It's official, SEPTA will use AI enforcement program to ticket cars parked illegally in bus lanes

Illegal parking in SEPTA bus lanes costs the mass transit company money, slows traffic and causes safety concerns for riders, officials have said.

But soon, the mass transit company will be able to automatically ticket drivers that park illegally in bus lanes, in an effort to improve safety and traffic congestion issues.

"I think the threat of consistent enforcement goes a long way," said Matthew Zapson, a SEPTA product manager earlier this year.

On Thursday, city officials signed a new law that will allow SEPTA to use the Hayden AI parking enforcement systems to ticket drivers for "parking, stopping and standing violations that interfere with mass transit."

“I’m proud to sign this bill into law. It is another innovative step forward to keep Philadelphians safe and traffic moving smoothly. Thanks to these cameras, we are increasing efficiency in our streets to make our city even more accessible. I want to thank everyone who made this bill possible,” said Mayor Jim Kenney on Thursday.

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The bill doesn't specify how much drivers would be fined for each violation.

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But, during a pilot of this new camera-enforced program, over the course of about 70 days, cameras caught more than 36,000 vehicles illegally parked on bus lanes for the route 21 and 42 buses.

Officials said they hope this effort will help improve traffic congestion and pedestrian safety issues. In announcing the pilot program, SEPTA officials said illegal parking creates safety concerns as anyone waiting for the bus -- or those who want to get off the bus -- where a vehicle is illegally parked would need to cross traffic as the bus would need to double park to accommodate the car in the bus lane.

Also, by making buses travel around illegally parked vehicles, drivers who park in bus lanes impact the efficiency of mass transit, slowing buses on their way to their destination and causing traffic as the buses need to weave in and out of bus lanes.

In this way, officials said, illegal parking in bus lanes cause riders to spend an additional 30 hours a year in traffic.

Officials with the PPA said the technology won't roll out until next year but did not give a specific date.