Los Angeles Council Approves DASH Bus Cameras 13-1: First 30 Downtown Buses Start November 1
LOS ANGELES, California — The Los Angeles City Council, in Los Angeles County, California, voted 13-1 on October 21 to authorize the installation of up to 50 cameras on city DASH buses, expanding an automated bus-lane enforcement program. The vote also approved a resolution designating specific street segments as bus lanes and the Department of Transportation's updated automated license plate reader (ALPR) use policy. Councilmember John Lee cast the only opposing vote, while Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez was absent.
Under the plan, LADOT will begin on November 1 with cameras on 30 buses covering all downtown DASH routes (A, B, D, E, F and Pico-Union). A second phase after January 27 would add 20 more cameras on routes through Crenshaw, Panorama City/Van Nuys, Watts and Wilshire Center/Koreatown. The city will issue warnings only during the program's first 60 days. In an earlier 60-day pilot, LADOT recorded more than 2,400 violations along DASH routes A and F and at downtown stops, averaging about four violations per bus per hour, including vehicles parked illegally at bus stops. With council approval, the city can piggyback on Metro's existing contract with Hayden AI to install and operate the cameras; if finalized, the three-year contract would cost $3.43 million.
During the debate, Lee and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez raised privacy concerns about contractor access to ALPR data, and Rodriguez has introduced a motion for a citywide review of data use and collection. The program's future also depends on state law: AB 917, passed in 2021, authorizes transit agencies to use video evidence for bus-lane enforcement until January 1, 2027; the Legislature has approved AB 1837, which would extend that authority to January 1, 2034. If Governor Newsom signs it, Los Angeles could operate the program through 2029; if not, the city would run it for only three months. (GSM, based on NBC Los Angeles reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 洛杉矶市中心 Central Ave 上的 LADOT DASH A 线电动公交车。图片：Han Zheng，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A LADOT DASH Route A electric bus on Central Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. Photo: Han Zheng, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-22Los Angeles Council Approves DASH Bus Cameras 13-1: First 30 Downtown Buses Start November 1This story
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