Drivers who block bus stops, be warned: The cameras are rolling

Long Beach Transit and tech company Hayden AI announced earlier this month the start of a pilot program that tests the ability of cameras mounted to public buses to detect parking violations.

Transit spokesperson Mike Gold said Wednesday that cameras have been installed on two buses serving routes 121 and 131, which shuttle passengers along high-density corridors of Second Street, Redondo Avenue and Belmont Shore.

“Those seemed like ideal locations to test it out,” Gold said.

The pilot comes at no charge to the city and is paid for by Hayden AI, a Bay Area-based company that is testing the cameras in cities across the state. Cameras are positioned behind the windshield and fixed on vehicles parked at the curb. They will not capture footage inside the buses, transit officials said.

It’s a strategy in its infancy that leaders hope will eventually discourage those who illegally park in bus lanes. According to Gold, complaints have been high for years, among bus riders who often cannot enter or exit the bus at their stop due to cars blocking it.

This comes as an unnecessary risk to patrons, some of whom are disabled or using wheelchairs, who must nevertheless cross oncoming traffic or quickly move to the next stop, which can lead to injury or accident, transit officials said.

Tickets will not be issued during this 60-day pilot period, Gold said. Instead, cameras will collect data on how frequently drivers park illegally along the two routes and tally those violations. Following the pilot’s end, Gold said transit leadership will examine the data and decide whether it makes sense to expand on a permanent basis.

“I think we have to look at what the data tells us and see what the cost of the system will potentially be,” he said.

The program follows a national trend that has already been implemented in cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco. In California, several companies have begun to roll out technology under the state’s 2021 AB 917, which allows buses to be equipped with cameras that record the license plates of drivers parked in bus-only lanes or blocking bus stops.

In New York, this technology improved bus speeds by 5% and reduced collisions by 20%, on average, the release said.