California's AC Transit Expands Bus Lane Enforcement Program

Oakland, Calif.’s Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) is expanding automated camera citations for illegally parked or stopped vehicles to cover bus stops on all bus lines throughout its service area.

AC Transit is expanding its use of automated cameras equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) after evaluating their effectiveness in detecting illegal stopping and parking at Tempo Line stations and bus only lanes. Tempo Line 1T is AC Transit's highest ridership bus line.

AC’s Expanded Automated Camera Program

Like Tempo, the AI-powered cameras will detect and issue citations to any vehicle, including taxis, Uber and Lyft, and delivery trucks, which are stopped or parked at AC Transit bus stops.

During the initial 60 days, motorists identified by law enforcement as violating the bus stop law will receive a warning notice that will be sent to the vehicle’s registered owner by USPS mail.

Starting October 7, warnings will be replaced with a $110 citation, which will also be issued via USPS mail.

How Enforcement Works

AC Transit has equipped 100 buses with two small forward-facing cameras mounted on the front windshield to detect potential bus stop violations.

Developed by Bay Area-based Hayden AI, its AI technology employs innovative computer vision to monitor bus stops for potential parking violations. Instead of sending the data to a central server, an onboard processor analyzes the information in real-time.

When a violation is suspected, the system produces an evidence package, which includes:

• A 10-second video of the violation, a photo of the license plate, and the time and location of the incident.
• The evidence package is transmitted to a secure cloud accessible only by transit law enforcement.
• Trained law enforcement, and not the AI software, review the evidence packages and determine if a citation should be issued to the registered vehicle owner.

Automated Enforcement Background

AC Transit played a central role in passing AB 917, which now permits transit agencies statewide to use forward-facing cameras to issue citations for vehicles illegally parked at bus stops and in transit-only lanes.

In June 2024, AC Transit upgraded from its legacy software on Tempo buses to more advanced AI hardware and software designed to recognize lane lines, bus lanes, bus stop dimensions, and bus sizes, ensuring accurate violation detection.

The upgrade follows four years of issuing citations for station and bus only lane violations along the Tempo Line 1T corridor.

From the activation of AI cameras on June 16 through July 25, 2024, along the 9.5-mile Tempo corridor, onboard AI cameras documented 1,102 potential illegal parking evidence packages for review by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, resulting in 787 citations to date.

In comparison, during June and July 2023, the legacy system, which required manual camera activation, produced 879 evidence packages, leading to 22 citations. This represents a 34.4-fold increase in citation efficiency with the AI cameras compared to the legacy system.