Artificial intelligence (AI) parking cameras in New York City have slugged innocent drivers with more than 870 incorrect parking fines.
Designed to detect vehicles blocking bus lanes, the bus-mounted cameras were first introduced in the US metropolis in 2022.
NBC New York reports about 3800 vehicles have been mistakenly issued tickets for blocking bus lanes, with at least 870 of those dealt to drivers who were parked legally.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has attributed the incorrect fines to a programming issue – the cameras weren’t programmed to account for periodic parking zones on either side of the M79 route bus lane.
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Source: MTA
Adding insult to injury, the cameras shouldn’t have been issuing fines in the first place, as the M79 and Bx35 bus routes were still in the pre-enforcement grace period.
“At first I wasn’t worried, because I know the parking rules and these are legal spots,” said George Han, who received fines, to NBC New York.
“It turns out that the tickets kept coming though. We are up to about ten now.”
MTA representatives have promised that the issue has now been resolved, as it continues to refine the new AI camera system.
All unlawful tickets have also been reversed, and refunds distributed.
More than 1000 buses in New York City have been fitted with windshield parking cameras, all supplied by software company Hayden AI.
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Source: MTA
The technology has been designed to improve travel times, increase public transport uptake, and make it safer for passengers to board and disembark from buses.
The New York City Department of Transportation says the city’s automated cameras, which include the bus lane cameras as well as speed and red light cameras, issue more than 40,000 violations per day.
It says a human is tasked with reviewing every one of these, though it didn’t tell NBC New York how many employees are dedicated to the review process.
In Australia, AI-powered cameras are also used in multiple jurisdictions to detect if drivers are using their mobile phone or if their seatbelt hasn’t been correctly fastened.
Such cameras have been rolled out in every state and territory bar the Northern Territory. Humans are in turn tasked with reviewing infractions detected by the cameras.
MORE: Which Australian states use seatbelt detection cameras?
MORE: Which Australian states and territories use mobile phone cameras?
