A street in Oakland, Calif., viewed through AI-enhanced cameras from the start-up Hayden AI. Transit agencies across the U.S. are deploying the company’s systems to keep bus lanes clear of illegally parked cars.
Hayden AI
Hayden AI
KENILWORTH, N.J. — If you’re the kind of driver who parks in the bus lane to run a quick errand, you might want to think twice. The nation’s biggest transit systems are using AI-enhanced cameras to keep bus lanes clear of illegally parked cars.
The company behind those cameras is a start-up called Hayden AI, which offered to demonstrate how they work in real life on the streets near its offices in this New Jersey suburb. “What you’re seeing on the screen right now is the system identifying different objects as we’re driving down the road,” said Charley Territo, the chief growth officer for Hayden AI, as we rode in the back of a specially equipped van. The cameras are mounted inside the front windshield, where they can take in everything that’s happening in front of the bus. The system analyzes those images to decide if it’s looking at a vehicle, Territo says — and whether that vehicle is stopped somewhere it shouldn’t be. Sponsor Message
In just three years, Hayden AI has launched services with transit agencies in New York, Washington, D.C., Oakland, Calif., and Los Angeles. The company is deploying pilot programs in Seattle and Denver, and it’s talking with other cities, including Philadelphia and Chicago. The camera systems are using AI to help transit agencies catch and fine drivers who illegally block bus lanes and bus stops. But Territo says that’s not the ultimate goal. “When you look at the reason for enforcement, it’s really not to write tickets. It’s to change driver behavior,” Territo said in an interview. “And what we’re seeing is a reduction in the number of repeat offenders.”
Charley Territo, Hayden AI’s chief growth officer, stands in front of camera equipment at the company’s offices in New Jersey.
Joel Rose/NPR
Joel Rose/NPR
There’s some evidence that these camera systems are helping buses move faster, though their rollout has hit a few speed bumps. “It’s working brilliantly,” said Richard Davey, the former president of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in an interview last year. “It’s changing behavior, which is what we want. And it’s speeding up our buses.” The MTA operates the subways and buses in New York City. Davey says riders complain about how slowly the buses move.
“We ask our customers, what is preventing them from using our services more? What’s sort of irritating them?” Davey said. “Our b