NYC AI bus cameras wrongly ticket 3,800 drivers for parking violations

What happened

AI cameras mounted on buses operating the M79 and Bx35 routes in New York City were improperly programmed and issued approximately 3,800 erroneous traffic citations to drivers. The cameras issued fines to vehicles during a phase when the routes were still in pre-enforcement and only warning citations should have been issued.

Of the 3,800 mistaken violations, at least 870 were issued to legally parked vehicles. The cameras were not programmed to account for periodic parking zones on either side of the M79 route bus lane. The MTA said all 3,800 violations have been reversed and refunds issued to those who paid.

Reported impact

Drivers received multiple erroneous parking fines in the mail. One driver reported receiving approximately ten citations for legally parked vehicles.

Index analysis

The city's automated cameras, including bus lane, speed and red light cameras, issue more than 40,000 violations per day, with a human tasked with reviewing every machine-generated infraction, though the city declined to say how many employees are dedicated to the review process. The human review process failed to catch thousands of unwarranted violations issued along the M79 and Bx35 routes.

Governance controls

Hayden AI holds an $83 million contract with the city to install and maintain more than 1,000 of these AI camera systems. The MTA announced plans to pay Hayden AI an additional $58 million to add the technology to 1,000 more buses, bringing the total program cost to approximately $141 million.

Classification

Organizations

Hayden AI (subject), Metropolitan Transportation Authority (deployer), New York City Department of Transportation (deployer)

Category

Reliability and hallucination

Industry

Government, security and defence

Country

United States

Harm status

Actual harm

Intent

Unintentional

Timing

Post-deployment

Harm types

Economic or property, Public interest, Reputational

Harmed

Consumers

Failure modes

Agent misaction, Misidentification

Consequences

Fine or settlement

AI systems

Hayden AI bus lane cameras

Sources and evidence