AI-powered cameras installed on Metro buses to ticket illegally parked cars

Artificial intelligence-powered cameras are being installed on Los Angeles Metro buses to help ticket cars parked in bus lanes. The cameras will be mounted inside Metro bus windshields to monitor for parked vehicles in bus lanes and at bus stops, in order to help enforce new parking rules after L.A. City Council approved a fine last year for those who illegally park in bus lanes. "Blocking bus stop zones can create accessibility issues for passengers with disabilities, who rely on level boarding between the bus stop curbside and boarding the bus," a Metro board report said last year. About 15 of the cameras have been installed on buses along line 720, from Santa Monica to Downtown L.A via Wilshire Boulevard, and line 212, from Hollywood/Vine to Hawthorne/Lennox stations via La Brea Avenue, Metro said. While the AI-powered security cameras will constantly scan for illegally parked cars, Charles Territo, Hayden AI chief growth officer, said the technology is trained to record only when a potential violation is observed. "If the bus is moving and there's no vehicle parked in the lane, it's not recording any data," he said. "Only when the system observes a vehicle parked illegally in a bus lane or a bus stop does it record the license plate and capture video of the event."