Public transport AI in New York incorrectly shows hundreds of parking violations
AI-controlled cameras on public transport buses in New York City have reported parking offenders who are said to have obstructed bus traffic.
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Around 3800 vehicles have been ticketed for parking violations by the AI systems of New York's public transportation system. They are said to have prevented Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) buses from getting through, for example by blocking bus lanes. At least 870 cases were false – the cars were parked in normal parking spaces.
As nbc New York reports, the tickets were all received via an automated AI system. The MTA buses have recently been equipped with cameras, which in turn are connected to the system. And the AI system was actually in a test phase in which the violations detected were not even supposed to result in fines.
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As it turned out, the cameras reported parking violations in certain parking zones that interrupt a bus route. However, the parking spaces there are legal and also marked as normal. Moreover, the alleged offences were not reported once, but several times a day. Several buses apparently reported the incident, as one of those affected told the broadcaster, who ended up receiving ten tickets.
HaydenAI offers AI systems for public transport
According to the MTA spokesperson, there were errors in the programming. These have since been rectified. No one who has received an automatically generated ticket has to pay for it. Anyone who has already paid will get their money back. New York uses numerous camera systems to monitor road traffic, including traffic lights and speed cameras, as in other cities around the world. Before fines are issued, they are supposed to be checked and confirmed by a human, says the spokesperson. How it came about that the bus cameras were able to bypass this check remains unanswered.
HaydenAI is responsible for the cameras and the associated software. The company not only has a contract with New York, but Santa Monica and San Francisco, for example, also already use the AI system. Errors like those in New York have not been reported there. HaydenAI says it can detect where a car is parked to within a few centimetres, and the system also recognizes whether a car is moving or stationary. As should have been the case in New York City, humans check the AI decisions in the other cities and only then do fines go out.
(emw)
