras are being used to help battle the serious issue of parking infractions on bus routes as part of an initiative called Automated Camera Enforcement (ACE). Through this initiative, the Motor Traffic Authority (MTA) is using AI-powered cameras installed on buses on select bus routes that automatically identify and ticket drivers who park in bus lanes.

The contractor Hayden AI will be paid an additional $58 million to install their technology on the additional 1,000 buses, bringing the scheme’s total price to about $141 million. The AI scheme is costing the city a staggering $83 million.

However, the cameras have so far mistakenly ticketed around 3,800 drivers, NBC New York reported. (Related: Google’s Gemini AI chatbot tells user he is a “waste of time and resources” and to “please die.”)

The smart cameras had not been programmed to know they shouldn’t issue violations to vehicles parked in the legal alternate side zones that periodically interrupt the M79 lane. The cameras also failed to realize that both the M79 and Bx35 bus routes were still in the “warning” phase of a new enforcement pattern. This means even legitimate infractions should not have resulted in monetary penalties, according to the MTA.

“In this situation, there were programming kinks, both in the mapping of curb areas and the timing of warnings themselves – all of which have now been resolved,” said Tim Minton, the MTA’s communications director. “One of the purposes of the warning phase for newly activated routes was to work out any issues before anyone is actually ticketed.”

AI cameras got it wrong

Johnatan Cuji was one of the hundreds of drivers who received a machine-generated summons even though photo evidence printed on the summons shows he was parked squarely in a legal alternate side parking zone.

“You can clearly see on the picture that I am literally before the line,” Cuji said. “I was not parked in the bus lane. I always triple or double-check every time I park.”

According to the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), the city’s automated cameras – including red light cameras, speed cameras and bus lane cameras – issue more than 40,000 violations per day.

The DOT said that there is still a human tasked with reviewing every one of those machine-generated infractions, but the agency declined to say how many employees are dedicated to the human review process.

“Artificial intelligence in our society and the rollout of these programs has to be done in an intentional way that utilizes some level of common sense before you turn these systems on,” Han said.

NYC plans to have these cameras on more than 1,020 buses by the end of the year. Another 1,000 buses are expected to have the cameras installed next year.

The MTA said it has fixed the software issue that caused the mistaken citations.

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