The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City started using these smart cameras on buses earlier this year. They wanted to make parking enforcement better in a city where finding a spot can be tough. There are too many cars and not enough spaces, so keeping an eye on parking is really important.
But things didn't go as planned. The cameras weren't set up right for the routes they were watching. On one route, they mixed up which cars were actually parked. They even gave out tickets on a route where they weren't supposed to be fully enforcing yet.
You'd think having people check each ticket would catch these mistakes, but it didn't work out that way. Errors still slipped through.
When the MTA found out about the mess-up, they jumped into action. They gave money back to folks who'd already paid their tickets. They also canceled the wrong citations and fixed the software that caused all the trouble.
"We've taken steps to address the issue and prevent it from happening again," an MTA spokesperson told NBC New York.Even with this hiccup, the MTA isn't giving up on the idea. They're planning to put these cameras on over 1,020 buses by the end of next year. And they want to add another 1,000 after that.
For now, New York drivers can breathe a little easier knowing those mistaken tickets have been sorted out.
It's clear the MTA believes in using technology to help with parking issues. But this incident shows that even smart tech can make dumb mistakes sometimes. It's a reminder that as we bring more AI into our daily lives, we need to keep a close eye on how it's working.
